Medal/Ribbon bars and Rick L

[Colin Davie]

As someone has mentioned in another thread there is a book about to be released relating to Medal Bars, I sincerely wish Tom all the best with that project, but interestingly I must confess seeing it advertised lately I felt a little bit sad it was'nt Rick releasing such a book, of course he does'nt have a monopoly on medal or ribbon bars, no one has that on anything, but if someone could have his/her name almost synonomous with an object it is surely Rick and such bars, be they medal or ribbon.

I think the thing that has always impressed me the most with Rick, is knowing he could have - maybe even should have - put his knowledge towards making himself quite wealthy, or at least funding a collection from hell of his choosing... all he had to do was keep his knowledge - earned the hard way - to himself and pick up the anon. bars cheap, selling them on named for 200/300/400% profit sometimes even more with some of the names I've seen him troop out over the years. Instead he has always shared it free of charge and to the benefit of many.

Some behind kissing?, I don't really think so, he has never named a medal/ribbon bar for me, doubt he ever will, not really my thing, just a simple observation of something special I've witnessed over the past 9 years or so I've seen Rick on the net.

Bravo mate, you are a special human being and a credit to militaria collecting of the highest order.

C

[Guest Rick Research]

:cheers:

It never was about profit of any kind for me...

though that would be nice!

I am STILL slaving away at what will end up as being my "life's work" for the Imperial German collecting community-- transcribing, and then adding additional information to never-before published 1914-18 awards Rolls.

This is "full time" work, which meets the needs of a very small sub-community of like minded researchers--

and which from the point of "financial return for time spent"

is clinically insane.

But nobody else is GOING to ever going to get to it, so Daniel Krause and I slog along....

We've managed to inspire, encourage, and recruit others also toiling away in the Rolls mines, so 2009 will be as BIG a year for a treasure trove of new awards data as 2008 has been.

"Somebody has to do it"... and it has been NINETY YEARS waiting for us! :rolleyes:

[Ulsterman]

I agree Colin !

Never have so many benefited from so few...to paraphrase.

Rick has a depth of knowledge and 40 years worth of experience behind him.

Also, he is the direct heir of the "ancient ones' arcane lore and their observations and experience that went back to the 1940s. Much was lost with the deaths of Ludvigson, Seymour, Colson and the others.

Tony Colson, before he died, once wrote on the WAF that he'd learned more about imperial stuff in 3 months from the cyber- collective (led by Rick) than he had in thirty years beforehand. That was praise in the highest.

I just hope the book is not just a collection of photos of bars followed by lengthy descriptions.

I'll be impressed if it has an in-depth discussion of fakes, many of which are subtle and now, 40 years + old. Personally, I have identified two specific bar fakers over the past 10 years. I recognize their sewing techniques and "styles". I' d bet Stogieman, who seems to have studied items deeply and widely enough to identify specific manufacturers, has done so also (if he's studied bars).

[Stogieman]

And his Mom makes awesome cookies & Swedish Yeast Rings

(did I just make a nummy noise??)

[Ed_Haynes]

Why can't Rick and Rick collaborate on The Mother of All (Imperial German) Books? OK, they may not play well with others, but . . . ????

Long-term, this would be a broader impact that a narrowly focused medal roll (however niche-valuable these may be).

[Guest Rick Research]

Because he's parted with all his and my own poor but virtuous church mouse collection is not up to the depth and breadth that is required.

These days, with our planet's postal and customs "services" infested with pensionable thieves plundering like the 17th century never ended, I can't expect friends all over the globe to mail in (and mail back out) items just so they'd all end up Centrally Photographed.

Whatever I do on ribbon bars will be shared online. That's taken a waaaaaay back seat to getting the Rolls out since I can not be sure how long my vision will hold out, and 4 hours a day hunched over a keyboard squinting at geriatric Sutterlin handwriting ain't doing what's left much good!

I don't run out of fingers counting the Research Gnome Collective doing unpublished award Rolls, and those we can and will make sure are available. It may seem "limited," and the results slender "boring" lists of names and dates, but it IS a hellacious amount of work that absolutely nobody else will ever do. For example: I started typing Mecklenburg Strelitz's 1914-33 Rolls on 28 August, and I will finish the names listing tomorrow. Then I have to delve into the Crazy Roll to match up award dates... another week of work there. After that, it'll take at least another week to add officers' birth, death, higher ranks etc data = 2 months of solid work for just FOUR different types of one state's WW1 Crosses!

The Colonel was just here trying to show me how to type out the Luftwaffe 1944 Seniority List (70,000 or so officers) "easily," but THAT is a project for my Declining Years, I think.... :cheeky: