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Joe Savoie mixed gas fiberglass diving helmet, estimated at $7,500-$11,000

Vintage diving helmets to surface at July 17 Nation’s Attic auction

Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Joe Savoie mixed gas fiberglass diving helmet, estimated at $7,500-$11,000
Joe Savoie mixed gas fiberglass diving helmet, estimated at $7,500-$11,000

WICHITA, Kan. – Ever thought about owning an authentic piece of diving history? Your chance to bid on and purchase some of the most historic diving helmets, double hose regulators, knives, and other underwater memorabilia is coming up on July 17. The world’s largest dealer of authentic diving helmets, Nation’s Attic Inc., will begin the online-only auction at 10 am Central time. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

The first half of the sale features vintage scuba gear from the 1940s into the 1970s. Some notable items include one of the first US diver’s regulators from 1950; an early Fenjohn camera housing; unusual vintage dive knives; double hose regulators from Voit, Northill, Sportsways, and DACOR; and even a New England Divers privately labeled example.

The middle of the sale has an assortment of maritime artifacts. Of note are an 1896 Colombian gun boat ships plaque; ships’ telegraphs; binnacles; submarine gauges; a brass hull plaque from the USS Sonoma; and other unique instruments.

Yokohama mixed gas helium diving helmet, estimated at $7,500-$12,500
Yokohama mixed gas helium diving helmet, estimated at $7,500-$12,500

The second half of the sale focuses on the classic military and commercial hard hats of the 19th and 20th centuries. Historically and visually impressive diving helmets include a US Navy Mark V helium helmet nicknamed “The Widow Maker;” a mixed gas helmet made by Yokohama in Japan; and multiple historic US Navy Mark V helmets, including one that was made on D-Day June 6, 1944. Also on offer are copper and brass helmets from Germany, Japan, Korea, and Russia, as well as a French helmet made by Charles Petit in Paris. Related early diving equipment such as large manual air pumps, dive dresses, boots, knives, and military rebreathers can all be had.

D-Day USN Mark V diving helmet, estimated at $7,500-$12,000
D-Day USN Mark V diving helmet, estimated at $7,500-$12,000

More modern and increasingly valuable diving helmets made by Joe Savoie, Bob Ratcliffe (Rat Hat), General Aquadyne, Advanced Diving Equipment, Interspace Systems are featured in the auction lineup. A historically significant Kirby Morgan KMCSH-6, designed for use on Sea Lab in the 1960s and featured on the cover of Life magazine, is undoubtedly worthy of any museum or fine collection.

Posters, catalogs, photos, books, manuals, patches, decals, identification plates, historic dive journals, schematics, and Skin Diver magazines from the 1960s to the 1980s are among the ephemera offered.

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