Original Hand Painted Hippie Protest Helmets

I have shown most of these I am sure, but to see them all laid out side by side allows you to get a better grasp of what these Protesters expressed in creating them. The helmet was a means of capturing the emotion, the passion of how they felt. When you think of it, not sure what possesses someone to reuse a military helmet for this artform, maybe it is a means of beautifying an implement of war to their taste. In my New Hampshire hometown, I recall a neighbor found in the barn a WWII German helmet their Dad had brought back from the war... Ended up with a Vietnam Vet who painted in purple and used it as a motorcycle helmet.