Luftmensch Posted August 30, 2015 Posted August 30, 2015 Below is a cigarette box (10 1/2 inches x 5 1/2) that you may have seen recently on eBay. I finally worked a trade with the owner in the Netherlands.Engraved on it are a helluva lot of Blue Max winners for one mere mortal to have known all by himself--56 in total. 36 pilots.The Dutch connection (someone's grandfather got it in Holland after war's end in 1945) makes me think of Anthony Fokker. He would have courted all these celebrity pilots as he lobbied for aircraft contracts. Sadly a big plaque inside the lid is long gone... It is hallmarked... The previous owner said the fullsize cross was loose.I noticed it is affixed in a that it can be made to rotate around it's center, revealing a beautifully engraved PLM underneath.The stickpins also show traces of having been engraved underneath.I keep hearing the Geschaeftsleiter tell his jeweller after the beautiful engraving was done, "Was ist? I can't see it! Make it pop!! Put a real one there!" I will now start posting the names, which are in neat rows instead of all over the place.Most I have been able to identify from signed photos, but there are some I have put with question marks because I need confirmation. There are a few that I just can't figure out.There are 36 pilots on the lid, and on the sides and front panel another 20 names--mostly U-boat aces, which probably means this didn't belong to Fokker. The U-boat names I need the most help with. Thanks!Will start posting signatures shortly...
Luftmensch Posted August 30, 2015 Author Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) Lid, top row, left to right... 1. Jacobs2. Göring3. Loerzer4. Bolle5. Köhl 2nd Row... 6. ????????? 7. Müller-Kahle8. Bongartz9. Homburg10. Theo Osterkamp Edited August 30, 2015 by Luftmensch
Luftmensch Posted August 30, 2015 Author Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) 3rd Row... 11. Frhr. O. Boenigk12. Könnecke13. ??????? 14. Gotthard Sachsenberg 4th Row... 15. Ernst Udet16. C Degelow17. H Klein18. Greim ? 5th Row... 19. Frhr von Pechmann20. Laumann 6th Row... 21. Ed. Ritter von Schleich22. Julius Buckler ?23. Hans-Georg Horn24. Brandenburg Edited August 30, 2015 by Luftmensch
Luftmensch Posted August 30, 2015 Author Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) 7th Row... 25. Keller26. Bäumer27. Blume28. Büchner29. Rieper30. Leonhardy 8th Row... 31. Berthold32. Manfred Frhr. v. Richthofen33. Boelcke34. Lothar Frhr. Richthofen35. J. Veltjens 9th Row... squeezed below Boelcke...36. Frhr v Leffers ? Edited August 30, 2015 by Luftmensch
Luftmensch Posted August 30, 2015 Author Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) Front panel, in vertical pairs of names from left to right... 37. Forstmannand38. Moraht 39. ?????and40. ?????41. Hersingand42. Rose43. ????and44. Marschall45. ????and46. Siess47. Hartwigand48. ????49. ????and50. ???? FYI I identified a few U-boat aces from two postcards someone sent me.They are from reunions of the last living PLM holders in 1966--at the baths in Wiesbaden--and 1967--at the thermal baths in Baden-Baden! Left panel, left to right: 51. ????52. ????53. ???? Right panel: 54. Lancelle55. ?????56. SeidelMaybe this is an Army panel? Edited August 30, 2015 by Luftmensch
dond Posted August 30, 2015 Posted August 30, 2015 I guess my first question would be is the PLM from a known maker and how would a non-recipiant get ahold of one?
Luftmensch Posted August 30, 2015 Author Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) I think then, like now, businessmen with deep pockets get away with a lot. But the missing plaque could mean one or a group of PLM winners presented him with this box. So no harm.Also, as PLM jeweller's copies go, this is not very good--the one-sided funeral cushion copies look more detailed than this to me. Tho' the stickpins are as nice as I've ever seen!It is possible someone sexed this up later. Would a collector put a PLM over the gorgeous engraving? I would love to restore the engraving of the PLM and get rid of the clunky insignia, but now there is a hole in the lid where the center of the cross attaches, and two more holes in the lid behind the top and bottom arms of the cross, with a little ball bearing that snaps into holes on the back of the arms to seat it. It is like the jeweller covered up the engraving but made sure the insignia could swivel and reveal his work, or half of it! Very odd. Edited August 30, 2015 by Luftmensch
dedehansen Posted August 30, 2015 Posted August 30, 2015 Wow, great piece of silver engraving piece, I like it very much. I think that inside there is missing the gift badge.Kind regardsAndreas
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