In 1919, a section of Park Avenue was transformed into "Victory Way" displaying two enormous pyramids made of German army helmets. 85,000 German army helmets, to be exact.

The 'pickelhaube' pyramids: How 12,000 spiked helmets captured from Germans soldiers in WWI were piled high on New York's 'Victory Way' in 1919 as part of epic post-war weapons and equipment sell ...

It might seem macabre in retrospect, given that every helmet could represent a dead soldier, but the German pickelhaube was a widely known symbol of the enemy throughout the war. With its ...