Waffen SS Officers schirmmütze: what's your opinion?

[Friedrich-Berthold]

The US propaganda in You Tube is very interesting, as is the III. Reich stuff. What is iffy are many documentaries, as well as the self made documentaries or digital shrines of Neo Nazis and the like. But there is a lot of interesting stuff in detail. The better German documentaries of recent origin are also good. My father actually worked in the US Office of War Information after he was kicked out of the Infantry basic course, which save his life in the year 1943. He would have surely been killed in action, otherwise. What is also interesting is the US Army cold war series, The Big Picture, which I recall from childhood. It has a lot on US troops in Europe.

[N.C. Wyeth]

You Tube is also a kind of centrifugal force, because it allows me to spend hours listening to nice music, with humor and wit, as well as old films in English and German also with fine dialogue, wit, humor, beautiful women, and none of the ugliness and drabness of the present. This post will irritate some of you, but so be it. Some young people are as attracted to the aesthetics and sensibility of the past as am I. Except, for me, it is not so much the past, as it was the lives of my parents and grand parents, part of which was also my own life. These posts are now akin to Proust, actually.

I too am with you on this one FB!

[Wagriff]

A question and a thought...this statement of charging for an opinion has been often danced around with tongue in cheek sarcasm, of course, but why is this not actually possible here? Seeing the absurd values now being ascribed to SS items and the fact that we do, indeed, have a resident forum member here who has one of-if not the-largest SS collections in the collecting world and has made it a focused study for decades now, why could there not be a section set up in the forum here where a person suspecting that he has a sizable value found in an item he has come across by chance or otherwise, submit photos in detail to be either authenticated or denied and pay a fee to do this? If a collector has invested, say, 7 or 8 thousand into a hat and he is not 100% certain on it, I do not see why he would be unwilling to submit a reasonable fee more to have it pronounced for certainty and authentication. This could even be done in a totally private mode where they would not have to be embarrassed by having it denied in public. The fee submission could also be done through this forum-who would take a small and reasonable bite of the aforementioned fee, of course, as would be their right for hosting the site- and credit card payment and such could easily be set up to accommodate this. This May be something that should be looked in to and is about time that it is. Just a thought..

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Thanks for the praise and the modest proposal. My sense with this laudable idea is that it bulks huge legal challenges, to say nothing of the lightning rod syndrome that would eventuate if some of us got treasure for our knowledge. Although in conventional venues, you pay an expert for his opinion, in the brave new world of the present, we all just give it away as if it were sand. It is also true that my collection has cost a ton of dough, and the time over forty five years has no price tag at all, as my doctors keep revealing to me each day. However, there is a concentration of expertise here that should garner something more than silence, or, in the best case, a thank you. I would also much prefer that, if this ever goes somewhere, that the process be private, since I find this endless public lynching to be very awful and wrong. It goes seriously against my sense of ethics and fairness. But thanks for the praise, all the same. I think, further, that where similar ideas have become reality, the results were a disappointment. However, I leave it to others with a commercial and practical bent to noodle it out.

[davejb]

i agree with Williams proposals and also with FBs comments, but therein lies a problem, where do we draw the line, should all enquries made re values be treated in this way, for whatever the item is. Im of the opinion that the valuation of high end and expensive items such as SS caps, helmets and Uniforms should be dealt with via private enquiry to the persons so deemed to be classed as the most experienced of collectors, as one of the challenges that would inevitably crop up would be someone who will offer another opinion , usually in disagreement as to the price quoted, this sort of intervention would result in discord, mud slinging and general public lynching that FB refers to and it would prove to be wholly unfair to our most experienced of the forum members. Another reason, and this may sound mercenary, is that if it were to be dealt with by open forum, would the forum be responsible for any problems that may occur, would the assessor need to display a disclaimer in that he is acting in an independant capacity and that the quotation given in no way reflects on the forum in a legal manner, i daresay there are a few more legalities that would need to be addressed, but in theory the idea is sound

