Charles Earl Griswold (1935-1996) was a lifelong inventor, practical field hand and designer of odd and unusual items. Born in Davenport, Iowa and moved to Washington state at a young age. He was at the University of Washington in Industrial Design and Political Science. In his early years Chuck spent most of his time working with the Department of Oceanography, NASA, and the Coast Guard. He sailed with the icebreaker Northwind as a civilian scientist on two trips to the Far North Pacific. For several years Chuck maintained the only civilian submarine fleet in the Pacific Northwest, and he organized and taught a school for submariners (The Northwest Submarine Institute) in Seattle, Washington.

Chuck began diving before graduating from high school in 1953. His diving and technical skills led to his designing a decompression chamber which was used by Seattle’s Virginia Mason Hospital to treat recreational divers who developed the bends. He also assisted Rocket Research Corporation in developing and testing guidance motors for early space exploration.

During the 60’s and 70’s Chuck worked regularly as a commercial diver, favoring the Northwest style helmet (low volume) on a MKV or commercial breast plate. During the 80’s Chuck worked internationally, primarily as an inspector or consultant on underwater oil and gas field development. The Griswold Helmet was designed both from his own interest in historical diving apparatus and as an answer to the increasing number of collectors and decorators who just had to have a “real” diving helmet and were constantly offering to purchase his working hard hat gear. As a result, the Griswold Helmet is an authentic shallow water working helmet that can be dived.

Although the Griswold Helmet was completely designed, created, and cast in Seattle, Washington, Chuck chose to have the location BOSTON on the helmet because ” all diving helmets come from Boston.” The helmet was originally cast in iron by the Olympic Foundry in Seattle and 12 units of iron helmets were made and sold before 1974. Decorator pressure for a more classic helmet resulted in Zandt Brass Foundry casting 2 bronze helmets in 1974. The next four helmets cast by Ballard Brass were not made until 1989, after Chuck had “retired” from active water work. In 1994, he determined to cast and market more helmets in response to inquiries resulting from its inclusion in Best Publishing Company’s book A Pictorial History of Diving.

In Chuck’s own words, “This hat had to look like it belonged in the sea and circular windows had been built into most of the helmets in the world. I had always been fond of the 60-degree isometric ellipse as a design element–turtles and clams had used it for eons, so that became the shape of the windows and the handle. The constraints of foundry practice eliminated side windows. Having logged a lot of hours in small three windowed helmets, I had learned to use the side lights as a top port, so I thought by tilting to the side a top window might serve for a glimpse to the side, particularly handy on ascent. That also answered the requirement for an auxiliary light. While lexan polycarbonate is used in many working hats it never looked clean. I knew that would be a strike against the helmet by my fastidious decorator friends. The best practical alternative was 1/4 inch thick auto safety plate with the shatterproof layer in the middle. That had worked well on a number of jobs, using clear “G E” silicone sealer to bed the glass in the casting. The glass is clamped in place with brass guards screwed down in four places.”

Another nice touch to the helmet’s design is its squared back, which allows it the capability to sit solidly on deck in a moderate sea.