Chemistry On the Gridiron

October 5th 1940

We know... we know,  this is not like finding the Holly Grail or even Geraldo Rivera opening Al Capone's Vault, but you might agree it lay somewhere in between for us helmet geeks?   There has always been speculation on when the first Tenite "plastic" helmet made the playing field.  Many thought it was after WWII when John Riddell released his new patented helmet invention to the military.
 

 
Finally concrete information has been discovered to pin point the exact date and game.  Saturday October 5th, 1940 Northwestern took the field in NY against Syracuse.   Now did their 40-0 win have anything to do Eastman Kodak's Tenite cellulosic plastics?  Most likely not, but we are sure people looked and said... "What is that new fangled thing atop his head"