Early R Z M Black SS Schirmütze

[Friedrich-Berthold]

This one lives with the others now. Who were their owners then? Did they cross paths in the era 1933-1940? Are these questions posed by a sane adult? Should I have put the money for these in the Roth IRA? Or the Enron shares? Or CITI bank shares...?

No man can say....

[Friedrich-Berthold]

This Mona Lisa smile interpreted by Heini H. would give way to a scowl were he to know that I owned these things. He would try to put his cigar out on my hand, probably. One of his great nieces, or great great nieces has actually written an extremely good book about the family, which repays reading and does not cost nearly as much as one of these old, funny hats. See 2d attachment.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Here is another cap which had its RZM tag in the cap liner.

Notice how it, too, has a kind of Stirndrueckfrei feature.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Notice this officer's cap, too. It has a piece of textile as a kind of cushion.
The Karl S/Herman cap has a similar textile as a cushion, as well. Cf. #25 in this thread.

I have another early officer's cap that is unmarked with this same feature, in fact.

Happy hats.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

another feature of the earlier caps is these grommets, which, according to regulations, had to be set with a machine.

Later versions of said cap had no such holes.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Totalitarian political movements gave rise to a great deal of hot air at a time before anyone worried about green house gases and the like.
Such grommets as pictured above helped to dissipate same.
You see there that the frustrated novelist dispenses with head wear altogether, unlike those around him.

[Frog]

I surely have nothing of value to contribute to this thread other than a keen appreciation for all of these wonderful photos.

I have saved them all for reference; they surpass those in any reference work I have seen, certainly.

I want to thank Bob C., F-B and others for their input.

It is difficult not to be inrigued by these early examples, for which I have had insufficient respect in the past.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

I surely have nothing of value to contribute to this thread other than a keen appreciation for all of these wonderful photos.

I have saved them all for reference; they surpass those in any reference work I have seen, certainly.

I want to thank Bob C., F-B and others for their input.

It is difficult not to be inrigued by these early examples, for which I have had insufficient respect in the past.

For the right price, dear friend, the lot is yours!

Then you can buy all the moth balls in the northern hemisphere and make sure the things do not get dusty, or zapped with UV light, too.

The Spronk Saris book does a good job with these things, with useful information from the Mitteilungsblaetter der RZM and the other primary sources.

The Beaver Shea book is less good on this score. Its strong suit are the war time caps, in their dizzying number.

PS I have nightmares that these things are being eaten by heaps of slimy critters with nasty wings and ravenous mouths.

PSS In my ongoing study of Uniformenmarkt, there are constant articles year in and year out on the imperative to follow regulations in uniforms, which plainly indicates that quite often the opposite was true. There are also wonderful articles on the ins and outs of retailing Nazi regalia, with all the challenges of same, as well as a poetic description of the new RZM building, complete with the magazines loaded with 8,000 Proben of all the various pieces of Nazi Bekleidung. The place was the Fort Knox of Nazi regalia. No wonder that AAFEES took it over. There are also chatty and hectoring, very German and Nazi articles on why it is evil to have a clothing supplies sale outlet in a mess hall, which is quite funny.

[Frog]

This forum, of all those I have dabbled in, reminds me daily of how much I have accumulated and yet how little I know, for sure.

I am really a true amateur in this field; I do have insight into other aspects of man's art and craftsmanship over the last few centuries, as I have been in the antiques trade my whole life, but surely here I am just a voyeur.

I most respect the input of D-M, Stone, Ben VK, Bob C. and other scholars who have devoted so much time to their learning.

It has certainly been to my benefit, among many others, I am sure.

[Frog]

Of course I meant F-B, not D-M, who is my brother-in-law.

Oops.