Chip

Rosenberg, Normally, the field badge is attached to a looped wire that is pushed down into a slot just behind the eagle's head. Anyway, except for the missing silk liner and the bit of reshaping that has to be done, you have yourself one of the most desirable shakos that was worn in the German army (an officer from an elite unit). Congratulations! Chip

Rosenberg, If you have the shako, can't you just pull the field badge out and take a picture? I don't own a Prussian officer's shako, but you can look at one here... http://www.kaisersbunker.com/dunkelblau/helmets/ There's a Prussian J?ger officer's helmet on the left about 3/4 down the page. This is a very similar eagle to the one that would be on your helmet. Notice the "holes" in the crown on the eagle plate. This is what I was refering to earlier. Chip

Rosenberg, The officer's shako would have the same general design of the Prussian eagle on the helmet plate, but normally of a nicer finish and with a pierced or voided crown. We cannot see what the crown on the eagle looks like, because it is obscured by the field badge in your photos. I was assuming that it is an officers. I am a long time collector and pretty much out of touch with current prices (living in the past). All I could tell you is that something this rare would be several thousands of dollars. The only way to know for sure these days is to run something on an auction and see what the market price really is. From what I have seen, setting your own price often leads to you getting what you ask for, but losing a whole lot more. There seem to be few collectors with spending limits! Chip

Rosenberg, It looks like an officer's shako from one of the Prussian line Maschingewehr Abteilungen. These were relatively small units and items from them are highly collected. They were in existence from 1901 until very early in the war, when reorganization of the MG troops made them redundant. It looks fine from what I can see. The silk lining is missing, but this is a fairly minor detail. Chip

Ramblin, Yes, that's the show. The only one we have here all year. The only thing that keeps me going the rest of the year is being on the collections committee of the National WWI Museum at the Liberty Memorial. The long awaited and hugely expanded museum opens up this coming armistice day. What an event that will be! The new auditorium is already open with a WWI lecture series going on this year, as well as a long running WWI movie night. The new research library, displays designed by the company that did the Holocaust Museum and everything else will guarantee that I will be spending a lot of time there. I hope to give tours when I retire someday. I would enjoy meeting you. Perhaps next year. I just hope that the rather poor public attendance does not drive away too many out of state dealers. It may force me to go to some other regional shows. A friend tells me that there is a good one in Minneapolis this fall. Best regards, Chip

Chris, I totally understand. I have a lot of material that I hope to use for a book some day and though I would love to show it now, no one likes to buy a new book and see a bunch of period photos that they have seen before. If it is done by the same artist who did the well-known 'Das Deutsche Alpenkorps" EK document, then I am sure it is very nice to behold. I can wait until it appears in print. Chip

Thanks Ulsterman, Ouch, well, like I said, it was cheap ($15.00) and I made out pretty well on the MMO and the lifesaving medals. So, you win some and you lose some. Best regards, Chip

Gerd, Thanks for your comments. Do you know what ribbon it is that is on the Landwehr Dienstauszeichnung? I do not have a referece for ribbons. Chip

Thanks all. The medal is marked "950" and "J.L." on the back of the suspension and "900" and "J.L." on the back of one of the swords. Unfortunately, the only reference I own is a 1978 Nimmergut pocket catalog and it is not very clear about how to identify the classes of the MVO. I also ran across a Prussian lifesaving medal with ribbon and a Bavarian Landwehr Dienstauszeichnung II.Kl. with ribbon, once again, so inexpensive that I could not pass on them, not knowing what they are worth. I can't find out much about the latter. None of the usual websites show or discuss it. Must be something very common, but I had not seen one before. It's the same small size as the lifesaving medal. Chip

I guess I have been reading this forum and its antecedent for about a year now. Prior to this, I had collected imperial German items for nearly forty years, having gotten only two medals in my collection. I will never be a medal collector on the scale of most of the participants here...far from it. But I do love the history and all that is contained in the stories of owners of these medals of another time. I have learned a lot and am thankful for the vast knowledge of others here. Today, at a local show, I was fortunate enough to find the medal shown below. A year ago, I probably would not even have asked to see it. A year ago, I would not have asked how much it was. I still don't know anything about prices and don't have much hobby money anyway, but I knew enough from reading here that this was a good one. I'm embarrassed to say how cheap it was. The guy wanted the same price for the copper version with sword and crown and no ribbon. So, even with a flake or two missing, I finally have a very nice medal. Chip

