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199I%u2019m not sure there%u2019s another Australian consumer product that%u2019s both as glorious and as ridiculous as the Stackhat. This iconic, all-purpose safety helmet came into our lives in 1983. In the heady days of the early 1980s, %u2018child safety%u2019 was a reasonably new concept, and%u00a0 questions such as %u2018Should I leave my kids alone with strangers?%u2019, %u2018Is it okay to drink and drive with the kids in the back?%u2019 and %u2018They can play with fireworks, can%u2019t they?%u2019 were deemed multiple choice. But change was in the air. The might of the West Indies on the cricket field saw Australian batsmen reluctantly don protective helmets around the same time as the BMX bike craze swept the nation. Suddenly, safety was a thing. Not every kid could have a helmet like their heroes on TV, or wear a professional crash helmet for doing tricks on their Mongoose BMX, but they could have a Stackhat. Designed and made in Victoria, Rosebank%u2019s Stackhat %u2013 the hat you wear in case you have a stack %u2013 was perfectly positioned to capitalise on this new interest in minimising trips to the casualty ward. Reminiscent of an ice hockey helmet or skateboarding helmet, but with far more padding, the Stackhat was deemed one of the few bike helmets on the market that adhered to %u2018Australian safety standards%u2019, so in about 1990, when Australia became one of the first countries in the world to%u00a0 introduce compulsory bike-helmet laws, Rosebank was in the box seat. Mostly available in white, yellow and pink, they were the obvious companion gift to go with new bikes at Christmas, and our photo albums are full of happy kids showing o%u00a0 their new bikes with oversized helmets perched crookedly on their heads.They didn%u2019t always stay on those heads; many were taken o%u00a0 as soon as the wearer was out of sight of watchful parents and unceremoniously %u2018chucked in the bushes%u2019. Although the Stackhat was designed to be used for cricket, horse riding and skiing (some early models came with face protectors, visors and sunshields), it will always be predominantly remembered as a bike helmet. Did they save lives? Potentially. Did they look a bit shit? Definitely, but that%u2019s part of their enduring charm. In the end, the proliferation of overseas-made helmets and competition from Rosebank%u2019s own more streamlined helmets sounded the death knell for the Stackhat, but not before nearly two million of the bloody things sold. Those huge sales numbers are the reason the humble Stackhat remains a ubiquitous symbol of Australian childhoods of the 1980s and early 1990s.YEAR 1983DESIGNER & MANUFACTURER RosebankThe hat you wear in case you have a stack was perfectly positioned to capitalise on this new interest in minimising trips to the casualty ward.