Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice service used 1938 dated Metropolitan Police Officer's pattern Tschako, with the late pattern police green wool body and black leather trim. This replaced the original all leather style used up until that point. It has a very fine quality police officer eagle aluminum wappen (front plate) with aluminum Feldzeichen cockade (often missing) and black leather chinstrap. A very nice Polizei helmet (shako) as used by the metropolitan police! Unlike some of the more common ones found trimmed in brown for rural police, this one is with black trim for the municipal police.

Overall, the shako does look to have seen long use, with the fuzzy "nap" on the police blue green exterior showing wear, which may be moth related in some areas. The trim on this shako is in very good shape, showing a lovely pattern of checking and wear due to age. There is some "melting" of the patent leather finish, as often seen, and areas have flaked away as well. The chinstrap is still supple, however the black finish has definitely cracked overall, with just a bit of flaking. The front visor has also had the stitching rot out on the right side, and is loosely attached to the body.

The interior tan finished leather liner is still present, but has degraded due to age. Many of the "fingers" have torn off, along with the top securing tie, and the leather is in somewhat delicate condition. There are some tears as well, and the red foam rubber padding under the forehead has become extremely hard. We were able to look under the liner carefully, and it is marked with size 59 on one side, next to a unit marking of „Po“ 529. The other side has a date stamp of 1938. The vents on the top of the shako are both still present, though the mesh screens are degraded. The sliding closer is working on both sides, though a bit stiff.

A very nice Metropolitan Police shako with some great research potential. Ready to display!

History of the shako-
The word shako originated from the Hungarian name csákós süveg ("peaked cap"), which was a part of the uniform of the Hungarian hussar of the 18th century. Other spellings include chako, czako, schako and tschako.

From 1800 on the shako became a common military headdress, worn by the majority of regiments in the armies of Europe and the Americas. Replacing in most instances the light bicorne, the shako was initially considered an improvement. Made of heavy felt and leather, it retained its shape and provided some protection for the soldier's skull, while its visor shaded his eyes. The shako retained this pre-eminence until the mid-19th century, when spiked helmets began to appear in the armies of the various German States, and the more practical kepi replaced it for all but parade wear in the French Army. The Imperial Russian Army substituted a spiked helmet for the shako in 1844-45 but returned to the latter headdress in 1855, before adopting a form of kepi in 1864. Following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, military fashions changed and cloth or leather helmets based on the German headdress began to supersede the shako in many armies.

Although the mid-nineteenth century shako was impressive in appearance and added to the height of the wearer, it was also heavy and by itself provided little protection against bad weather as most models were made of cloth or felt material over a leather body and peak. Many armies countered this by utilizing specially designed oilskin covers to protect the shako and the wearer from heavy rain while on campaign. The shako provided little protection from enemy action as the most it could offer was in giving partial shielding of the skull from enemy cavalry sabers.