Hungary Munkasor Summer Tunic/shirt

[Gordon Craig]

Greeting from the snowy hills of Buda! Winter has come to Budapest with a vengence this afternoon which makes me really glac that I went to Ecseri this morning. I went looking for something I had seen a couple of weeks ago and sure enough it had been sold. There isn't much going on in Ecseri on Sundays but I went for a stroll anyway and struck paydirt. Charles and I have been looking for some time for the regular everyday tunic/shirt type of clothing worn by the Munkasor. Well today I found one. I'll describe it before posting pictures. According the Official Service Clothing Chart this piece of clothing is worn as part of Summer Clothing Version #1. The collar tabs indicate the rank of RAJPARANCSNOK (P13). No shoulderboards are worn. Just collar tabs. This version of the summer dress calls for a ribbon bar and badges. The perlux buttons on the tunic came into Hungarian uniform use in 1965. From the material used in this shirt I would say it dates from the 80s but that is only an educated guess as the tunic is not dated.

A front view of the tunic.

[Gordon Craig]

A view of the back.

[Gordon Craig]

Collar tabs.

[Gordon Craig]

Munkasor emblem on left sleeve only.

[Gordon Craig]

The cuffs of the sleeves are buttoned together to look like a french cuff.

[Gordon Craig]

The sides of the tunic are elasticized to make it fit tight around the hips. There are also a number of tabs sewn around the waist to button to the trousers to keep the bottom of the tunic from riding up.

Edited November 11, 2007 by Gordon Craig

[Gordon Craig]

The label at the neck giving the material composition of the tunic. The small white tag below that is the size tag which reads "50".

[Gordon Craig]

There is an unusual set of buttons on the inside at the bottom of the tunic opening above and below the lowest button designed to keep the tunic closed and neat looking at all times.

[Gordon Craig]

The section of the Official Servcie Clothing chart which shows this tunic in wear.

Regards,

Gordon

[hunyadi]

Nice one! I would possibly gather that perhaps there was a manufacuture stamp at one point, but perhaps it washed off. Probably was in red ink and may have been stamped along the button seam. I would still say its from the mid 1970's to the 80's. as an educated guess.

I'm gonna post a thread on the various tunics that I have scaned from my 'top secret' book...

[Paul R]

WOW! Where are you finding all of these rarities?

[Gordon Craig]

Charles,

No sign of any faded stamps in the tunic. The material is thin and there are only two spots where it could be stamped where it would not show through the material. One would be along the bottom waistband as you suggested . The other would be along the opening of the front where there is a double layer of cloth about 2 to 3 centimetres wide. The inside piece of cloth could have been stamped and it would not show. It is very possible this type of garment was worn in the mid to late 70s as a similar garment is illustrated in the 1975 Honved Uniform Regs. Looking forward to your posting of th "secret" uniform stuff!

Paul,

Flea markets are my best source.

Cheers,

Gordon

Edited November 12, 2007 by Gordon Craig

[hunyadi]

Gordon - here is the post from the 'top secret book'. My regulations for the Munkasor from 1979. http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=23083

Can you add your rank tab information (the book is devoid of it!)

[Verdun16]

Here is a jacket that I picked up years ago at a flea market in Budapest,

Bryan

[Verdun16]

I will try to load some closeup shots as soon as I can make them a little smaller,

Bryan

[Verdun16]

[Verdun16]

[Verdun16]

[Gordon Craig]

Bryan,

Nice shirt and thanks for posting it. I'd like to make a couple of comments about the things on the shirt if I may and I hope I do not offend you. The stars on the shoulders were not worn there. They are probably the stars for the peaked caps. The two small ribbon bars would not be worn when the medals were worn. On the right breast pocket there is a large round badge on the lower right side of the pocket. Those would not be worn on this shirt. I hope this comes across as "constructive" as that is my wish. Your choice of course as to whether you leave the shirt as you bought or remove the extra badges etc.

It is not unusual for vendors in Budapest to add things to tunics to make them look more "attractive" to the buyer. The major problem with this is that they put holes in the cloth where there should not be any. Do you own any other Munkasor items that you could post on the forum?

Regards,

Gordon

[Verdun16]

Hi Gordon,

Thanks for the info and no offense taken at all. I noticed that things did appear to be added when i bought it but did not mind as HUF 1500 was not bad back in 2001 when the $ was better. Do you mean the badge with the crossed rifles and red stars on the pocket and do you know anything about this piece? The only other item I have is the cap and it's hide itself from me. Taht's the problem with moving. Thanks again,

Bryan

[hunyadi]

Verdun16 -

It is a nice tunic - but it has been done up by the locals to appeal to the tourists. The medal bar is plausable - but the plastic ribbon bars do not belong. The stars on the shoulder boards are cap badges. They never had stars on the shoulder like that. The badge on the right boket flap is probably also added on. The is a 'Hungarian Freedom Fighters Association' badge - phased out after 1956. Munksor began in 1957. The other badges above the upper right pocket are palusable - so they should remain.

All in all - its not as bad as it seems - I have seen worse when it came to drawing the appeal of the toursists. They seem to think that if they add on enough gee-gaws with red stars - the tourists will buy it...

[Verdun16]

Maybe you know the guy I bought this from. Any chance you know the flea market in the XX district? I have been buying from this guy for years and he is normally trustworthy but I have seen more and more junk over the last couple of years. Guess it's getting harder to come by good stuff these days. Thanks for the info,

Bryan

[Gordon Craig]

Bryan,

You are correct that things are geting more difficult to find. Even in the last year things have dried up considerably as well as prices escallating. Untill recently there were not a lot of computer literate people in Hungary but that has changed and a lot of dealers, and people who used to take their stuff to sell to dealers, are now selling online through Vatera.

Regards,

Gordon

[hunyadi]

Maybe you know the guy I bought this from. Any chance you know the flea market in the XX district? I have been buying from this guy for years and he is normally trustworthy but I have seen more and more junk over the last couple of years. Guess it's getting harder to come by good stuff these days. Thanks for the info,

Bryan

Quite familiar with the market - also known as Esceri Market. Very nice place to find items, but its also in evry tourist book so they folks like to 'tailor' items for more appeal.

[Verdun16]

That's thw way it is now. Buses full of people with their guidebooks in hand the last time I was there. Was so much better back in the early 90s. Times change and so do the prices,

Bryan