Gordon Craig

Back of the Munkasor badge showing the number.

Last week I was lucky enough to come across a dress tunic to the Munkasor. The tunic belongs to a fairly high ranking member. The term "rank" does not really apply to the Munkasor structure. The collar tabs don't indicate rank in a military sense of the word. They indicate assignment positions. There are two distinct assignment structures that I still need to do some work on before I fully understand them. There is an assignment structure for what appears to be a Headquarters Group and another assignment structure for those in the field or the rest of the country. Without an organization chart to go by I can not be sure just how this all comes together. The collar tabs on this tunic indicate the previous owner was in a group called "MOP TORZS" in the assignement Group not at a headquarters. Assignment positions range from T1 down to T12 with this collar tab indicating a level of T3. The Munkasor badge is of the early stamped type and numbered. Next to that is a Kivalo Munkasor badge. The ribbon bars is for, from the viewers left to right reads: Labour Merit Medal, Merit Medal for Socialist Labour, then a 20 year service medal. The crest on the lower left sleeve indicates the wearer was associated with the Munkasor National Men's Chorus. The shirt and tie are not authentic but are the correct colur for this uniform. Regards, Gordon

Ulsterman, Sorry, but I do not know what the book is in picture number 3. The museum is worth another visit and I'll try and remember to check it out while I am there. I am not sure what you mean about "three or four different types of ribbons on these type alone". Both professional and Volunteer Firemen have the same system/type of ribbon colours. A red ribbon with the Hungarian national colours and a light grey stripe next to them. Sometimes in the centre of the ribbon and sometimes on the edge. It is a complex subject and rather than go into it hear I'll wait until I post what I have already written on the Volunteer Fireman's Service Medal and then move on to the others. I thought I would have it posted by now but every time I think I am through I get some more information. Regards, Gordon

Ulsterman, Interesting T?rzsg?rda pins. These pins normally come with the name of the company on them as they were awarded for years of service with a specific firm. I guess these might have been awarded to someone who actually worked for the Miner's Trade Union. Take a look at my thread on T?rzsg?rda pins for more info. Regards, Gordon

Dan, I agree with Grant. You did not receive the badge pictured in the auction. There is no doubt about that. The pins at the bottom are for the hanger for indicating additional awards of this item. Regards, Gordon

Rick, These medals seem to follow this unusual pattern of straight ribbon for a cetain time period and it would seem to be the original way they were issued. In my research I have also come across these medals with the normal trifold ribbon. Of the medals inspected, the two suspension types turn up in about equal numbers although I am only talking about 10 medals here including the ones on display at the Fireman's Museum. Regards, Gordon

Ulsterman, You are right about the plethora of firemen's awards. I'll do my best to shine some light, no pun intended!, on the ones that I own. I spent time over the weekend translating stuff from the blue book on the volunteer firemen's medals with the five year bronze medal in my collection as a guide. Today I added a 10 and 20 year medal to my collection so I am a lot better equipped now to cover all the missing info in the book, and that is a lot! It will take me a few days as I want to make sure I get it right the first time. To give you an idea of how little is known about these medals, even here, the dealer I bought the 10 and 20 year medals from asked me what they were! Of course, once I told him the price went up considerably from the one I bought last week. Cheers, Gordon

coinguy89, I don't think I have any colour photos of these uniforms in wear. At least not on this computer. Most of my photo archives are stored on my hard drive in Canada. I'll have a look and see what I can find. Regards, Gordon

And a stick pin commemorating the Intercosmos series of flights as well as Soyus 36. Again, dated 1979.

I have also picked up a couple of more badges commemorating this event. The one on the left is interesting as it is made of glass.

When I started this thread it was because of the Hungarian commemorative badge for the launch of Soyus 36. It intrigued me because it was dated 1979, the original target launch date, and I wondered if Hungary had ever produced one for 1980 as well. I can now answer that question as I recent bought one at a flea market. The badge is identical except for the date. Regards, Gordon

Grant, Nice find. Glad my thread was of some use. Regards, Gordon

Gents, Questions are sometimes raised about the prices of rare items. Here is one you might want to put in your archives. This carrying document just sold on ebay.de for Euros 72.00. Regards, Gordon

Vic, For interestes sake you could add some more info like who wore the fringed "swallows nests" and who wore the unfringed ones. Also, who wore the shoulderboards. Some good research possibilities here. Regards, Gordon

Firemen's medals #4.

Firemen's medals #3.

Fireman's medals #2.

I have decided to post these pictures I took on our visit to the Fireman's Museum as a separate thread. Since the other thread is concerned primarily with uniforms we should have a reference thread that concentrates on Firemen's medals. Please cased and uncased medals plus any award documents you may have of either professional or volunteer firemen. If there are some with historical background that lead into medals issed during the period 1948-1990 please post them as well. These pictures are of a display wall in the Fireman's Museum on Martinovics Ter in Budapest. Some are dark but will have to do until we can arrange to get better ones. If that is possible.

Dan, I found some pictures last night from our Fireman's Museum visit that are worth posting. They are of medals and are dark but worth putting up. So they don't get lost in the welter, and title of a uniform, I am going to start a new thread that will just be for Firemen's medals. It can be added to be anyone then and perhaps we can build up a good resource for them that way. I picked up one Friday that will be my first actual medal post as soon as I get a chance to write it up. Cheers, Gordon

Dan, There were a lot of cased awards but not of medals. There simply was not enough time to study all there was to see nor could I understand enough (any?) of the Hungarian to recognize what I was looking at. There was a wall of medals but because of its location my pictures of the medals did not turn out. All were blurry. Charles' camera has a better resolution than mine but both have the standard problem of digital cameras that the photo is often blurry. We need to take an least two pictures of everything and even then we do not always get the desired results. I have already posted pretty much all of the good photos I have of the time frame of this forum. Perhaps when Charles returns to the city he will have time to add some of his photos. Indeed the flag is a beauty. Would love to one of that quality. Regards, Gordon

A better view of the flag used in the parade.

I've changed my mind and will add a few more pictures. Next one is a parade at the Firefighters school.

And the last post in this series, a close up of the caption for this picture.

A close up of the liner in these silver painted Russian helmets.

Next a picture of the firefighters on parade in 1958. They still appear to be wearing Rakoci era uniforms but are wearing silver Russian helmets.