What was your first?

[Tim030]

Great thread. Thanks so much for starting it Chopperman.

[Chopperman]

Thank you but I can not take all of the credit.
I saw the one that you started on WAF.

[Kilian]

That is an interesting Kriegs Flag that you show us, Tim030.

It was made in The Netherlands under German occupation by N.V. P.F. Van Vlissingen & Co Katoenfabr. in the city of Helmond. Katoenfabr. is short for katoenfabriek: cotton factory.

The company goes back to the first half of the 19th century and it still exists under the name of Vlisco. They were, and still are, a cotton printing business. Today their main market is Africa, where they sell printed cloth in the batik style, an idea that they picked up in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) in the second half of the 19th century. Here’s a link to the company website The Founding of Vlisco | Vlisco history

Probably not on their website is that they manufactured flags and nazi armbands for the Germans under occupation during ww2. Many companies in The Netherlands worked for the Germans and German military. And many tried hard to forget that. Most did not really have a choice; by accepting that work they could protect their workers (and their jobs) and avoid that these people would be send to Germany to work in factories there.

I do not collect these flags and I did not know Vlisco made these. Same for the armbands.

As for the original topic start, my first item was a Spanish M1941 bolo bayonet, back in 1976/77.

[Reibert]

During my time as an apprentice boy, I liked to throw the dice to improve my apprenticeship wages a little.

At some point an opponent of the dice could no longer pay me and I was offered a party badge and a war merit cross in exchange for money.
That was more than 40 years ago now...

I still have the party badge as a souvenir of my "wild" youth back then.

[Tim030]

Kilian great info on my flag. Thanks so much.

Tim

[TWS]

Not the first original German WWII item that I ever acquired, even though I eventually did manage to gain ownership. However, it is the first original item that I came into contact with and partially responsible for me getting into collecting. I made a thread where I tell the whole story over 5 years ago. Please click the link;

The first Stahlhelm I ever held.

[Larry C]

Wish I had my SA dagger to post. Unfortunately stolen back in 74. Nice one with nickel guards probably early make. Included the hanger too. Later replaced it with an NSKK but not nearly as nice. Thanks to all so far for posting their fine treasures.

Do you remember the producer of that stolen dagger?

[Martin Bull]

I was 9 years old when I found this aluminium serviette ring in a tray of bits & pieces at a local junkshop. From the date I guessed it was something connected with WW1. When I summoned the courage to ask 'How much ?' my heart sank when the elderly proprietor said 'That's from the First World War, son'. Then he smiled and said 'Sixpence'. That's 2.5 pence today. It was only after the invention of Google decades later that I found out it's a 'souvenired' fragment of Zeppelin LZ.55, shot down by Royal Navy ships on that date.

I still love it......

[ivanjoaquin]

This was the first militaria item that I bought , in 1973, a Spanish Mauser bayonet mod 1893 corta, I paid about €0,75 for it…

[Anon]

The first piece that sparked my interest in militaria was the wedding picture of my great grandfather in uniform and a picture of my great great grandfather in husaren uniform. Both hung on the wall at my grandparents house. After that I searched all photo albums for pictures of soldiers and asked all relatives if they had stuff from the war. At family gatherings I asked all the old people what they knew about our relatives that fought in the war.

Many years later and I gathered all the medals and paper stuff etc. that survived the wars. Altough I think there could be some stuff still left in the attics of some old relatives that they dont know of but thats just spectulation.

The first thing that I bought was probably this ww1 fuze at a flea market. The seller also gifted me some smaller things like bullets and stuff (the perks of being a kid).