VINTAGE BULLARD HARD HATS

Vintage Bullard Hard Hats

The art of collecting is all about finding those rare treasures that catch the eye when a guest enters your home. Vintage Bullard Hard Hats are just such a unique item. Vintage Bullard Hard Hats are like a time capsule that will accent your home and won't go unnoticed. Vintage Bullard Hard Hats make a bold statement and have a rich history that represents a real slice of Americana that will become a savvy collector's most prized possession.

You can trace the history of America's growth as a country with a vintage Bullard Hard Hat. A hundred years ago, the hard hat didn't even exist. The steel helmet Edward Bullard, the founder of Bullard Hard Hats, brought back home after serving in World War I was far more than an interesting keepsake. In fact, his war-time headgear would become the inspiration for a revolution in worker safety. For two decades, starting in 1898 and based out of San Francisco, Edward Bullard's father had been selling his wares to brave men working in gold and copper mines. The miners would wear leather headgear that looked more like caps professional baseball players wear. Obviously, they didn't provide much protection from falling debris. But in 1919, Edward Bullard found inspiration, patenting a “hard boiled hat.” Thus, the Bullard Hard Hat was born. Later that same year, the U.S. Navy asked the Bullard Company to develop protection for shipyard workers. As you can see, vintage Bullard Hard Hats roots run deep.

Bullard Hard Hats also played an important role in the building of one of America's most significant landmarks: San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge in 1933. This was the first construction site in America that required all workers to wear hard hats, taking the workplace to new heights of worker safety. Later, in 1938, Bullard designed and manufactured the first aluminum hard hat that would become the benchmark for head protection. In the 1940s, the aluminum construction was replaced by fiberglass. Then in the 1950s and 1960s, Bullard Hard Hats began using thermoplastics which would replace the fiberglass design because the groundbreaking material was less costly and better suited to modern day construction sites. In 1982, Bullard Hard Hats changed again. One of Bullard's major clients, Bechtel Corporation, felt that the hard hats didn't have the proper suspension for often dangerous fieldwork. Bullard Hard Hats introduced a revolutionary new industrial helmet, marking the beginning of a new age in protection and safety. Owning a vintage Bullard Hard Hat will transport your home back in time.

Don't worry; vintage Bullard Hard Hats aren't just a one-size-fits-all collector's item. They are well worth your time to seek out because they often differ from one another, embodying unique and personal touches as well. Many construction workers throughout the years have decorated their hard hats with stickers commemorating job sites and union memberships as well as distinguishing which hard hat belongs to whom. Vintage Bullard Hard Hats have become an iconic image of the American construction worker, with its long, storied history tracing America's transformation into the modern age. Never dull, a treasure hunter will find that vintage Bullard Hard Hats also come in a variety of colors, signifying different roles the person wearing it may have held. The color white is for supervisors. Blue for technical advisors. Red for safety inspectors. Yellow for workmen. Green can signify workers who are new to the job. Having a vintage Bullard Hard Hat on display will set off any room or shelf and quickly become one of your most talked about treasures.