hunyadi

the bottom of the box - notice the same paper as your Sports Medal.

Reverse of the medal -

And the interior proper - silver plate has tarnished the lining a bit.

Yes - here is the specific DSM we talked about. The other one in the photo is gone now, The odd thing about it is the ribbon bar as the ribbon is of a brighter color. The explination can be that the medal was mounted on a medal bar (they were designed so that the medal just slid off easily) and therefore got more direct sunlight than the ribbon bar. To this day I have never seen a cloth ribbon bar on a uniform or in any period photos. The preference was the smaller plastic pieces that one purchased seprately. So these ribbon bars simply stayed in the box more than not. Or - sometime in its life someone added it to the box?? Anyhow - the second thing about this is the 'transitional' box. By the mid 1950's the government had sought to streamline the boxes by trying to make them standard. The recess for the medal was set at one size about 35-37mm. Even though there were still medals in the 40mm range - oh well, just stuff them in there was the mentality! This particular medal is 35mm in diameter though. What I am trying to convey is that the boxes during this time no longer were made for specific medals. It was one size fits all. Even though there were still several sizes of boxes being produced. This particular one is of the smaller size 102mm x 74mm x 22. Others are 138mm x 82mm x 22mm (and many other variations!). What makes it 'transitional' is that it is completely devoid of national symbolism. So it was likely manufactured in late 1956-58. The new coat of arms was designed in 1957 but like everything else it took time to cut the dies, make the decisions on how big the embilum should be etc... So the factories refrained for a few years. Also waht proves that this is a 1950's era is the paper scuff pad on the bottom. When you see the plad, or a brown marble, or a dark brown you can be certain that it was manufactured between 1949-1958 (ish). After that they had plain red scuff pads or it was simply left bare. However the idea of producing in the socialist world meant that production was everything - so more boxes were needed than what was issued. I have some medals that were clearly awarded in the 1970's - even have the plasitc inserts (1970's era) but still have the colored paper scuff plates and constructed of wood and red leatherette. Clearly a product from old stock sitting in the warehouse that was never used. Anyhow - history lesson over - here are the pics.

Hi Sam - can we see more photos of the Paratrooper Tunic - they are really rare! Here is mine - no medal loops, belived that the owner was KIA in the 1941 Balkan campaign. Rank is corporal, tunic was manufactured in 1938 and the collar was converted in 1939-40 per regulations. First type paratrooper badge.

yes it has it all

Munkas-Paraszt Hatalomert Emlekerem - These are my favorite of all the Hungarian Peopel's Republic - mostly because it was the only 'combat' award given to Hungarians. Though in reality not everyone who got one was involved in direct combat with the revolutionary forces - it still is the only awawrd given during an armed conflict on Hungarian soil after WW2.

Quick and dirty translation of the document - from top to bottom - The Hungarian People's Republic Presidents Council to Kuldunov Alekszandr Ivanovics an Airforce Marshal of the Ministry of Defense the Hungarian Nation expresses to the activity of the Heoric Liberators, that developed connection between the Hungarian People's Republic and the Soviet Union and the deepening of the two peoples connecting friendship, express to aknowledge sucessful work [and] heroic activity by recognising The Hungarian People's Republic With adorned Laurel Wreath the Order of the Hungarian Flag to be awarded east Budapest, 1985, April 4th day signature of the Hungarian Peoples Republic President of the Presidents Council and HPR Presidents council secratry. Its one of a kind.....

Notice the difference in color? The earlier style - awarded between 1954-1956 was only bestowed 5,375 times. The latter (1957) was bestowed 37,619 times. After 1964 when Service Awards were created (for specific lengths of time 10,15,20,25,30,35&40 years) the Metorious Service Medal remained but was awarded for specific work over a period of time.

Hi Guys - Dave - yours is not off topic as I recall that one was awarded in the 1970's - If I recal correctly you had the award document with it? It was one of 165 awawrded in 1976. Since there was the award documetn with the group - you win the prize for the most rare. Never see the award documents. The badge was gilded according to my source. Here is another nice one with a bit of history - Meritorious Service Medal 1957 version (or is it?) When the national coat of arms changed in 1957 there were still quite a bit of old 1949-56 coat or arms medals in warehouses. Also if you had been awarded an older style medal (49-56') and were still in "service" (both civilian and armed forces) you were required to turn your old medals in for replacement. Then they were destroyed or altered in the factory. This model is clearly a 1949-56 model as the blue enamel field is a darker blue than the 1957 model. The only thing that they did was knock off the old coat of arms and replace it with a new one.

Here is a rare one - Order of the Red Star. Post 1956 version (dont have my reference in front of me) but about 1600 ever awarded. This one is mint and was probably manufactured in the 1970's.

Hello - first post - here goes - This is a very rare variant of the Excellent Workers Badge (over 300 variants from 1949-1991) This is an early 1949 to possibly 1952 excelent workers badge given to individulas who worked for the Hungarian Military Sports organization. Could have been a manager, coach, program director, etc... What makes this even more unique is the letter and number combination. This was the first method of numbering Hungarian badges, but was quickly phased out by 1950 as it was deemed just too complex of a system. By 1954 almost all forms of Workers Badges were awarded without serial numbers. The case is of interest as it is a later verison 1952-55 era. You an tell this by the patterned paper bottom scuff pad. This is seen oncases until 1956 - after just plain red leatherette or for some workers badges - just bare white cardboard. This type of case is not however unique to the badge as several sport related badges followed the recessed pattern. It is probable that the badge was made in 1949 or early 1950; sat in the warehouse and then was later matched up with the case and then awarded in the mid 1950's. Unfortunatly - there is little resources to research the badge as records of such are long lost and in all probability the badge was awarded with a document that had a serial number that had nothing to do with the badge. However you can tell that this is early quality as the enamel is near WW2 standards. Had I said its rare - its probably one of only a handful that are not in a Hungarian landfill. Regards CD