Members Aldo, Carlsson1982 and a couple of others should be able to if they see this thread (or a quick PM to them to look).
Two fine looking visors. One day for me...one day...just other priorities up till now.
Thank you MAP. We all had priorities in our earlier years, families, transportation, rent or mortgage, medical insurance, insurance this and that and taxes that never seem to end. I know first hand how difficult it is. Stay focused, these will come your way, even when it may seem impossible. I was advised a long time ago, those dark clouds that gather over tough situations are dark for one reason, they are lined with silver.
Getting these took about 20 years, then I have a Waffen SS visor with aluminum insignia which also took years to acquire as seen here. That is an RZM issue piece but i fear removing it from it's stand as the sweat band is torn and field repairs have been done many years ago and not by me. The visor was a soldiers capture piece in the field. That came to me via Jim Toncar.
Additionally, that took several errors, purchasing reproductions and being frustrated at the sellers and exasperated and also at the money spent to only be duped. I was fortunate to get refunds, and it took awhile too. Education back in those days, while living in Hawaii, no shows to easily attend resulted in a time consuming education by many errors. while the internet provides near show like shopping, there is really no replacement for hands on education. It would cost an SS EM/NSO visor to travel from here to a show, so I thought invest the travel money by purchasing what I thought was good. todays collectors have a much easier time, buy only if they ask for help on forums such as these if uncertainty creeps in.
Thank you MAP. We all had priorities in our earlier years, families, transportation, rent or mortgage, medical insurance, insurance this and that and taxes that never seem to end.
Oh no... what I meant by other priorities were that helmets and awards took precedence! LoL
"Please", Thank You" and proper manners appreciated
My greatest fear is that one day I will die and my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them
"Don't tell me these are investments if you never intend to sell anything" (Quote: Wife)
Wise words indeed Rich, and some fabulous items shown
By the way (and slightly off topic, your old Generals pennant is still one of my favourite pieces mate).
Best wishes from Australia,
Cheers
Bob
Aloha Bob! Good to see that fender pennant! No doubt it is in a great place to call home, you have acquired so many great artifacts too so that is in good company! How long ago did you get that from me, 2011 or so?
I stopped collecting for some time, our corrosion control biz went into overdrive as we gained contracts to operate the 25th ID CPAC (corrosion prevention and control program). During that time I made several acquisitions of Taliban war trophies from Desert storm and Afghan Vets. Funny thing is the command said it was verboten to bring those things home.
Also got involved in classic Harley Davidsons. Am an old Harley mechanic for bygone years during my youth. The image is my 1939 EL Knucklehead and I used to ride it frequently. That was the reason I sold you the fender pennant and sold many SS visors among other items was to pay for the 39 Knucklehead.
Bad back prohibits me from riding it anymore & it sits in my garage begging to be ridden. Am awaiting back surgery but had a heart attack 3 weeks ago. Was fortunate as angioplasty and a stent was installed and no open heart surgery necessary. I am doing better too, was a wonderful relief to curb the chest pains I had for some years, no idea what was happening as I have a shoulder problem too & thought that was the culprit for the pain.
Obviously I gravitated back to collecting again and am on the hunt for items. Not a want ad, just stating where I am currently at with these things.
What's ironic is I know a fellow here in Hawaii who worked with 442 infantry vets whom I've known for many years. He has items that he wants to sell that he has collected from the vets. Should be interesting to see what that's all about mid November. He collects only super minty items and am pretty excited about that. He was my source for the SSVT TKV Probst cuff title that resides in the Jim Toncar collection as well as the Elbe cuff title and many others acquired from him years ago. All mint condition too.
So the militaria collector mania is alive and well as is the knucklehead collecting mania. Am not going to die the richest person in the cemetery!
I still have this in a Lucite display box I had made especially for the Poking Fliegerhorst trumpet banner. Note the 3rd iteration helmet used by US armed forces early 2000's. The staff on top of the display cabinet that the helmet rests on is for my artillery swallow tail flag with finial, streamer, streamer ring and battalion ring. It is a mounted artillery's staff that came out of a barn in Austria. It was stuck up in the rafters of an old barn at wars end in an effort to hide the staff from those people who went door to door looking for war criminals.
Hi Rich, yes I think you may be right with the date, certainly around there somewhere !
Sorry to hear about your health problems, I had a heart attack around 20 years or so back in time too, had a stent put in, and had no troubles since,
but (sounds like I am copying you) had to pull the pin and retire because of back problems. Love your photos !!
I have a couple of Luftwaffe trumpet banners, (one Flak, and one for Flight), they look great, but I have always admired your Artillery Swallow Tail,
and the way you have it displayed looks fantastic.
Good luck too, with your veteran in Hawaii, fingers crossed from this end.
I suppose I should make this a bit short, we are hijacking the thread on caps a wee bit...
Very best wishes with your health (and the darned handful of pills for the rest of your life every morning).
Oh no... what I meant by other priorities were that helmets and awards took precedence! LoL
MAP, apologies for late reply. Yes, getting over the grey clouded mountains in life to the green plains below opens up a world of questions, what direction to go. Unless your uber wealthy but not rich (anybody can be named Rich but in that case it should be what you've learned and not whats in your wallet!) the question & decisions to purchase everything that tickles your fancy, or is it to specialize in 1, 2, 3 areas to create a themed collection that completes the category, or categories you've decided to pursue. Then the question arises how many collectibles of the same genre does it take to create a repetition that over time says to your mind, how many more of these collectibles do I need, break the mold and try something new!
