I'm just thinking of the endless avenues of research if information about cap part manufacturers were available.
The more of the separate pieces the better, surely. Wim Saris' point that the Muetzenzutaten contractors were not unified as such until 1938 is borne out by the physical evidence, since the sweat bands on the caps I own from the years 1935 until 1939 or so are unmarked with an RZM Zeichen.....
All the little mosaic pieces of the past.
Last edited by Friedrich-Berthold; 05-05-2012 at 05:00 AM.
With post 33 I see the abbreviation RZ, stamped upon a sweatband. Maybe some of you do not know what this means, so:
Sweat bands were normally and surely in the beginning made from "echtes Schafleder" (real sheep);
the use of artificial material was allowed, indicated as "Kunstschweissleder". I thought its use came into bein in 1935.
This material was to be stamped as RZ. I did forget the German word, maybe it pops up or someone of you as FB can give us the full word!
The use of the RZ material was officially forbidden since about November 1938 for political cap (parteiamtliche Mützen). This was noted in the "Mitteilungsblatt der RZM", issue 23 from November 5, 1938. P. 229.
RZ is of course ersatz, which is detailed in the Herstellungvorschriften. Thanks to colleague Saris for his fine knowledge and generous interventions. Kunstschweissleder is found in caps as early as the 1914-1918 period, that is, alkor and the like.
The Germans led the world in the chemicals industry in the late 19th century, and the replacement Werkstoffe were especially noteworthy in the first world war.
This thread shows the full potential of this site and the merits of generous collaboration to a common end.
The peak of this cap is leather, whereas the sweat band is ersatz.
Last edited by Friedrich-Berthold; 05-05-2012 at 11:12 PM.
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