Pickelhauben by Eric Johansson Dr. Eric Johansson (standing) in the description department of Manion’s International Auction

Acres USA (June 1982) House, circa 1996.

In 2002, the militaria collecting community lost one of its greatest champions. Dr. Eric Johansson was a founder of Manion’s International Auction House, and a well known authority, specifically in the Imperial German arena of collecting.

In an endeavor to establish a suitable tribute to Mr. Johansson, we have started this page as a venue in which articles and observances related to the late scholar may be posted. If anyone has material they wish to contribute, please send via e-mail to alturner@manions.com, or call 866.626.4661.

Eric Johansson, PhD. (1943-2002)

By Charles Keller

Eric Johansson was the intellectual architect and co-founder of the specialized auction process that became known as Manion’s International Auction House, a firm he remained involved with for many years.

Son of Swedish immigrants, Eric grew up in New York City where he purchased his first collectible - a 14^th century sword – at the tender age of 14. Some of his happy reminisces about growing up in New York City and being part of Howdy Doody’s Peanut Gallery appeared in the pages of Manion’s Trendline magazine during the last years of his life.

Eric earned his PhD in English and Masters Degree in Medieval History from the University of Kansas. He was proficient in no less than six languages, including Latin, French, Spanish, German, Old and Middle English.

At the time of his passing he was a professor of English at Kansas City, Kansas Community College, a position he had held since the early 1980s.

Eric was a life-long collector of medieval weapons and armor. His home was a veritable museum, boasting complete suits of armor, including medieval Japanese and a set of Swedish armor for both lancer and horse.

He was best known as an expert in Imperial German and general European militaria, though his expertise ranged quite literally through most of recorded human history - from Ancient Egypt through the Second World War. He published nine books, many of which dealt directly with history and military collectibles. His best-known work was Pickelhauben, an industry-standard reference on Imperial German spike helmets.

Eric’s photographic memory supported an encyclopedic knowledge of history. In one breath he could take you from the glittering age of Imperial Germany back to one of the great Caesars of Rome, recounting with astonishing accuracy the dates of a particular Caesar’s reign and notable events of his life.

His last project was a book about the Our Lady of the Angels School fire in Chicago on December 1, 1958, a tragedy that claimed the lives of ninety-two children and three nuns. After extensive interviews with survivors and families, the manuscript was completed shortly before his death in September 2002 and is still awaiting publication.

I worked closely with Eric at Manion’s and stayed in touch well after he left there in May 2002. His health declined rapidly that summer, but his warmth, kindness and devotion to his friends remained. Although his final phone call to me just days before he passed away seemed rather cryptic at the time, I now understand that aside from inquiring about my newborn daughter, he was saying farewell.

Eric, it was a pleasure knowing you. Vi ska ses igen.

Charles Keller is a former Manion’s employee, and is currently the Director of Research for Sunflower Auction. He is a published military and cultural historian, consultant, lecturer and collector. He serves on the National WWI Museum Board of Trustees Executive Committee, and is a member of the H.G. Wells Society.

A Tribute to Eric Johansson

By Jim Sobery

Please join me as my memory reverts to the middle of the 1960’s. I was a 20 year-old student at Southwest Missouri State, and an enthusiastic collector of imperial German militaria.

At that time few references were available besides “Helmets and Headdress of the Imperial German Army” by Col. Rankin. Eric Johansson and I met through “The Shotgun News” advertisements, and from time to time would interact to exchange items. Sharing a similar outlook, our trades always included the satisfaction of improving each other’s collections besides gaining information and knowledge.

Sometimes we laughed at what little we knew, but that didn’t stop us continuing our quest. We named a colorful bayonet tassel “the tutti-frutti model” before we learned it had belonged to a Wurttemberg one-year volunteer. Eric was consistently scholarly and pleasant, lacking the hard driving personality possessed by some acquisitive collectors.

As the Vietnam War was raging in the latter 1960’s I became an armored officer and experienced combat in the 3^rd Infantry Regiment and 1^st Cavalry Regiment. After my return the fledgling Manion’s International Auction House had begun operation, and I enjoyed attending gun and militaria shows with Eric and Ron Manion. Manion’s was convenient for selling and buying, since I occasionally bought militaria in bulk.

The most fulfilling thing that Eric and I did together was to create the “Imperial German Military Collector’s Association” in 1972. Eric bestowed the honor of first membership to Bill Yahn, a studious old collector. Membership number two belonged to Eric, and I followed as number three. Our trio—Bill, Eric, and myself—authored and printed the first issues of our publication that were financed by the sale of my donation of 100 used German spike helmet chinstraps. It was a pleasure to see this distinctive organization grow providing a professional but congenial forum for sharing information.

Bill Yahn died three decades ago, so with Eric’s passing I’m left to remember that when we first met it was fairly easy to find imperial militaria without knowing many details. Thanks to Eric, Bill, Manion’s, and many others, collectors have been enriched by a wealth of information. How rewarding it is for us to have played a vital part!