Chuck In Oregon

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No end in sight.

More.

Oh, yeah. There's LOTS more.

More.

I don't know where to start. These items are from the collection of the artist I mentioned in The Lounge.

And the rest of it. Looks like a pretty complete uniform, but what do I know?

This is from the collection of the artist I mentioned in The Lounge. If I recall correctly, it is a Civil War Nationalist officer's uniform.

This is from the collection of the artist I mentioned in The Lounge. It is said to have been taken during the Makin Island raid. I know these have a name, I just don't recall what it is. It's something that family and friends signed for good luck before a soldier shipped out.

This is from the collection of the artist I mentioned in The Lounge. If there is a better forum for recruiting posters, I invite you to move it there.

When he took this in to be framed the frame shop mis-understood and dry-mounted it instead. What a shame, but it still looks pretty good.

I just got back last night from a month in Tbilisi. Things there are pretty tense these days and, as always, pretty screwed up, but this isn't the place for that conversation.

Among the new treasures I brought home was the Avers-8 that I paid for last May. It had to come down from Moscow for me to pick up in Georgia on my then-next visit. It wasn't yet available when I was in Moscow in Oct. 2007. I paid $300 for it back in May and a friend brought it to Tbilisi for me as a favor during my absence. I hear they're going for around $250 now so if you waited you saved some money IF you can still find one. I also heard that they are no longer generally available.

That is certainly a high price for a badge book but this is one heck of a badge book. It purports to be both a catalog and valuation of Soviet badges from 1917-1980 although it includes some late-era badges as well. It is BIG book, full-size, hard-bound and 736 numbered pages, It is very nicely made, good cover (although it is so big that the binding needed to be even stronger than it is), high-quality glossy paper, great photos. It has some illustrations where original examples could not be produced. They are helpful and there aren't too many for my taste. It includes 3,793 numbered photos and illustrations and many additional un-numbered photos and illustrations in support of the topics at hand. This includes gramotas and photos of people wearing the badges shown in that particular section. I really like that touch. There are excellent photos of reverses and screwplates as well but some of us might have wanted even more of those. The book also has some excellent supporting data and information that goes beyond just dates of manufacture, but even those are very helpful.

The book includes hat badges as well, which I like. I have, for instance, an NKVD gulag guard's hat badge which I hadn't seen depicted elsewhere, raising my doubts as to its authenticity. This book has a great photo of one (item 1855a.) that confirms it is what I thought it is. Nice. I would have liked more badges from the republics. That would have added a lot but it was probably just too much to include in a book already this big. I know there is a comprehensive book out there somewhere but I've only seen one once and it wasn't for sale.

As for values, I just don't know. Earlier Avers catalogs were said to have listed notoriously low-ball prices. These prices don't seem to me to be way out of line, with this caveat: My guess is that this book, dated only "Moscow 2008" went to print in late 2007 or so. Prices were high and climbing then and this book may have bet a little bit on a continued rise in prices. Like everyone else, they didn't foresee an economic downturn or a general flattening or pullback in the prices of Soviet collectibles. The prices in this book may actually tend toward the high side as opposed to many observations of previous Avers editions.

That's about it for the book. If anyone has any questions I'll try my best to answer them for you. Once I get my latest purchases cataloged I'll share some of them here as well. You're going to like them, I'm sure.

Chuck

The crossed swords over the shield suggest state security to me. The shield isn't the traditional Soviet design, of course, but I've seen other early Transcaucasus state security badges with regional shield designs instead of the one we usually think of. Just a thought.

If it's a conversion, do you know what the original looked like? Is there an example somewhere? Back in the day it was common to produce local awards that didn't fit into any general guidelines.

Nice badge, though. Thanks for sharing it.

Chuck

Chuck!!

Welcome back.

How are the kids?

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The kids are just great. I spent the day out at Telavi last Saturday. No health problems at all, which was a nice surprise. Schoolwork is going great there, too. Our teachers and coaches and the government's teachers are doing fine jobs. There's more meat and greens to eat than there has ever been but we still supplement.

The government has fostered out the smallest ones and that program seems to be working pretty well. At least, as far as anyone knows since they don't have many social workers to follow up. There are only 88 older kids left now, including the poor kids that weren't "cute enough" to get fostered. We delivered the penpal letters and got a lot of pictures. I'll post a Kodak album after I get home.

My darlin' wife was here for my middle two weeks. She left early this morning. I go home on the same flight a week from today. Meanwhile I've still go to do my last week's work but I'll have Friday off. Work has gone pretty well but the EU way of doing things takes some getting used to. I wound up teaching three 2-day workshops which hardly seems worth the effort or money but they've turned out well. I'll keep the money, of course, but I could have done more and they just wouldn't have it. Their way makes the project last longer and pumps up the billable days, my way gets more done sooner. As always, they pay the money and they get to make those kinds of decisions. I know the host isn't very happy with their way but that's the way it's going to be.

I'm bringing back some great collectibles and photos. I went through them all again today. I'll be sharing when I get back.

Chuck

I think those badges commemorate a jubilee of Lenin's death. I have 1-2 back home. I'm in Tbilisi for another week so I can't check. I've never seen a photo of one being worn, much less three, and on a uniform no less. I also didn't know they were worn on a cloth backing.

Edit: No, 20-Year Jubilee of the Revolution.

That is a way strange photo. I don't know what to make of it. I think I'll reserve my right of skepticism.

Chuck

Hey Doc

I'm in Tbilisi right now with my good friend and historian Boria. He says your guy is Russian gendarmes, police cavalry command, post-1907. If you can post a closer scan, he'll try to ID shoulder straps and details for you if he can.

Chuck

I think this is a WW I Russian soldier in field uniform M1907-1909, no shoulder boards.

Chuck

I'll take a guess.

On the right, a private of #13 Pioneer Bn. in WW I field uniform.

On the left, a private of #9 Pioneer Bn. also WW I era. He's wearing a custom-tailored uniform, though, including privately-made officer-style shoulder boards. He's flaunting the uniform regs but by then, not many really cared, I imagine. He was stylin'.

Nice pix. Thank you for sharing them.

Chuck

Very interesting photo. Do you suppose he is Osoaviakhim cadre?

Thanks for sharing this one.

Chuck

Out west here we might think of those two as pimp guns or garter guns or gamblers' specials, especially that folding-trigger hideaway.

No disrespect meant to pimps or gamblers, of course.

Chuck

There are more and, if there is any interest, I can add more later.

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Great topic. Yes, I would like to see what else you have and to read anything anyone has to say about these.

Somewhere around here I have 1-2 badge prototypes from the estate of the one-time quartermaster-general (equivalent, I suppose) of the Georgian SSR. No design drawings, though.

Chuck

Who knew?

I've never seen one either. I have a box of 100 or more unsorted veterans' badges. I just went through them to see if I might have one of these hiding in there. Nope, nary a one.

Thanks for the lesson seb16trs.

Chuck

Thanks, Ed. I've acquired (paid for) some good things since my visit in May. It's time to bring them home. In addition to the hardware I'll have a bunch of new photos. I'll also be bringing back at least a dozen Ste. Evgenia Society postcards. I am particularly attracted to those lovely cards and my friend located a small group of them for me, more than doubling my own collection of them.

Chuck

Many thanks for this.

We need to do all we can to stop what seems to be the slide into silence in these non-German fora.

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You're sure right about that. I don't have much new to share right now but I'll be in Tbilisi Jan.17 - Feb. 14. I'll be bringing back some pretty interesting things and I'll certainly share them here.

Great photo, slava.

Chuck