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An Overwhelming gift

Article about: FYI: It is totally ok if any of y'all want to skip the story time. It's not really too important. Hello everyone! So recently I was given an amazing gift from my great aunt. A shoe box! The

  1. #1

    Default An Overwhelming gift

    FYI: It is totally ok if any of y'all want to skip the story time. It's not really too important.

    Hello everyone! So recently I was given an amazing gift from my great aunt. A shoe box! The box was labeled Miss America Shoes and seem to be from the 80's. However, that's not the part that I was excited about.

    Around this time, she was having a yard sale along with my mother and other people in her neighborhood. They were setting everything up and just talking. That's when my aunt learned of my interest in collecting WW2 militaria/memorabilia. She then remembered about a small box she had that came from a family friend of hers. The original owner of this box had passed away about 10 or so years ago and served in Vietnam. But either his uncle and other relative had served in WW2. She began looking around for this box but couldn't find it. She thought that maybe she just gave it away years ago.

    Flash forward to the day after the yard sale, she manages to find it! She tells us that she had found it and that I could come and get it anytime. My brother, mother, and I went over to her house to collect the stuff that hadn't sold/ also grab our tables and that is when she gave me the box. I thought it was just gonna be some small jewelry box with maybe a pin and a couple of coins. Boy was I wrong!

    So now, join me as I show what all came out of this amazing gift; you'll see how overwhelming it is. Also, I switched out the old shoe box for a newer shoe box. I'm totally moving up in this world!

    Firstly are the badges:
    An Overwhelming gift
    I was able to recognize a fair amount of them, however, the vast majority I have no clue about. I do see a Civil Defense badge, Seabees badges, Reserve badges. and some rankings. There has just been so many that I haven't been able to look them all up yet.

    Secondly is the badge ID booklet:
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift
    This thing is amazing and has been very helpful in IDing some of the badges. I'm also surprised that it was even in the box.

    This ends part 1. I'll be continuously adding to this thread.

  2. #2

    Default

    Part 2
    So after spending an unhealthy amount of time looking and feeling the badges (don't judge) I began to dive further into this box. That is when I noticed two more small little containers. One was a jewelry box with that material stuff inside and the other was a metal tin for throat lozenges with VFW hand written on it (made sometime early 2000s). Inside these were various pins, bullets, and a coin.

    From the Jewelry box:
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift

    And from the container with VFW on it:
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift

    After some googling, I figured out that VFW stands for Veterans of Foreign wars. I'm curious as to why he kept these things separate from the rest. Maybe these are from his time in Vietnam? If any one has any idea, please inform me. I really only know stuff about helmets.

    Also, inside the big shoe box were these stamps laying around:
    An Overwhelming gift

    I know some of the pics may be a little crummy so if anyone wants a better look, just shout it out.

    This concludes part 2

  3. #3

    Default

    Part 3
    Now here is when things begin to get interesting. This is not stuff that is really all to typical in some collections. I don't really know where to begin, so I guess i'll just dive in.

    Towards the bottom of the box was this little booklet:
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift
    Now, I don't know any French (I studied 3 years of Spanish and only remember the numbers) but I believe that this is some sort of either play book or symphony. I believe it says that it is being presented by Jean Drena. I tried googling him (only really quickly though) and found out that he was involved in music during the 30s and had a showing at Chicago in 1934 I believe. Maybe he also toured in France for the soldiers?

    Next up is a map:
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift
    Interestingly, the original owner of this map circled a location and labeled it "Hitler's Beer Cellar". Something is also signed at the top left. Now I could definitely be wrong, but I wonder if this is some sort of map given by Hotel employees to show tourist their way in the area. All I can say is pretty neat!

    Next up is the magazine pages from 1942:
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift
    The last two images are just the alternate sides of the two pages.
    The article titled "Minutemen of 1942" is actually a really interesting piece and just goes to show how everyone came together around this time period. Even the boy and his dog. However, what i found tucked inside these papers is even more interesting.

    But I'll save that for the next part!
    This ends part 3

  4. #4

    Default

    Part 4

    This amazing piece is what I discovered tucked inside the magazine pages.

    Soldiers, sailors and Airmen...:
    An Overwhelming gift
    This paper is in amazing condition! And just reading the letter gave me the chills. You can just feel how important the task they were about to undertake was. I really hope this paper is authentic!

    And now something we all know and love....Money!
    From around the world:
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift
    An Overwhelming gift

    I know that money isn't something all that rare or uncommon, but I amazed at just how diverse it all is. Also, the Marks have been folded for so long that I had to use the bullets to hold them down. FYI, the flipped marks are just duplicates of the 20 and 50.

    And now one last picture to conclude this entry.
    Beautiful Scenes:
    An Overwhelming gift

    These post cards are awesome! If anyone wants some close-ups or shots of the back, let me know.

    This concludes part 4, part 5 will be the last, so I saved the best. I know how you all like your Third Reich items!

  5. #5

    Default

    Part 5, here is the finale

    Some amazing pieces:
    An Overwhelming gift
    Like I said before, the only stuff that I really have knowledge on is helmets so I had to do quite a bit of research. In this assortment there is:
    A Hitler youth badge and patch
    May Day and various other tinnies
    An eagle to a police visor (I think)
    A giant eagle (I have no idea to what)
    And a war merit cross missing its ribbon

    I was blown away when I saw these at the bottom of the box. I didn't expect any of this. However, I am not educated enough in this topic to identify their authenticity. I believe they are genuine given all the other stuff in the box, but I'll post these items separately in their respected thread.

    Thanks to everyone who has taken their time to read this and took a look. This box was 100 times the amount I was originally thinking there would be. As I said, if anyone wants close ups, just ask

    The total box collection:.
    An Overwhelming gift

    This ends the box collection. Thanks!

  6. #6

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    Congratulations!


    Mart

  7. #7

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    Very nice collection of items and a great gift.
    John

  8. #8

    Default

    The giant eagle is from a police shako. A nice assortment of tinnies there too!

    B.B.

  9. #9

    Default

    Quote by BrodieBartfast View Post
    The giant eagle is from a police shako. A nice assortment of tinnies there too!

    B.B.
    Agreed.
    Ralph.
    Searching for anything relating to, Anton Boos, 934 Stamm. Kp. Pz. Erz. Abt. 7, 3 Kompanie, Panzer-Regiment 2, 16th Panzer-Division (My father)

  10. #10

    Default

    A lovely find mate, some nice armoured patches there, a 4th Inf Div patch, 4 green arrows (Utah beach), above that 35th Inf Div (Kelly's Heroes !), 2nd Inf Div (follow up wave on Omaha Beach, famous photo of these guys walking up & exiting the beach) SHAEF in Europe patch (2 red thunderbolts breaking the chains) next to the red patches. You have an invasion note too with the notes, the one that says 'Emis in France', this was given to allied troops to use as currency in France, then redeemed by the allied governments. Lovely D Day letter too, these are fairly hard to come by these days... you've got enough there to whet your appetite, congratulations !
    Regards
    Paul

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