✦ THE OLD ANTIQUARIAN ✦ HISTORICAL COLLECTIBLES & RESEARCH The Story of a Single Helmet: The Bulgarian M36 1936 – The End of the 20th Century WORLD WAR II • TYPES A, B & C • MILITARY SERVICE POSTWAR REFURBISHMENT • COLLECTOR IDENTIFICATION Last Updated: October 14, 2026 Quick Answer: What Is the Bulgarian M36 Helmet? The Bulgarian M36 helmet is a steel combat helmet developed in the mid-1930s and introduced into service with the Bulgarian Army in 1936. Used during World War II and retained in Bulgarian military service and storage for decades afterwards, it became one of the most distinctive pieces of Bulgarian military equipment of the twentieth…

Soviet Pneumatic Air Horn from 1965: A Warsaw Pact-Era Military Mystery Last Updated: September 2026 Some military objects survive because they were deliberately preserved. Others survive almost by accident – removed from obsolete machinery, placed on a depot shelf and forgotten while the military world around them disappears. This large Soviet twin-tone pneumatic air horn appears to belong to the second group. Its rear housing carries the stamped marking IX 65. Its two trumpet horns are different lengths. Beneath a later dark-green repaint survives an earlier lighter green coating. According to the provenance supplied with the object, it was eventually acquired from a military storage facility in Bulgaria. We do…

A U.S. M1916 Colt M1911 Holster in Bulgaria: A Mystery from Europe’s Historic Crossroads Last Updated: September 1, 2026 Quick Answer: The object at the centre of this story is a U.S. military leather M1916 holster designed for the Colt M1911 and M1911A1 pistol. It carries a prominent embossed U.S. marking and a partially preserved BOYT maker’s mark associated with Boyt Harness Company. What we do not know is how this American military object reached Bulgaria. The turbulent history of the Balkans between the 1930s and late 1940s suggests at least six historically plausible routes: a downed American bomber, Allied supplies to resistance movements, the Spanish Civil War, Lend-Lease and…

Personal Stories from Europe’s Historic Crossroads Wars changed borders. People carried memories. Objects preserved them. Every military object tells two stories. The first is the history we read in books. The second is the personal story carried by the people who once owned it. At The Old Antiquarian, we believe that these personal stories deserve to be preserved just as much as history itself. More Than Military Collectibles Military Memories is not about celebrating war. It is about preserving memory. Behind every medal, pocket watch, field diary, military photograph, letter or uniform is a human life shaped by extraordinary events. Many of these discoveries can also be found throughout our…