Wyomingguy

Just acquired it for my collection. A nice cdv bearing the imprint of Weitzmann from Vienna. Curious as to what the badge is on the subject's tunic. Thanks in advance! Peter

Thank you Andreas. He is certainly proud of his medals and it would be fascinating to know his career and how received them. Peter

Glad you enjoy Cody. Trail Town remains open although our season for tourists is waning with the arrival of fall. The Irma Hotel with the bison headed backbar is also still here open and functioning. Of course the big museum to see is the Buffalo Bill Center of the West with seven football fields of treasures including the Cody Firearms Museum (which just went through a $12 million renovation). Thanks for asking.

It is certainly a massive star. It does not seem to have any center medallion so perhaps more ornamental than an award or citation.

One of my favorites with truly war weary expressions.

thanks for the translation. Sorry it did not reveal much but I appreciate knowing what it says.

thank you everyone!

Any thoughts on what the large star is? Pretty darn showy Thanks for the information on the color scheme. That is the one challenge that older photographs have in not seeing the colors. I have a challenge as well when folks ask about the age of the subject. I have dated photographs of my great grand parents and I would never have guessed their age in looking at them. The world was tougher and harsher and faces aged for sure. So the subject in this image could be 40's, 50's, 30's?

Good evening, I am not a collector of Japanese militaria but I do seek out interesting images of people wearing orders and medals. This one came into my collection as I was fascinated to see the Portuguese Order of Christ (or so I believe) as the second medal on his chest. When I got the image, I saw there was writing on the reverse. Not being skilled in French, I am hoping one of our more astute members can help in identifying him and his story. I assumed that the Order of Christ was restricted to Roman Catholics so that makes the image even more intriguing. Happy to be corrected on my assumptions. Thanks. Peter

Any thoughts on what the large star is?

Thank you BlackcowboyBS for the information on the medals. He clearly was proud of them to wear them for this photograph. I am attaching a detail of the medals. The original image is pretty clear for sure so hopefully this helps with additional information. Love to know his career. Eric...here is a photograph of the badge. My daughter is a stay-at-home-college-student due to Covid so she is happy to have the diversion from her studies. And dad is happy to let her go at it. The badge in the photograph seems to be identical to yours .Hard to tell how it is mounted as he is wearing such a dark suit and the badge is a bit out of focus in the original. Thanks for the compliment about my collection. I have been buying photographs for a long time and I hunt for images of medal wearers which is pretty esoteric. Having moved across the country several times, photographs are a more portable (sort of) way of having a big collection.

eric....will ask my daughter who is my photo expert to see if she can shoot and enlarge that area. May have to wait til tomorrow. Peter

that is impressive...thank you so much Eric. Were these privately sold or issued by a society or a group? The photo is a great one and among the cleanest that I have seen.

thanks....it must have been impressive to see him in color!!

cool....thank you so much!!

I just got this in the mail today and am puzzled as to who this might be and what the massive breast badge or star is on his chest. No identification as to the photographer but an old handwritten inscription notes this is "Uncle Otto Mentzel." Image is a late 19th century cabinet card format.

This is my latest eBay find. A nice photograph of a former Austrian soldier in a great hat who probably immigrated to the states in the late 19th century. The photographer is C.O. Erickson from St. Paul Minnesota. I am curious if anyone has a thought on the badge on the wearer's right side.

Not if you are trying to sell one to a blue haired maven. And of course dressing tables are called lowboys so you can have them en suite.

thanks everyone. Militaria is not the only realm of collecting where dealer-speak has created terms that supplanted what was the original name. Here in the states, antique furniture dealers created the term "highboy" to describe a chest on frame (usually on high feet). In the 18th century, when most were made, the term never existed. They were usually described as a "high case of drawers" but that does not sound nearly as catchy as a highboy so the new name stuck. I have seen a number of them over the years and even a quick check of eBay reveals quite a few for sale albeit more seem to be in Europe that in the states but that may be a quirk of what is being listed right now. I agree the term hate belt is misleading as most of the ones that I have seen have British badges. So my question beyond whether we know much about them in period is I have seen ones made up totally of German badges. So, did soldiers from the Central Powers make up these commemorative belts? Thanks all Peter

So I have always been intrigued by hate belts. I recall spotting one in a dealer's booth about thirty years ago. I hesitated and when I went back, the dealer has ripped it apart to sell the pieces. The photo below shows one being worn by a rather self-assured soldier. My question is what do we really know about how they were assembled, who used them and what were the unofficial rules about making and wearing them?

I found this Commandery member's medal to be the most unusual that I have seen. Usually, they are Latin crosses but this one clearly is based on the Iron Cross. Youngtstown had a large German population (I found a statistic that noted as of 2019 that Ohio has the highest number of people who self-identified as being of German descent and that 10% of the present population of Youngstown saw themselves as being of Germanic ancestry). So the use of this form seems logical. Masonic Knights Templar badges run the gamut with little if any uniformity. You probably know already that the 20 is the number assigned to them in the order of their chartering by the Grand Commandery of Ohio. St. John is used frequently in Masonic regalia and it references either St. John the Baptist or St. John the Evangelist. It is a very cool item and truly have never seen one like this. Usually the Commandery badges were suspended with a simple loop from a top suspension bar. Thanks again for sharing. Peter

I recall in my youth going to various patriotic hereditary society events with my mother. Many of the men were decked out like nobility with their mini medals. This bar is such an example. I find such groups fascinating as I have often likened medals and ribbons to the idea of "wearing your resume." So this group illustrates the wearers military and fraternal resume for people to see.

You rock!!! Thanks so much!!!!!!!!

This is an interesting American mini-medal bar. The first three are military issue and probably reflect a late World War 2 enlistment/draftee: Good conduct, World War 2 victory, Army occupation medal. The next two are the Masonic medals reflecting Masonic Knights Templar membership including the Masonic Knight of Malta and Masonic Knights Templar. The last medal is a Veterans of Foreign Wars member's medal. An interesting albeit not particularly distinguished group but the only one that I have ever seen incorporating Masonic mini-medals into the larger bar. Unmarked on the reverse and not particularly well made. Would be curious to see other mini-medal bars incorporating military and Masonic medals

I ask as I have seen a fair number of fraternal society badges and they follow fairly similar patterns. These, with the iron cross seem very distinctive. Really appreciate your posting them. If I may ask, I would be curious as to what you think this is. It is a very tinny star with a Stuttgart makers mark on the reverse. The Bostonia around the image of the owl suggests an American origin. It came from an American ebay seller. I am wondering if it is an Austria-Hungarian friendship society from Boston? This may not be the right spot to post but hoping you can help.