Adler's Imperial collection

[spandau]

Fantastic !

Thank you for showing. I really enjoyed looking at the photos of your collection it gave me that tingly feeling you get when you go into a museum or militaria fair for the first time.... i call it a sense of anticipation of what treasures may lie in there. And I was not disappointed !!!!

regards

tony

[CCMJR]

Hello Karel,

Super display! I have seen your wonderful helmets on other sites and had no idea that your collection was so representative. It's great to see so many other nice things. I started collecting imperial about the same time you did, but on a much smaller budget. If I had only had more money back in the 1970s and 1980s! You can't build collections like this any more. You are most fortunate to have started early. I know my collection would be much smaller if I had to begin today.

Best regards,
CCMJR

[Adler]

Thanks for your positive comments gentlemen!

Why no Mitre caps?. These were my great passion for a while along with garde du corps helmets. I still have quite a few.

That's not so hard to answer... It's just not my thing, they don't give me the feeling of wanna have... if you know what I mean?
On the other hand, I think they are verry impressive... Speaking of dillemma's...

I started collecting imperial about the same time you did, but on a much smaller budget. If I had only had more money back in the 1970s and 1980s! You can't build collections like this any more. You are most fortunate to have started early. I know my collection would be much smaller if I had to begin today.

I think you mentioned the problem that every collector has... Money! In the seventies and eighties, you went to a militaria show and always there was so much original material to find and always you had not enough money. Then comes the wife, the children, the house... and then finally come the helmets...
Now we can go to a militariafair with "enough" money and go home with the same money in our wallet, because the right stuff isn't available anymore...
But in the end I still collect today, find less material now than back then, but I've always been happy with my collection, also in the early days when I had just a few cheap thingies and some other major collectors had it all... So indeed we are lucky to have started in the seventies!

Adler

[Adler]

At the end of last year I saw this amazing grouping for sale. My area of collecting is actually German, but I had kinda “must really have this” moment, because of the painted trunk…
This US Amercan Ambulance Service grouping once belonged to Neil Mosteller. The set contains the following:

- US Army Ambulance Service foot locker with an amazing painting of an AAS ambulance and the name of the owner
- Tunic and matching pants
- A helmet with painted red cross on the front
- Shoes and leg wraps
- Standard US belt
- 3 Letters to a certain miss Blanche Steward
- Souvenir cards from Italy
- Yearbook for Fort Riley 1917-1918
- Framed flag named to 364 ambulance company
- 60th anniversary tray
- A baseball glove
- An infantry drill regulation manuel of 1904
- A red cross arm band

The grouping was discussed on WAF at the time, and I could understand the following:
- The ribbon bars on the tunic are for service in Italy. This seems very plausible, because the ambulance on the trunk also has Italian text on it. Also the souvenirs come from Italy… Also the letters were posted in Italy…
- The red cross armband appears to be post WW1
- The US flag has France on it with the 364th Ambulance Company. Is it possible that those guys who went to Italy, started in France?
- Someone else found out that Neil Mosteller was born in 1894 and his service in the army ended late april of 1919
- The 364th was attached to the 91st Division?
- The grouping seems to have been sold in 2008, but the trunk contained more items, such as second pair of pants,underwear,2 garrison caps, doughboy hat, legion cap, personal equipment, binoculars, ration books,medals, paybook, badges, picture disc, full size Amercan flag, …

I hope that you gentlemen enjoy this grouping as much as I do and maybe you can help me find some extra information about Neil Mosteller… As you can see, I also used the pictures of the seller and also pictures of the set when it was even more complete. The best that might happen is of course that the entire grouping might come together one day…

Adler

[Adler]

...

[Scout]

Nice collection.

The trunk especially. I epected an amateur drawing on it, but that ambulance depiction looks professional.

Are those steamer trunks worth anything?

I have several almost exactly like that and with compartments which can be taken out (though not from the First WW, but the fourties/fifties)

[Adler]

...

[Srdj]

Incredible! Quite beautiful. Awesome displays as well.

[Adler]

Thaks for your reactions gentlemen!

Are those steamer trunks worth anything?

I think they are worth something, but not a fortune...

Adler

[Chopperman]

That is a fantastic grouping.
It's amazing it has stayed together all these years.