Exhibit Talk: Transforming the South Florida Room

Our team has been hard at work on transforming one of our most popular exhibits, The South Florida Room, so I wanted to give an update on the amazing progress that has been made in the past few months.


Some of my favorite helmets in our collection can be found in the South Florida Room. The exhibit centers on the Divinhood - the world's first commercially produced open bottom helmet which unquestionably changed diving history. The story of William Miller and William Dunn's Divinhood is a great one - but it is our collection of homemade helmets (inspired by the open bottom concept the Divinhood introduced) that seem to be some of the most popular and memorable artifacts, both for our staff as well as our visitors.



Above is one of our more famous - or infamous - helmets. Dubbed "The Rum Runner," this homemade helmet was used in the 1920's in smuggling operations during Prohibition. Contraband whiskey dropped in the Detroit River by Canadians was spotted through the breastplate window.

The concept of the open bottom helmet was so simple and useful, that craftsmen in garages started using household items to build their own version of the Divinhood. What they produced were many oddly shaped helmets, each truly one-of-a-kind.


Our curator of exhibits, Tim Hemsoth, is finishing this newly constructed wall as I type and it's looking really fabulous. As you can see from the "Before" and "After" photos, Tim has created a "forest" of helmets from floor to ceiling, backlit with a blue spotlight. Enjoy the photos and below and let us know what you think!

Before

After

As a result of redesigning the floor plan in the South Florida Room, we'll also be making some changes to our Underwater Photography exhibit and the Treasure Room in the near future. Below you can see we've taken a wall down to open up the entrance to the Treasure Room and create a better traffic flow.

Hope you've enjoyed seeing all the updates. Stay tuned for more!

-Erin
Manager of Collections and Administration

All photos courtesy of the History of Diving Museum

A Diver and His Helmet: A Happy Reunion

It was a routine business call that brought Jon Hazelbaker to Upstate New York last week, but the series of events that took place were anything but ordinary.

In 1986, commercial diver Jon Hazelbaker was working on a big diving project in Corinth, New York for the International Paper Company. After about three months, the job was almost complete. However, he was called back for a few more days to work on another part of the power plant. After packing up his gear - helmet and everything - Hazelbaker headed back into Albany and checked in to a hotel around 1 o'clock in the morning. The next day started early around 6am. and as he was checking out of the hotel, he discovered that his truck had been broken into. His helmet was gone.

This discovery was completely disheartening, not only because of its obvious monetary value, but because Hazelbaker had accumulated literally thousands of hours working time in it; it was a helmet that he had used and lovingly abused for 16 years.


Devastated, he took out ads in local newspapers and trade magazine with a photo of the helmet (pictured above) and offering a reward for its return. He even sent out letters and photos to local dive shops and other commercial dive firm competitors.

Flash forward 25 years to 2011 when Hazelbaker was assigned by ADCI to perform a safety audit for commercial diving firm Seaway Diving & Salvage - a routine practice in the industry. While scheduling his visit to Waterford, New York, Hazelbaker recited the story of his stolen helmet to the owner of Seaway, Tim Joslyn. After a few minutes, Joslyn said, "I think we have that picture still here." He quickly located the original photo from 1986 in a file and told Hazelbaker that he knew where that helmet was. The previous owner, Kevin Lengyel, had kept the photo around all those years. Overwhelmed with joy, he exclaimed over the phone, "Tim, that is my hat!"

After taking care of business at Seaway, Hazelbaker took Joslyn's advice and soon found himself en route to a dive shop in Clifton Park, New York - ready to get his hat back. Upon arrival, Hazelbaker was asked to identify the helmet in detail, and of course he was able to recall each and every fitting and dent in the helmet, many unique to this particular hat. After a little while, he was finally reunited with his old helmet, almost 25 years to the day when it was stolen.

Commercial diver Jon Hazelbaker reunited with his helmet in Upstate New York.

Hazelbaker gives credit to the owners of Seaway for this happy reunion; to Kevin, who kept the picture around so long, and to Tim who is responsible for putting all the pieces together.

If you have any happy stories like this one, we would love to hear about them!

-Erin
Manager of Collections and Administration

Capt. Jon Hazelbaker is a commercial diving consultant and Board Member at the History of Diving Museum.

The Divinhood: Practical and Profitable

"A diving apparatus so simple anyone can use it."

That was the slogan for the Miami-based Miller-Dunn Company who designed and produced the Divinhood helmet in the early part of the 20th century. A summary of the significance of this helmet can be found in an earlier blog entry here.

As you may know by now, we love the Divinhood. But before the Style 2 gained fame as the centerpiece for the History of Diving Museum's logo, it was lauded at the time by many for its simplicity, affordability, and practicality. Today I wanted to share with you some contemporaneous quotes from those who used the Divinhood and shared their success stories with Miller and Dunn themselves.

"We want to thank you for building it and congratulate ourselves for buying it."
- W. H. Ebsary, January 12, 1926

"I would not be without it."
- E. F. McDonald, Jr., September 29, 1927

"This is to inform you that since the receipt of the Divinhood we purchased from you two weeks ago, we have recovered over $500.00 worth of merchandise that had gone overboard in Biscayne Bay and could not be found by skin divers. It has already paid for itself."
- John. T. Bennett, July 1st, 1925

"I sat down on a convenient rock, shut my eyes and recited to myself, 'I am not at home, nor near any city or people; I am far out in the Pacific near a desert island, sitting on the bottom of the ocean; I am deep down in the water in a place where no human being has ever been before; it is one of the greatest moments of my whole life; thousands of people would pay large sums, would forego much for five minutes of this!' "
- William Beebe, New York Zoological Society, December 25th, 1925

William Beebe in the Miller-Dunn Style 2 Divinhood

All quotes taken from American Dive Catalog Collection by Ray Mathieson.

-Erin, Manager of Collections and Administration