[Friedrich-Berthold]

i agree with Williams proposals and also with FBs comments, but therein lies a problem, where do we draw the line, should all enquries made re values be treated in this way, for whatever the item is. Im of the opinion that the valuation of high end and expensive items such as SS caps, helmets and Uniforms should be dealt with via private enquiry to the persons so deemed to be classed as the most experienced of collectors, as one of the challenges that would inevitably crop up would be someone who will offer another opinion , usually in disagreement as to the price quoted, this sort of intervention would result in discord, mud slinging and general public lynching that FB refers to and it would prove to be wholly unfair to our most experienced of the forum members. Another reason, and this may sound mercenary, is that if it were to be dealt with by open forum, would the forum be responsible for any problems that may occur, would the assessor need to display a disclaimer in that he is acting in an independant capacity and that the quotation given in no way reflects on the forum in a legal manner, i daresay there are a few more legalities that would need to be addressed, but in theory the idea is sound

Sound analysis of the many problems that are inherent in all of this, sadly. Adrian, Bob Coleman and I came here after much heart break and misery that began elsewhere with hopes of a kind of republic of high minded souls, and which ended in much recrimination, libel and slander.
I would love to profit from my knowledge, since, God knows, various dealers do from mine for scarce recompense, but I cannot fathom a way ahead amid the obstacles.

In fact, three major dealers owe me favors at this very minute, and they are being very slow to pay me off, so there...

Thanks to my colleagues for the reflection. My comment was really off hand, in fact.

the burden here, though, is shouldered by very few.

[jHAM]

Sound analysis of the many problems that are inherent in all of this, sadly. Adrian, Bob Coleman and I came here after much heart break and misery that began elsewhere with hopes of a kind of republic of high minded souls, and which ended in much recrimination, libel and slander.
I would love to profit from my knowledge, since, God knows, various dealers do from mine for scarce recompense, but I cannot fathom a way ahead amid the obstacles.

In fact, three major dealers owe me favors at this very minute, and they are being very slow to pay me off, so there...

Thanks to my colleagues for the reflection. My comment was really off hand, in fact.

the burden here, though, is shouldered by very few.

For that burden we who follow you are truly grateful. This site is a welcome respite from much of the silliness that corrupts others and for maintaining such a place Ade is due much credit. There are a few posters to this forum F-B, Bob Coleman, Bob Hritz, BenVK, dalquen (sorry for spelling) and couple of others that have shared a ton of knowledge and expertise and are often mistreated for their help. Thank you all and good luck in the new year.

F-B
As for earning money for your hard earned knowledge and expertise may I just encourage you in two of your own ideas. A book about the black ss uniforms from you would be amazing. Also an illustrated copy of one of the ss pricelists is another of your ideas I would love to see. Alas I understand the demands of work and life. Thank you for your posts here and elsewhere.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Thanks for the kind words. I am afraid that whatever oeuvre I am going to produce has already been done here in these pixels. Adrian has kept this place sound and sane for more than four years, which is a signal achievement. I also thank Mr. Richie C, as well, whose steadfast demeanor has been of great aid to me in my work. The number of constructive persons is very small, indeed, however.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

I am reminded here of the problems that have befallen far more established and renowned institutions for the sale of art and such, where scandal has damned an insider clique and the like. I am a person of the 20th century, and proud of it, where peer review and hierarchy formed a dominant part of my life. Today such is under attack for all sides, and I will allow a younger group to sort that out. In any case, knowledge and authority are so diffuse today that they are generally lost in favor of demagogues and charlatans, who are the reigning figures in the internet.

The losers are the beginning collectors who are continually misled by such charlatans. There is, to my mind, no Deus ex machina to resolve this issue.

[Styx]

You Tube is also a kind of centrifugal force, because it allows me to spend hours listening to nice music, with humor and wit, as well as old films in English and German also with fine dialogue, wit, humor, beautiful women, and none of the ugliness and drabness of the present. This post will irritate some of you, but so be it. Some young people are as attracted to the aesthetics and sensibility of the past as am I. Except, for me, it is not so much the past, as it was the lives of my parents and grand parents, part of which was also my own life. These posts are now akin to Proust, actually.

Couldn't agree more, FB. I'm not the oldest character, true, but I'm always longing towards a different time. The present holds little appeal for me.

Robbie