Bash Helmet. The 1950s. Part II. Launch of The Helmeteers

Above right: The Helmeteer membership certificate that every fan longed to get!

Above left: People are paying a fortune to get their hands on that helmet.

During the 1950s people flocked to watch the movie adventures of Rusty Clappe as Bash Helmet in Bash Helmet and the Magic Ring (1953); Bash Helmet and the Haunted Cottage (1956); and Bash Helmet and the Turkish Prison (1958) and, in a shrewd marketing ploy, RKY Studios set up a club for audience members to join - The Helmeteers.

This proved a hugely profitable move as thousands of fans sent off their fifty cents to the studio in exchange for a membership certificate, a signed letter from Bash and a plastic replica helmet.

Despite vast numbers of these items being produced, not many exist today. At an auction in the year 2008, an anonymous bidder paid a record $9,000 for a complete mint-condition Helmeteer club pack.

Throughout the 70s, gay men referenced the club in marches even though it had stopped running in 1961. The chant: “We’re here! We’re Queer! We’re like a Helmeteer!” became part of gay culture.