Jump to content
News Ticker
  • I am now accepting the following payment methods: Card Payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal
  • Latest News

    Alpenkorps Prussian Jäger Schirmmütze


    Recommended Posts

    jh1.thumb.jpg.0803189f4aab4adbbd4352aa36jh4.thumb.jpg.3da502ce6c93730d73b744c168jh3.thumb.jpg.1bd82bd37a7efcd17ffd41bb9dI went out on a limb on ebay and picked up the following, thinking you could never know if the edelweiss had recently been added.....

    But, I am pretty happy with it.... the leather inside is so hard and fossilized, you cannot bend it at all, never mind bending it back to sew something through the lining. I cannot figure out how anyone could have sewn on the edelweiss other than many, many decades ago when the leather was still supple...jh2.thumb.jpg.1dbfb6fc22b2f2a954d24fc78b

    If you tried to bend the leather to see the stiching, it would break right away....

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    • 2 weeks later...

    I thought the ones with the holes were WWII? Also, you could sew that on with a carpet needle (3/8ths circle) without ever going inside or through the stiffening of the band. Just saying.....

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Nice to see the possibility of discussing a piece again :-)

    The difference being, it is much flatter (less relief), has 3 leaves (WW2 have 2).

    However, I do not know when the model changed, so I have open ears to that.

    If it is WW1, the following points.

    - Chip is right, it is only sewn through the band, which in retrospect seem to be the obvious way to do it. I dont know why i thought of it going through the lining. A carpet needle is not needed, all that was done was to sew a loop, pushing the needle through the badge as you go, then pulling it tight. Very similar to the way a loop for medals is sewn. To be honest, I am just as happy with that as through the lining, although through the lining would have been a slam dunk "good" imho.

    - Why an Austrian one? I have seen a number of 10th Jäger pictures where the men are wearing the stalked edelweiss. The latest dated one was on a 1917 Studio photo on an auction I missed. I assume the stalked ones are pretty unusual to find on a cap, but having a couple of uniform sets that came from the families of men killed in Action during the war, it is possible that a cap was worn until 1915, 1916 or 1917 in "the old style" and was never updated to the regulation edelweiss. Wishful thinking? Yes it is.

    - White thread... here is a thing, there is enough period grey thread out there... why white? Of course, one could argue "A faker would maybe use white because noboby would expect a faker to use white!" ... but I am guessing we will probably never know.

    - My end of the day feeling, Original cap, WW1 Austrian Edelweiss, how long its been there noone can say. For me it makes a great impression, there is no sign "it cannot be", thread seems old and worn, looks to have been on there some time... someone else would be just as justified to say "i dunno, i look at it and dont like it..."

    - I guess its a gut feeling piece

     

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I'd compare the thread to something you have in the house that was sewn a long time ago like something grandma has or a 1914 Star clasp if you have one. Other than that I reckon it's as you say, you can never be sure if it was sewn on back in the day or not. Perhaps the edelweiss became a little loose over time and the owner fixed it back in place in 1970?

    Tony

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I'd compare the thread to something you have in the house that was sewn a long time ago like something grandma has or a 1914 Star clasp if you have one. Other than that I reckon it's as you say, you can never be sure if it was sewn on back in the day or not. Perhaps the edelweiss became a little loose over time and the owner fixed it back in place in 1970?

    Tony

    Indeed... its the dilema that basically all uniforms with added badges have (MG Badges, WW2 Arm shields etc) unless you have it right from the family, you will never know for sure when it was added .... which is why through the liner would have been so cool!!

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    • 5 weeks later...
    • 1 year later...

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...

    Important Information

    We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.