[kvanbrunt2]

and we played tackle as kids without equipment. could’t afford any. one christmas day the ground was rock hard and icey. my knee still hurts when i think about it. also the folsom team used leather helmets until after we no longer played and i remember the youngsters getting the plastic ones. The helmets where bigger than some of the kids.

[JimRed]

...also the folsom team used leather helmets until after we no longer played and i remember the youngsters getting the plastic ones.

My first (in 1957) high school football helmet was a reconditioned leather one, with a single bar faceguard added. It was one of the sort of small-end egg shaped kind, felt as hard as plastic on the outside and it did keep my head in one piece.