Grey SS Cap for SS Gentleman in Asia

[Friedrich-Berthold]

>the lord of the flies countenance<

yea F-B - you've kept yer wits about ye' - no simple thing when so much money's at play these years, and a mere whiff of critique turns some into ungentle creatures.

"KILL the pig, SLIT her throat, BASH 'er in!"

- lord of the flies

Dear Friend, thank you for the citation. I read this book in 1966, and read Orwell's 1984 not long thereafter. I guess one is better off to avoid books altogether and embrace the Zeitgeist. But the combination of money, paranoia and the peculiar assertions of self crowned demigods who tend to spout certainties which are, in fact, filled with errors, only corresponds to the present. The past is a place filled with riddles, enigmas and puzzles, which the modern mentality can but poorly decipher. Just look at the events of the past decade to find the proof of same. The Internet also empowers people to embrace their inner swine, as it were.

One thing is certain: I shall never know even a fraction of the things I wish I could possibly know about these peculiar objects. There is a way to learn more, of course, but such requires being in Germany/Austria and digging into things that few or no one on these sites seems inclined or able to do. The Wilkins man did some of the work, to his great credit, and his book has much valuable material, which one could surely augment and reinforce.

But I also mean that surely some of the craftspeople who made these things could still offer something, or, those who preserve their memory---and I am certain they do exist---could also help us.

And, there are the records themselves of at least some of this as concerns the SS and its economic enterprises.....but those in the collector sphere do not seem much inclined to care. Colleague d'Alquen is my hero, as is Robin Lumsden for their research and selfless willingness to share the material here in the public space.

Once I mentioned in another space that one should maybe read German to collect this material, and the howls of rage from the lord of the flies team was deafening, indeed. Imagine, learn the language spoken by the people who made and wore this regalia!

An outrage perpetuated by ink stained panty waists and pencil necks.

Happy collecting.

[BOB COLEMAN]

once i mentioned in another space that one should maybe read german to collect this material, and the howls of rage from the lord of the flies team was deafening, indeed. Imagine, learn the language spoken by the people who made and wore this regalia!

An outrage perpetuated by ink stained panty waists and pencil necks.

Happy collecting.

my friend-
you have once again hit the nail on the proverbial head. This is a flaw to which i must also plead guilty. My knowledge of the teutonic language has languished due to 40+ years of non use. Fortunately, i have retained enough to probably converse with a child no older than the age of two.
In any area of collecting these relics of the past, there is much we know and still much to learn. There is no substitute on mastering the language to assist with the pursuit of knowledge

[Friedrich-Berthold]

my friend-
you have once again hit the nail on the proverbial head. This is a flaw to which i must also plead guilty. My knowledge of the teutonic language has languished due to 40+ years of non use. Fortunately, i have retained enough to probably converse with a child no older than the age of two.
In any area of collecting these relics of the past, there is much we know and still much to learn. There is no substitute on mastering the language to assist with the pursuit of knowledge

Dear Bob, thank you. My criticism was not directed at you, at all. Rather, my criticism is directed towards a handful who seem fixated on the object itself, cut loose from its context, as if these were artifacts from ancient Greece or Sumeria. I suppose it is an archaeological and forensics approach, which has merits, indeed. But there are flaws to same, as well, which command notice. I see the caps as a way back into the world of those who made them, and to the world especially of those who wore them. Because I lived in Germany a long time ago, this world is more vivid for me, which might not be the case for a younger collector who approaches this all via merely the prestige militaria shows, the History Channel, and even You Tube to say nothing of militaria websites.

D'Alquen here offers us real pearls on a constant basis with his reprints of documents from NARA or BA microforms, and these sources are really a far greater treasure than the forensic cap stitching matrices and anti-faker lists. I do not want to gainsay the latter, but I place more weight on the former, if one is really serious about this regalia as piece of history.

Our first step towards actually learning something consists of our open admission that we know really very little, indeed. I think the Greeks taught us this, did they not?

In any case, thanks and one can surely learn more German today with satellite television than was the case when I started in the 1960s.

Happy Headwear.

PS For those who can overcome the nausea and confusion caused by reading a book, a new biography of Himmler is out in Germany by Peter Longerich, who is an excellent historian. I am once more bound for the Danube on the Sunday to come and I shall buy it.

Spiegel has a special magazine out now on Himmler, too, what with the book by his great niece who examines the family and the brother of Heini H. and others who profited from him.

[BOB COLEMAN]

My friend, i never thought the comments were aimed at me.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Muetzentrikot as a theme of reflection and longing.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

to the grey goes the black

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Far better than some collector list is:

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Grey SS cap ca. 1938 or 1939, and not found in garage sale; swap meet, or hock shop.....not at all.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Head wear and head wear.
Our threads pop up in the oddest places.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

The thread has appeared in some entirely different place....how peculiar.

I guess there is less real and authentic SS regalia in this whole wide universe than I had thought.

Na schoen.