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I've seen images of both cars and motorcycle drivers at Brooklands pre-WWI wearing the equestrian derived shellacked canvas helmets, and believe they were required for cycles at the time. WWI French aviators are pictured in forms of hard helmets.

In the '30s, there are photos of T.E.Lawrence wearing a hard helmet, which he advocated, but unfortunately not wearing in his fatal accident in 1935. Some hard helmets of the '30s had hard, hinged ear flaps. In 1941, Dr. Cairns convinced the Royal Army to require hard helmets for their dispatch riders, and they appeared in big numbers post war on surplus markets, used by racers.

Even before WWII test pilots started wearing full (football inspired?) helmets and during wartime testing for all aircraft, it became de rigueur for English and American test pilots to wear full coverage hard helmets, with the term 'jet pilot helmet' becoming common vernacular.

?

By March, '48 the P-1A became required for all Air Force pilots, using web support, and these became common in sports car racing then.