It may have had its early badges restored at some point, but the cap is in a high state of preservation. It came from a world renowned collector and good friend.
Last edited by Friedrich-Berthold; 01-12-2015 at 04:56 AM.
Attachment 788677This cap is typical of those prior to the introduction of the so called Trikotmuetzen, ca. mid 1935.
That just oozes quality--symmetry, style, and shape all in one.
Gents, this is a textbook example of why you cannot overlook the early caps.
“Show me the regulation, and I’ll show you the exception.”
The black SS enlisted cap is most often found in the 1938 or 1939 variety. Such is also quite rare in the greater scheme of things, but these caps
exist as an expression of the expansion of the SS, even in the first years of the war, when new Allgemeine SS units were raised in the conquered lands, i.e. Elsass.
In this connection, I would note that: a.) the pre 1936 caps are from an epoch in which the SS was smaller ergo, what caps survive are more rare and also the early markings are more aesthetic than the later ones, and b.) these earlier caps are much more nicely made in contrast to the later, which emerged in a time of the hectic growth of the SS amid raw materials controls, price controls, labor shortages, and so forth which resulted in the cutting of corners even before the war began. Read the UM as concerns all of this.
In the process of collecting more than one of these items, I have been able to make such observations. That is, when you compare the caps with the articles in the UM about the shortage of skilled workers, the rearmament, the preparation of the economy for war, and, of course, the growing role of the SS in the party state.
To each his own, of course, and happy hats to all!
Last edited by Friedrich-Berthold; 01-13-2015 at 04:25 AM.
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