The pith helmet also known as salacot, salacco, safari helmet, sun helmet, topee, sola topee, or topi is a real-world form of helmet, The helm is considered to be an icon of European colonialism, being affiliated with white and otherwise European colonists and militaries subjugating tropical regions of the globe.
Description[]
Pith helmets are lightweight helmets covered in cloth, typically made from sholapith (hence the name of the helmet). One of its central design functions was to keep the sun out of the eyes of the wearer. Sometimes the helmets were dyed white and khaki by British users for camouflage with other modifications including insignias and holes for heat venting.
History[]
Pith helmets originate from members of the Spanish army during the colonization and land-theft of what is now the Philippines. The helmets were based on the designs of native headwear such as the Salakot, cabasset and morion. The helmets would catch on and be used by imperial European forces throughout the globe, even being standard-issue in the British Empire's military.
Jungle Cruise appearances[]
Attractions[]
Bengal Barbecue[]
Shrunken Ned has a pith helmet in his booth. There is also a pith hanging on the wall.
Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye[]
Assorted tourists are shown in news footage to be wearing piths. A pith appears in the lost & found.
Jungle Cruise[]
Several pith helmets can be seen throughout the Jungle Cruise. There is one hanging by the missing persons board in the Amazon River Base. In the Congo Base Camp, one of the gorillas is trying on a pith helmet taken by the camp's colonial occupants. Within Trader Sam's Gift Shop! there are several recovered pith helmets in Trader Sam's inventory. In the queue, a silhouette profile of Dr. Albert Falls shows him in a pith helmet. Mickey Mouse wears a pith in the guest skipper cards.[1]
Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions[]
The gorilla can be seen trying on a pith helm and the leader of the lost safari also wears a pith helmet.
Jungle River Cruise[]
The gorilla can be seen trying on a pith helm and the leader of the lost safari also wears a pith helmet.
Skipper Canteen[]
There is a pith helmet impaled by a blow-dart in the lost & unfound. A portrait also depicts Dr. Albert Falls wearing a pith helmet while passing Schweitzer Falls and Luana Texieira wearing one at the mouth of Shir Lee's Temple. In the library is a book titled, "The History of Pith Helmets" by Hattie. While obviously a play on hat, this name also might connect to the Jungle Cruise boat named the Hondo Hattie.
Skipper Skool[]
A skull in a pith helmet appeared outside of the boathouse.[2]
Sunkist, I presume[]
The sign for this service showed historic colonial explorer David Livingstone in a pith.
Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar[]
Sam has a pith helmet on one of his shelves and hung on his wall.[3] A portrait of Billamongawonga depicts him as having severed the head of a white man in a pith helmet.
Virtual Jungle Cruise[]
Dr. Wayne Szalinski wore a pith helmet in this attraction.
Film[]
Jungle Cruise (film)[]
Both Lily and MacGregor Houghon briefly wear pith helmets. Lily briefly wears one while stealing from the Royal Anthropological Society while MacGregor plans to wear one on their expedition before removing it due to the heat.
Tarzan[]
Prof. Archimedes Q. Porter is originally shown with a pith helmet but fairly quickly discards it, possibly reflecting him not being emblematic of a colonial presence.
Video-games[]
Kinect: Disneyland Adventures[]
An archaeological explorer resembling Shrunken Ned wears a pith.
Other appearances[]
Disney Explorers Lodge[]
Artwork shows explorers dressed in pith helmets.[4]
Haunted Mansion[]
In Walt Disney World's Haunted Mansion is the tomb of murderer Bertie Dread, a murderer and presumed big-game hunter who wears a pith helmet. Marc Davis had also designed an unused big-game hunter ghost to appear in the Haunted Mansion, being tormented by the undead tigers whom he killed in life.
Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar[]
There is a pith in the lost & found of Jock Lindsey's bar.[5]
Mystic Manor[]
Portraits show that prior to appropriating the fez, colonizer aristocrat Lord Henry Mystic dressed in a pith.
Tower of Terror[]
In the haunted Hotel Hightower are assorted images of the villainous wealthy explorer Harrison Hightower III of S.E.A. wearing a pith on grave-robbing and thieving expeditions.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ https://disneytips.com/guest-skipper-jungle-cruise-mc1/
- ↑ https://www.disneytouristblog.com/disneyland-construction-update-january-2016/2/#attachment%20wp-att-17291/0/
- ↑ https://www.mousesteps.com/2011/09/25/detailed-look-at-trader-sams-enchanted-tiki-bar-disneyland-hotel-from-august-2011/3/
- ↑ https://www.mousehacking.com/blog/disney-explorers-lodge-review
- ↑ https://allears.net/2019/02/27/grab-your-whips-and-satchels-here-are-all-the-cool-indiana-jones-hidden-details-at-jock-lindseys-hangar-bar/