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Details
Early 20th-century three-light, 12-bolt diving helmet by the respected Brooklyn, New York maker Schrader & Son. The helmet retains all of its original components and displays an attractive green-and-red patina developed through age and use. The bonnet and breastplate separate easily, and the front port turns smoothly, indicating careful handling over the years.
The dents on the bonnet evoke the oversized craniums of alien invaders in classic 1950s science-fiction films such as This Island Earth and Invasion of the Saucer-Men, lending the helmet a surprising and playful visual character.
August Schrader opened his first shop in Manhattan in 1844, initially specializing in rubber goods and daguerreotype equipment. By 1849, the firm had developed innovative copper diving helmets and improved air pumps that became foundational to professional underwater work. Later in the 19th century, the company relocated to Brooklyn, New York, where Schrader & Son grew into a major supplier to the U.S. Navy and to commercial firms engaged in underwater construction and salvage.