Chris Boonzaier Posted October 8, 2015 Posted October 8, 2015 I 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... If you tried to bend the leather to see the stiching, it would break right away....
Chip Posted October 19, 2015 Posted October 19, 2015 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.....
Chris Boonzaier Posted October 20, 2015 Author Posted October 20, 2015 Hi Chip,sceptisism is always justified in such cases. I will look closely when I get home. BestChris
Chris Boonzaier Posted October 20, 2015 Author Posted October 20, 2015 Hi,OK, a few thoughts.I think this is the standard WW1 Austrian one?
Chris Boonzaier Posted October 20, 2015 Author Posted October 20, 2015 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
Tony Posted October 21, 2015 Posted October 21, 2015 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
Chris Boonzaier Posted October 21, 2015 Author Posted October 21, 2015 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?TonyIndeed... 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!!
The Prussian Posted November 20, 2015 Posted November 20, 2015 Hello! I think, it´s an original austrian EW. The single hole might have been made later. Here is an example of it
Chris Boonzaier Posted November 20, 2015 Author Posted November 20, 2015 Hi, looking at Post 4 the holes seem to have been made at random?
The Prussian Posted November 21, 2015 Posted November 21, 2015 Yes, 100%! I`ve never seen holes like that in austrian EW. Originally they had none, Wehrmacht had four (photo 1), Bundeswehr three (+ one in the stalk, photo 2)
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 16, 2017 Author Posted February 16, 2017 This is a nice one.... especially the makers logo!! And of course the Alpenkorps connection with Goslar....
Tony Posted February 17, 2017 Posted February 17, 2017 Yeah I don't think you'd find anything better, really nice.
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 17, 2017 Author Posted February 17, 2017 Funny to see how "field grey" this became.... the Jäger Green cam only be seem in a few folds and on the inside under the lining!!
Tony Posted February 17, 2017 Posted February 17, 2017 It's lucky you bought it otherwise that lining might have ended up inside the lid of an old cutlery box ..... That would be absolutely shocking.
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 17, 2017 Author Posted February 17, 2017 21 minutes ago, Tony said: It's lucky you bought it otherwise that lining might have ended up inside the lid of an old cutlery box ..... Exactly!! :-)
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