Fake Ribbons, ribbons, ribbons!

[Hauptmann]

Hi all,

Okay, I've finally gotten brave enough to post these. I'd done pics with my digital camera last year and showed them to Rick (Research) and had discovered that the vast majority of my ribbon collection was either fake or messed with. There are a few originals on here but I just popped them all together to do a couple of big scans. Thought it might be of interest so here it is.

Keep in mind I got these from various places throughout Florida and on our trips across country. Many were given to me or I got them for extremely cheap prices... say no more than perhaps $7 for the biggest bar... and this was all about seventeen to twenty some odd years ago.

I have a few others... some basically as parts pieces and at least one other that is the Imperial (pre WWI) piece that Rick has pretty much ID'd the original recipient for me.

[Hauptmann]

Here's the backsides... just filled them over... was really feeling lazy at that point as I'd just done a bunch of scans.

I'll be happy to do individual scans and post them but will have to work on that tomorrow if anyone would be interested in seeing them.

Anyhow hope this does some good.

Dan

[Bob Lyons]

That is a heck of an array of ribbon bars Dan, which ones came through with the thumbs up??? I knew a local dealer here in Melbourne many years ago who was doing long ribbon bars using original ribbons and devices, and he did a real good job but mucked up their order of precedence etc, the First World War ribbons lose me completely too! Your Luftwaffe singles and doubles with the long service ribbons look ok to me! The Schiffer book on ribbon bars was going to be on my purchase list until I heard that most of the ribbons in that book were not good either, it seems ribbon bars are a bit of a nightmare!

Bob

[Hauptmann]

That is a heck of an array of ribbon bars Dan, which ones came through with the thumbs up??? I knew a local dealer here in Melbourne many years ago who was doing long ribbon bars using original ribbons and devices, and he did a real good job but mucked up their order of precedence etc, the First World War ribbons lose me completely too! Your Luftwaffe singles and doubles with the long service ribbons look ok to me! The Schiffer book on ribbon bars was going to be on my purchase list until I heard that most of the ribbons in that book were not good either, it seems ribbon bars are a bit of a nightmare!

Bob

Hi Bob,

Yeah, it's a jungle for sure. Back when I got these no one really knew much, except probably for the Rick twins. And mostly folks like me would get them to dress up a uniform. I mean after years of watching all the movies and TV series on WWII we all "knew" that every German soldier from a Field Marshal to a Private had a knights cross and all the iron crosses and anything else you could think of and they just had to have a huge "Where Eagles Dare" ribbon bar to match!

Then, twenty to twenty-five years later I get on GMIC and "grow up" and learn just how much BS all that was re: ribbon bars. Of course I'd long ago learned the falsity of the other theory and that most of them had perhaps one or two awards or a bit more had they seen combat.

I originally did the best photos of these that I could and showed them to Rick (Research) on the side as to be honest if they turned out to be bad I would have been terribly embarrassed. Thankfully I got most of these for dirt. I don't think I ever paid more than like $7 or thereabouts for the longest one. Many were just given to me over the years. Funny thing was that due to their condition Rick thought perhaps they'd all come from one source at one time. But they were literally from all over the country and at all different times.

And the ultimate shame is that even if I wanted to sell them off, I could put them on Ebay and get tons for them. But I won't because then they just get spread back out there and other newbie collectors will get taken for a ride. I figure I've got dirt in them and so I just keep them in the collection and hopefully they'll just get passed down with the knowledge of which are good and which are not.

I plan to do proper scans of each bar at some point, hopefully in the near future. But that's going to be very time consuming so I have to get a block of a couple of days where I have nothing else to do and then I'll jump in. Then hopefully if one or both of the Rick's have time they can pop on now and then and give opinions on each and why each is good or bad, what is bad about them, etc. I just finally figured that if, by doing this it will benefit even one other collector then it's worth it.

So keep your eyes peeled as before too long you can come back and see good closeups and know which are which.

Thanks again and I hope you and your's are having a great holiday weekend.

Dan

[Bob Lyons]

Thanks Dan,

I am at work at the moment, it is 5:30 a.m. and I finish at 0600, so not long to go, the joys of shiftwork!

Yeah I look forward to seeing what & why with the ribbon bars, and I did the same as you with the mannequins, and

to have a good look it must have a massive ribbon bar, I gave a stack of what I thought were bad bars away a few years back when I tried to get out of collecting, but here I am doing it again, only have a few small ribbon bars now, and still have no idea if they are good or not!

All the best to you and yours for Easter, I had better sign off, and get ready to do a hand over so I can go home!

Cheers

Bob