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Early 1900s Reach Football Head Harness Original Box w/Leather Helmet
Offered is an exceptionally rare, early 1900s head harness box, with a leather helmet. The box measures approx. 9x10" and is 8" tall. These items come from an era when United States President Theodore Roosevelt is credited with saving football. In a time before the forward pass was legal, football was an especially brutal game, with plays like the flying wedge decimating players. Roosevelt explained his views on football. "I believe in rough games, and in rough, manly sports. I do not feel any particular sympathy for the persons who gets battered about a good deal, as long as it is not fatal." Tragically, the game of football at the time often was fatal. In fact, in 1904, the were 18 deaths from scholastic and college football, and 159 serious injuries. Roosevelt, along with others, particularly the Presidents of Yale, Harvard and Princeton Universities, organized and helped to make football safer. Thus, the leather helmet, then sometimes called a leather harness, was a crucially important protective device. There are even some in football today who feel a return to leather helmets would make football safer, eliminating the helmet as a weapon. The box lid has a little bit of tape at the corners and some small tears at the edges, but overall, the cardboard box has outstanding appearance for its age. The box is decorated with hundreds of circular Reach trademarks. A label on the box reads "Reach Football Head Harness/A.J. Reach Company/Philadelphia." The label has a logo reading "RHG" and the letter M, most likely indicating a medium size. The box measures 8.5x10" and stands 10" tall. The box comes with a leather Spalding helmet from the period. Please note that this is not the helmet that originally came in this box, but it displays nicely with it. The helmet (approx. 10" from front to back, is in excellent condition and has the Spalding logo stamped on both ear flaps. The box and the more than century old leather helmet are fascinating, and we can't stress enough how rare these early display boxes are.
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