Hi Rich, yes I think you may be right with the date, certainly around there somewhere !
Sorry to hear about your health problems, I had a heart attack around 20 years or so back in time too, had a stent put in, and had no troubles since,
but (sounds like I am copying you) had to pull the pin and retire because of back problems. Love your photos !!
I have a couple of Luftwaffe trumpet banners, (one Flak, and one for Flight), they look great, but I have always admired your Artillery Swallow Tail,
and the way you have it displayed looks fantastic.
Good luck too, with your veteran in Hawaii, fingers crossed from this end.
I suppose I should make this a bit short, we are hijacking the thread on caps a wee bit...
Very best wishes with your health (and the darned handful of pills for the rest of your life every morning).
Cheers
Bob
Bob, time flies for sure. No sorry needed, it seems with all the good living we do catches up to us, the bad living too. those seemingly not too serious injuries become focal points of a myrid of health issues. trick is to overcome those, enjoy life and have peace of mind that allows good sleep and more fun in life.
I was forced into retirement September 2012 and it was for the better I think. My thoughts then was to work into my mid 70's but that did not happen. It has taken me years to get caught up with sleep and to detoxify from the stress. I believe everyone goes through the stress part and that alone if uncontrolled can take a person out.
Yes, saw in a thread somewhere you acquired those banners. Handsome collectibles for sure.
Am looking to let the Standart and pole assembly go at this time. Have not started in earnest a campaign to sell. Hard to sell something that took years to acquire in bits and pieces. But if something happens to me my wife would not know what to do with it.
Once I understand what he has, what he wants for them and the deal is done, images will be posted of those collectibles.
Hijacking the thread? Naaa, it's what we collect and enjoy!
Was at the dentist yesterday, told them I had a complete diet change. No more food, just the mass of pills one has to take when these types of problems happen. Now I can finally loose weight at the dizzy pace those pills put my mind in.
I had to chuckle about your 'change of diet', i have mine lined up every morning for breakfast too
Geez sorry to hear that you are thinking of moving your Artillery swallow tail, I still have the photos of it that you posted up at the time when you
put it all together, and it shows your passion, and love for the standart, and its accessories. I guess we can't hang onto this stuff forever, and you
will always have the memories of the hunt, and the enjoyment of putting it all together to remember it mate.
My retirement keeps the interest alive to a degree, but being on a pension now I have to keep things in perspective, but still manage to pick up a few
things along the way.
Looking forward to hearing about your updates with your collector friend !
I had to chuckle about your 'change of diet', i have mine lined up every morning for breakfast too
Geez sorry to hear that you are thinking of moving your Artillery swallow tail, I still have the photos of it that you posted up at the time when you
put it all together, and it shows your passion, and love for the standart, and its accessories. I guess we can't hang onto this stuff forever, and you
will always have the memories of the hunt, and the enjoyment of putting it all together to remember it mate.
My retirement keeps the interest alive to a degree, but being on a pension now I have to keep things in perspective, but still manage to pick up a few
things along the way.
Looking forward to hearing about your updates with your collector friend !
Best wishes
Bob
Aloha Bob, With the 10 or 12' staff with finial attached does not go well with 8' ceilings, the age of the swallow tail with the weight of the bullion wire stresses the silk in a major way if displayed. The heat in Hawaii makes it even harder to display as my home is not A/C' d. On top of that I've found silverfish infestation on clothing and those insects have a huge appetite. And discovered early on they holed the silk red body. Small holes are not good holes and the reality is, any holes are not good holes. All combines to make the dream of displaying the artifact a nightmare with terrible consequences if done incorrectly. I've communicated with a local museum about having a good display built for all of it but their discussion was the best way to do that is to lay it flat!
When I had gotten heavily into collecting, daggers were my mania. At 1 time I've had an SS Himmler, chained SS, SA Rohm, inscribed SA daggers, double etched Voss Heer and Luftwaffe daggers, A Paul Dinger Damascus Heer officers, Field Marshall series swords, Luftwaffe swords and it went on and on. That was in the days prior to my entry into corrosion control.
Had a Teno officers that had a minute piece of dust on the blade and the blade was oiled, but it left oxidation pits. The dagger was a mint condition dagger and when I saw that I thought this is not good at all.
I flipped them all and started collecting insignia due to the fear of degrading mint condition artifacts, that morphed into uniforms, banners and well I went full circle and came back to daggers as uniforms without daggers unless a combat piece is naked. Recently purchased a type 2 chained SS dagger in near mint condition to display with my A-SS TKV Thüringen officers tunic.
I started searching for a portable A/C unit to do temperature control in my museum room but this CV19 BS has screwed up the supply chain and being in Hawaii that makes it tougher to get the right A/C unit to do the job. Wanted to go whole house A/C but my wife is so against it. So doing an outside unit for 1 room is highly impractical.
The swallow tail Standart has sat in my freezer rolled up in an inert towel for going on 15 years along with the streams too. Not exactly a displaying pleasure.
My friend who I am to meet has Waffen SS items, helmets, soft caps, cammo and insignia but he has not revealed the full scope of what he has. So the meet up should result in a great accumulation of wonderful collectibles with the soldiers stories that got them in WWII Europe. Selling the Standardt & accessories will aid in funding the acquisition.
But if not & I end up keeping the flag ensemble I am fully prepared to purchase as long as his prices are reasonable. These days, what's reasonable? LOL
The Standart & accessories are shown in this thread that I recently posted.
by MAP
.
LoL
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