09/01/2026
Here’s the last Collections Highlight of the summer!
These fashionable helmets were worn ceremonially by the Royal Canadian Artillery Regiment (RCA), which was formed in Kingston in 1871 as part of the Canadian Militia. The helmets were actually adopted by the regiment in 1886, shortly after the end of Murney Tower’s military use, and reflected the popularity of pith helmets in Britain’s overseas empire.
Pith helmets are made from the cork of the sholapith plant, an aquatic plant native to eastern India that can be easily molded into the shape of a helmet before it is hardened and covered in cloth. Basing the design on traditional local headgear, European colonial authorities in the tropics used the reliable and lightweight helmets to protect their troops from attack as well as the sunny environment. The British army was the most prominent in its use of pith helmets in India and Africa.
This particular design is highly decorative, with the chain, Royal Crest of Canada, regimental crest, and a “pickelhaube” ornament at the top that was popularized by German helmets. Such a fancy helmet would never have been used during combat, but a plainer khaki version was used by the RCA during the Second Boer War (1899-1902) in modern-day South Africa.
