Yes, Virginia, They Did (and Do) Make Fakes of Common Visors

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Also germane in all examinations of this kind is this statement from UM as concerns bespoke items made by larger cap firms.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

The operative term here is "Hausarbeit."
I will transpose it and someone can translate it:

'Viele Firmen der deutschen Uniformmuetzen Industrie fertigen ihre Ware nicht ausschliesslich allein im Werkstattbetrieb, oftmals auch werden gerade die feinsten Uniformmuetzen in Hausarbeit von Werksangehoerigen hergestellt.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

All of this addenda in no way alters whatever larceny unfolded in the U.S. midwest and the damage from which is like so many ice bergs among young collectors sailing happily to a pile of hats.
The fakes of an even earlier period I see every day, as well.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

In the 1960s, I knew an ex Hitler Youth here, who as an adult returned to West Germany and had grey SS caps made by the very same cap makers, with original cloth in the late reign of Erhard or Kiesinger it must have been, as the Pagoda Mercedes SL enthralled us all. Roger Bender had two of them. Save for one flaw, they were indistinguishable from the mid war type, described by some of you as from the SS Kleiderkasse (...usually spelled here as Kliederklasse...) These caps had much fewer flaws than these described by Mr. Stonemint.

[stonemint]

& for our newer collectors, this was Dr Pinking Shears' weapon of choice:

[stonemint]

& the results of same:

[ObKrieger]

Was it even practical to fake these sorts of caps back in the 70's? How much would it have cost for a faker to make one of these back then? How much did an original Heer em/nco cap cost?

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Was it even practical to fake these sorts of caps back in the 70's? How much would it have cost for a faker to make one of these back then? How much did an original Heer em/nco cap cost?

In this connection, such caps as this so illustrated in the early 1970s cost all of USD 35. By the end of the '70s, there had been an explosion in prices connected with the stagflation of the epoch.
Here is a German catalog of the time, 1972, in which the prices are visible and one can see that this material was plentiful. The DM was around 3.3 to the dollar at this time.

A "crusher" cost around USD 40 or USD 50, actually. My first one I bought from this auction.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

This cap, which Mr. Mint has admired, cost me USD 35 in 1970, as I recall. Or in 1971. In case doubt adheres, I bought this very same cap at said time and trade it away a couple of years later.
This was an almost unused Wellhausen army Jaeger cap.

[ObKrieger]

Thanks for the photos and info FB. I love seeing old catalogs like that. Here is one of my favorites: