Pith helmet
The pith helmet (also known as the sun helmet, topee, or topi) is a lightweight helmet made of cork or pith typically from the sola or a similar plant [1], with a cloth cover, designed to shade the wearer's head from the sun. It was formerly much worn by Westerners in the tropics; today it is most frequently used in Vietnam.
History
Crude forms of pith helmets had existed since the mid-nineteenth century, as early as the 1840s, but it was around 1870 that the pith helmet became popular with military personnel in Europe's tropical colonies: the Franco-Prussian War popularized the German pickelhaube, and that had much influence on the definitive design of the pith helmet. It was made of pith with small peaks at the front and back; it was covered by white cloth, often with a cloth band (known as puggaree) around it, and had small holes for ventilation. It had a metal insignia at the front, and may be decorated with a brass spike or ball-shaped top. The chin strap could be in leather or brass chain, depending on occasions. The pith helmet soon became associated strongly with the British Empire. However, the pith helmet was used by all European colonial powers, and for some time even by the United States.
During the Anglo-Zulu War, British troops dyed their white pith helmets with tea for camouflage. Soon khaki-coloured pith helmets became standard issues as well. Helmets of this style (but without true pith construction) have also been used as late as World War II by European and American military personnel. Included in this category are the sun helmets worn in North Africa by Italian troops and Germany's Afrika Korps, as well as similar helmets used by U.S. troops in the Pacific Theater.
Such was the popularity of the pith helmet that it became a common civilian headgear for Westerners in the tropics from the end of the 19th Century. The civilian pith helmet was typically less decorative and more practical, not as tall as the military counterpart, and with a wide brim all round. It was worn by men and women, old and young, both in formal and casual occasions, until the Second World War. Similar sun helmets are still worn today by some mail carriers of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
After the war, the Viet Minh of Vietnam copied the pith helmet from the former French colonizer, and adopted it as its own. Today it is still widely worn by both civilians and the military in Vietnam; it is similar to the pre-WWII civilian type, but covered in jungle green cloth, sometimes with a metal insignia at the front or back.
Outside Vietnam the pith helmet is now worn mainly by the British, Tongan and Thai military, as well as the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince of Monaco, on ceremonial occasions. The pith helmet has also seen use as a form of identification by U.S. Marine Corps rifle range instructors at Parris Island and San Diego, similar to the Campaign hat worn by drill instructors.
Trivia
On television, it is worn by the character Junji Inagawa on the TV show Takeshi's Castle (known as Guy LeDouche on U.S. version, Most Extreme Elimination Challenge). The wild game hunter character Van Pelt wore one in Jumanji. One is also worn by Jack West Jr. on the cover of Matthew Reilly's book Seven Ancient Wonders.