Original U.S. Model 1881 “Summer White” Dress Spiked Pith Helmet Attributed to Horstmann Bros & Co of Philadelphia DP-28 LMG The front of the helmet

The front of the helmet has a French Crowned Imperial Eagle plate over the correct Tri-Color Cockade

Still fully functional the action cycles perfectly with a 20 inch round barrel and visible rifling in the bore

We were able to come up with an identification on the soldier

The serial number indicates that it was one of 7060 rifles built at Springfield from October to December

Original U.S. Model 1881 “Summer White” Dress Spiked Pith Helmet Attributed to Horstmann Bros & Co of Philadelphia DP-28 LMG The front of the helmetOriginal Item: One Only Available. Much like our European cousins in the 1880s, the U. S. Army started to adopt spiked pith helmets, often in white, with all brass mounts and occasionally plumes. These saw active service in the Spanish American War of 1898 especially in the tropical climate in Cuba. While often referred to as "pith helmets" in the broad sense, it was made from cork, like many European variants, such as the Wolseley pattern used by the