Intersting black Tuchmütze

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Thanks FB, very precise and now an obvious reason for the inclusion of the band, feel a bit stupid now i think about it, but thanks anyway,
regards Dave

You are welcome. No reason to feel stupid at all, as the question was entirely germane. None of this is self evident. It is actually very confusing, and I understand this fact all too well. Happy hats and ask all the questions you wish. History is a riddle.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

If you go to the Fa. Breiter in Munich today, they will make you a hat or fix an existing one, if you want them to do so. I asked them when I was just there, but the center of gravity here is for women and the kind of head wear as seen among the British royals.

Look on their website.

[BenVK]

There is ample contemporary evidence of the poverty of the era, to include the difficulty to equip people with uniforms. In fact, there is a ton of discussion of this in sources of the time, especially in UM, actually, but also in works on the SA and NSDAP. Ergo, it makes perfect sense to me that someone just dolled up their cap rather than spending RM 7 or whatever.

But we also know that the uniform undustry and the mutzenindustrie in particular had strong ideas in regards to affordability of their goods, a quality item for a fair price and a fair wage to the artisan, etc. 10 or 12 RM for an Officers cap doesn't sound all that expensive in comparrison to the price of a pair of leather boots or coat. There was no hand embroidered insignia requirement either which would have easily doubled the price of the hat.

It's just speculation but prehaps the practice of adding the velvet was popular with Officer Candidates?

Just on a personal level, I would have been embarrassed wearing the Shea hat with the exposed stitching had I been a fully blown Officer in the SS.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Even with the so called affordability issue, there were still many persons in question here of very limited wealth.
As to what was considered by contemporaries as acceptable or not, I am sure we all have a lot more to learn on this score, and that whatever we do learn, it won't come from MAX and SOS show denizens who resent other forms of knowledge and who have trouble with German geography.
If you are interested in wages and such in the period, I can furnish you the sources germane to that topic. The assertions in the Schiffer book about same are a bunch of crap.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

I have correspondence with Shea, since I buy stuff from him and have sold a lot to him, but you can surely write to him yourself.

[BenVK]

I was just about to ask about wages! that would be most interesting, thanks FB.

[BenVK]

I have correspondence with Shea, since I buy stuff from him and have sold a lot to him, but you can surely write to him yourself.

He's never replied to a single email I've sent him!

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Bob Coleman can also speak to NSDAP PL caps, as can Mr. Chris Stonemint, can he not?

[Friedrich-Berthold]

I was just about to ask about wages! that would be most interesting, thanks FB.

The wage scales for the military and even civil service are in the contemporary officer hand books, and these are not unlike the wage grades as still had in the German armed forces and civil service, though the sums are different.

I am not technically good with pictures, as you know, but the sources on wages are pretty generalized and might even be in the internet.
Moreover, I think my nifty SS handbook has wages, too, but I cannot recall.

[BenVK]

A rough average figure per month for an SS NCO?