So Rick, please excuse these, perhaps, novice questions, but is the maker of this bar using original ribbons? It seems to be a chore to find nice original ribbons and would not newer ribbons show up under a blacklight? Are good ribbons being abused here, if not, why would someone use newer ribbons that could be easily detected? Chip

Daniel, Nice find. They are pretty much just like mine with the exception of the longer strap. Definitely keepers! Chip

Chris, This one looks to be from the imperial era, but that leather strip is not one that I am familiar with. My guess is that it is from the postwar period, when plenty of leather was available again. The final patterns of the wartime canteens had little to no leather on them. Chip

Jens, Fortunately, I already have two of these! At today's prices, I could not afford to buy one. The last set like this that sold on ebay brought much less, approximately $720.00, but that was a few years ago. Inflation runs rampant with high demand items of militaria. Chip

Chris, The artillery M17 canteen was the standard canteen, but with a shoulder strap. It had a harness. Read about it in the two volume set of Kraus from 1999. Chip

Dan, I can't say that I have seen one like this, but typically, imperial era armbands do not have makers marks. I have about seven different examples and none have maker's marks. To me, this is more typical of the 1930's and 40's. A few of mine do have ink stamps , but they are unit stamps, similar to the stamps on EK documents. Chip

Rick, Nice photos. I'm not sure if I have ever seen that "asterisk" insignia. Speaking of insignia, do you have a complete list of the possible Laufbahn patches? I have often wondered if my references were complete. Another thing that I am unclear about is what the regulations were as to when the metal insignia were worn as opposed to the cloth embroidered patches. Chip

Mike, I don't have much in the way of dress apparel. My original goal was to build a Matrosen Regiment outfit. Back in the 1980s I was lucky enough to get a set of the M02 naval landing forces gear. This included a red/brown navy rucksack, a black leather cartridge bandolier, four single cartridge pouches, mess kit, belt and buckle, canvas and leather gaiters and entrenching shovel with carrier. Over the following years I have added mostly naval fatigue clothing. The only thing that I am still looking for is an issue Collani (?berzieher). OK, maybe a gray cotton canvas cap too. Hey Rick, Keep the faith, it happens. Here are a few of those Maat patches. Chip

Mike, I started collecting these thirty years ago, when nobody wanted them. Put together a nice collection, then the prices went loco and I stopped. There is information out there, though it takes a lot of sources to put together a list of the possible rates that existed. I would still have a long way to go to get them all, as there were changes over the years and various levels in each specialty. It's an interesting field, but like many other things, about dried up. Here are a few more. Chip

Chris, It looks like a very nice example. Very little enamel damage. Excellent price too! Chip

Chris, That is a good picture of the M18 mask, but I think that metal outlet valve is a postwar addition. Too bad they did not show the carrying can. Chip

Well, once again, according to Kraus, there were lots of small differences. He even has a drawing of one on page 355 of his 1999 book. The shape of the leather was different, in that the top corners were squared, not rounded as on the M17. The spoked reinforcements (Spinne) were gone from the eyepieces. The string on the front of the M17 was replaced by a strap, which hooked to a squared off loop at the bottom front (Mundring). The elastic head straps were configured differently. Production of this mask was to have started in October of 1918. I don't think I have ever seen an example. Chip

Rick, About ten years or more ago, someone found a large cache of these aspirant insignia. All of them were from the Maschinist specialty. I have one of them and kick myself for not getting the other two that you have when I had the chance. Here's a scan of three favorite rates from my collection. Chip

Chris, Can you make out if there is a date in the circular ink stamp? I am wondering if this can could be for the 1918 mask. I have seen these cans before and I had always assumed that the four bent strips of metal were to raise the filter off of the floor of the can. In reading through Kraus, he makes an interesting statement regarding the fold of the mask to fit it into the can. He says that the neck strap of the 1918 mask was to be stored at the bottom of the can, underneath the filter. These "spacers" might be there to create that free area under the mask. You don't see these cans too often, but you don't see M18 gas masks either. Of course, if the can is dated 1917, my whole theory is out the window! Chip

Chris, I can tell you that, according to the "Index to the German Forces in the Field. Oct.1917" the company was part of Milit?r=Eisenbahn=Direktion VI, which was headquartered at Brest-Litovsk (Eastern theater). Chip