As concerns my generalization about the lessening of requirements in view of the overheated economy, expansion of organizations and pressure on prices, see this announcement ca. 1938 from the RZM that SS textiles no longer need to be moth proof, to our regret more than 70 years later...textiles for the overcoat also no longer had to be water proof.
Phenomenal, F-B! You are correct about the limited interest in the manufacture and retail of these items--there are maybe 10 of us who share your passion.
I have heard of Uniform Stubben, and have seen a hat with their label, but of course I cannot find it now.
Also interesting to see the A-SS visor for sale in 1942, once again refuting common "myths".
The visor cap display the officer is looking at also appears to feature a nice Teno leader's visor.
Thanks again, and if you get ahold of that Meister Muetzenmacher, tell him we have a job for him!
I cannot generalize about popular taste and preferences. I learned from a tender age to ignore what large numbers of people do, especially when it is headed in a false direction.
The thing that strikes me about this CD of mine is the scope of the effort connected with uniforms, insignia et cetera. We can now associate names and faces with much of this that has otherwise been so anonymous, especially on these very odd and somehow lopsided websites, where the only faces we see are of some few hundred normal Nazi heavies and Schurken one always sees, or the Knight's Cross holders and other notable types. Truth be told, I have never really cared about these people for my own reasons, but far more about exactly the faceless people who made these things, sold them, wrote regulations about them et cetera. The latter aspect is the truly interesting thing about the Uniformenmarkt. I guess from having lived for so long in Germany and Austria, it is the more hum drum and realistic aspects of life in the past that interest me versus the over done fetish of Panzerknacken and Spitfireabschiessen which was fairly extraordinary even at the time and overdone in the propaganda.
The effect of this Deutsche Wochenschau view of things endures without break into the present, whereas one feels with these objects the human hand that created them.
Thank you for posting the excerpts from the Uniformenmarkt. I had never found the archive source for them so it is good to be able to browse these postings. Curiously, for me these documents bring the period to life more than the surviving artifacts do.
Do please continue to post sections as your time allows.
d'Alquen
Thank you for posting the excerpts from the Uniformenmarkt. I had never found the archive source for them so it is good to be able to browse these postings. Curiously, for me these documents bring the period to life more than the surviving artifacts do.
Do please continue to post sections as your time allows.
d'Alquen
Thanks and happy new year. I shall forge ahead with the thing. It is not really easy to use, but it is very pleasing with the results. I am glad you like it. Truth be told, the surviving artifacts do not always profit from their interpretation on certain of these sites, really. The names, faces and locales in the journal, though, are quite compelling and would allow you or me to pursue many lines of research, if we had more time and resources. Robert H and Peter J probably have already sallied forth in search of things, but the institutional context of the textile, uniform, and insignia industry becomes much more tangible with these periodicals.
Once more, happy new year and I am pleased the effort has some merit.
As ever the above is more interesting than all the blind fumbling about tombak, Cupal and Neusilber.
I cannot generalize about popular taste and preferences. I learned from a tender age to ignore what large numbers of people do, especially when it is headed in a false direction.
The thing that strikes me about this CD of mine is the scope of the effort connected with uniforms, insignia et cetera. We can now associate names and faces with much of this that has otherwise been so anonymous, especially on these very odd and somehow lopsided websites, where the only faces we see are of some few hundred normal Nazi heavies and Schurken one always sees, or the Knight's Cross holders and other notable types. Truth be told, I have never really cared about these people for my own reasons, but far more about exactly the faceless people who made these things, sold them, wrote regulations about them et cetera. The latter aspect is the truly interesting thing about the Uniformenmarkt. I guess from having lived for so long in Germany and Austria, it is the more hum drum and realistic aspects of life in the past that interest me versus the over done fetish of Panzerknacken and Spitfireabschiessen which was fairly extraordinary even at the time and overdone in the propaganda.
The effect of this Deutsche Wochenschau view of things endures without break into the present, whereas one feels with these objects the human hand that created them.
Prosit, Neujahr!
I couldn't have said it better. I always get questioned on the other site as to why I collect only minty items, when they want "combat used", and why I should care about something as lowly, say, as the Bergbaudienstmuetze. I always told them that I was concerned more with who made the hat, versus who wore it, and how it was made, retailed, and distributed, and what regs went into its making. It seems to fall on deaf ears, despite multiple explanations. Maybe I just lament the passing of a true art form, bereft of plastics, polysters, and cheap, tinny sta-brite insignia--"pre-war quality" truly does have a meaning, as far as I am concerned.....
“Show me the regulation, and I’ll show you the exception.”
While there is some merit surely to a piece that was used, do not get me started on the other site and the phenomena that operate there.
Each one of these items has merit, since without the Bergbaudienst the Ritterkreuztraeger's Stuka or Panzerkampfwagen would never have begun to roll into combat. The woman who drove the street car in 1943 is every bit as interesting to me as the Waffen SS panzer ace, and more so than the groupies who engage in grave robbery to find his relics.
When I first went to Europe 40 years ago, some of what reflects back to us in these Uniformenmarkt journals was still present.
I spent a great deal of time with people who lived through the III. Reich, and generally found them as persons much more interesting than any cast off piece of the past. They were always mystified by my interests and thought it odd.
Like you, Mr Chris, I appreciate the people who made these things as much as the people who wore them in combat. Since I also spend a lot of time with soldiers in the course of things, there operates in me less of a vicarious desire for thrills and the "Feuertaufe," since I have seen such things in my way and in my time.
The world of German regalia as operates on the other site has less to say about Germany in the 20th century, and or the objects themselves and what they represent, than said site casts an unflattering light on the peculiar inner lives of certain dealers, certain collectors, and especially poseur "experts" who are manifestly not. So much of what goes on there reminds me either of my unpleasant grammar school experience or real estate agents describing otherwise substandard housing to a credulous and greedy bunch of people. Basta.
That is why we are here on this site to do better, I think.
So now you can see some young woman making this stamp to remove the excess ink....on the Dachauerstrasse in Munich.
At the risk of going off on a tangent, I also lament the loss of "pre-war quality" as it pertains to the USA. Morry Luxenberg, Bancroft, Dobbs, and Lewis all made phenomenal headgear which is light-years ahead of the current junk that passes for a uniform in the Armed Forces of the US.
This cap, imho, was the equal of the Goering cap. Supposedly, it was made by C&K caps, also known as Crofut & Knapp:
“Show me the regulation, and I’ll show you the exception.”
American companies were almost as large as their German counterparts, but catered primarily to the civilian market. Unfortuanately, the 1960's were the death knell for most of the major American hatmakers (starting with JFK's doffing a hat during his inauguration).
The first is Crofut & Knapp, the second Lee Cap, the last, unknown:
“Show me the regulation, and I’ll show you the exception.”
Re: Muetzenfabrik
by stonemint
Posting Permissions
.
Bookmarks