The anatomy of the Schirmmutze

[davejb]

How can anyone say that what Ben does regarding his research and his special abilities concerning these caps can in any way be construed as perpetuating the fakers trade, do we let these people become the semi educated in cap making for fleecing money from trusting individuals or do we stand for someone who can keep existing examples in an original condition before the ravages of time and moths reduce the article to shreds, a true historian secures the past and passes on knowledge, that is Bens legacy, i for one would welcome the opportunity to know all there is to regarding construction, materials and for the most part how to restore such items to a proffesional standard and also keeping to original manufacturers techniques, im lucky that Ben lives fairly close to me and i know that if i needed his services and help concerning caps he would give that help, rant over, as for Mercs I had a 200 series, until the wheel came off

[KSH]

How can anyone say that what Ben does regarding his research and his special abilities concerning these caps can in any way be construed as perpetuating the fakers trade, do we let these people become the semi educated in cap making for fleecing money from trusting individuals or do we stand for someone who can keep existing examples in an original condition before the ravages of time and moths reduce the article to shreds, a true historian secures the past and passes on knowledge, that is Bens legacy, i for one would welcome the opportunity to know all there is to regarding construction, materials and for the most part how to restore such items to a proffesional standard and also keeping to original manufacturers techniques, im lucky that Ben lives fairly close to me and i know that if i needed his services and help concerning caps he would give that help, rant over, as for Mercs I had a 200 series, until the wheel came off

Hear, hear! I couldn't agree with you more, Dave.

- Kenneth

[Friedrich-Berthold]

As a result of more than a decade of posts of authentic material in the internet, we on these sites have improved the fakes as collateral damage of globalization and digitalization. Ben has not done it so much as I and others who have shared from our collections have improved the fakes. The evidence is overwhelming if you look closely and have done so over time. However, knowledge is slightly ahead of the fakers, I hope, but I am not sure. In any case, as regards peaked caps, it is very hard to fake them perfectly. The fakes remain imperfect.

Ben is a fine man and his attempt to take things apart to get at the bottom of them is a noble one. Elsewhere such motives are not so noble, but are employed to deceive, trick, chop, and dice the innocent collector into little, poor bits of cash in favor of remade foetid woolens. It is an old, old story.

I wish Ben lived near to me, as I have several caps in need of repair to stabilize them and keep them from further deterioration.
What gripes me is how collectors and especially dealers seem to destroy nice caps in the process of their sale and inspection, whereby they endure huge damage from people who are heedless of how fragile things really are.

However, much space stretches out between him and me in the physical sense. He also got the ball rolling on the translation of UM, which is major boon to us all.

Happy hats and happy summer to all that might read this.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

You are always welcome here, Ben, surely. There are enough of your fellow countrymen who come here every day.
I was cleaning and tending to the caps of mine yesterday, and it is quite true that they manifest a skill of craft that is absent from the things we use every day. And they symbolize the most important and violent event in modern history, whose consequences remain in the present and become more pressing in Europe and elsewhere with the problems of the moment. Hence, that colleague Ben can keep these things from disappearing is of great merit.

[davejb]

That is extremely useful Ben and informative i take it this is one your presently working on or you have your sights on in acquiring it
Dave

[BenVK]

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[davejb]

I must admit it would be a rather daunting prospect, knowing where to start on this one, I think there would be more chance on repairing the Turin Shroud than restoring this one

[BenVK]

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[davejb]

Its got me baffled, i would expect that if all the exterior cloth had rotted away like this one , the soutache would have gone as well as i was under the impression that it was stitched to the outer cloth and tacked through two small slits at the bottom, am i wrong?

[BenVK]

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