This collection of mini helmets depicts CMSU
Mules football helmets spanning the period from the fall of 1957, my
freshman year in college, to the present. The first college game I ever saw was
at the 'Burg, in '57. The Mules versus the
Lincoln Blue Tigers. The Mules were swamped
by Lincoln's team speed. The Mules' gridiron success and the
'design' of its helmets have come a long way since
then.
An attempt has been made to replicate the original
helmets precisely. The lack of mini helmet sized parts and a lack of color photos,
especially of the early years
covered by the collection, may cause
some details to be incorrect or omitted.
Should you see even the slightest
error or omission your input would be greatly
appreciated to assist in the effort to attain true
authenticity. If parts are available
to make corrections we will certainly do so.
Out of necessity 'poetic license' is taken with some
of the face masks. Over the
years face masks have evolved leaving a wide variety of
styles and materials. Most
of those have no mini size counterpart with which to
make the helmets. The mask that comes closest to
portraying one from a given era will be used.
There are a good many different styles available
depicting masks used in recent
years but only a couple representing those
worn in the collection's earlier years. These are the one-bar and
two-bar masks, which in one form or another were
extensively used into the mid
70's.
Shell shape and chin strap style are two other parts
where 'poetic license' was
used due to lack of an exact shape or style not being
available. As the mini
helmet hobby grows more 'throwback' parts may become
available. If and when
so this collection will be upgraded.
We wish to acknowledge the gracious assistance of the
following persons for
their help in getting this collection produced. Dave
Smith, CMSU football equip-
ment manager; Vivian Richardson, CMSU library archivist;
former Mules Head
Coach Howard Mahanes; several members of the Virtual
Helmet Museum club;
and Charles Arey, whose web site The
Helmet Project is a must see if you like
football helmets. Apologies to anyone overlooked.
When trying to find and produce the original Mules
head logo/decal for the 1970-1975 helmet Charles developed the artwork for the decal
from a scan of a CMSU cap which had an embroidered rendition of that logo on
it. Coach Mahanes confirmed it to be the logo used at that time and, in
fact, his wife made the original drawing. While it may not be exact in every detail
it is very close, especially given the example with
which we were working. Since then better examples
have been found and will be used in the future.
A search for that particular logo had been going on
for several months to no avail
when one day it was noticed, on the above mention cap,
hanging on a wall with a
small, but select, collection of baseball style caps.
The logjam was broken and
the collection began to develop.
There is one other logo/decal, used in the late 70's
and early 80's, that has been
somewhat of a comedy of errors and a source of
frustration. It is the Chicago
Bears "Wishbone C" with a floating outline.
The decal maker has sent four
incorrect versions of this decal. When it is, if
ever, done correctly the helmets
representing those years will be produced.
There is some uncertainty as to which years that
particular decal was used. It
may be that a solid white "Wishbone C" was
used for a couple of those years.
Also, shell color is a question to be answered for
that period. Even though color
photos are available there is uncertainty as to whether
red/scarlet was used those
five to six years, or if cardinal (a darker red) was
used a couple of years. If you
have verifiable information as to the shell color and
decal style used in those years
your input would be appreciated. Even if it's an
opinion. Multiple 'like' opinions
would be considered when trying to pin this information
down.
To contact us with information on this, or other
matters, email by clicking Here
or
call 1-877-804-5437 (toll free) 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Pacific Time, Mon - Sat. |
