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What item(s) was the catalyst that got you collecting


manayunkman
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manayunkman

I thought it might be interesting to know what it was that we got or saw that led to our collecting militaria.

 

Please post your own personal story. For me it was:

 

My Dad was born in 1930 in the Netherlands. He was ten years old when the Nazis invaded.

 

He was a avid amature artist and drew hundreds of pictures during the war.

 

As a young boy living in Belgium I was already interested in military things. I mean big things.

 

Just about every town in Europe has a big tank somewhere as a monument to their liberation. They fascinated me.

 

When I was 7 my Oma in The Netherlands died.

 

During her house clean out I found my Dad's art. I would spend hours looking through them and was constantly asking questions.

 

I became obsessed.

 

The liberation of Holland started in 1944 and my Dad grew to love Americans.

 

Here are some pictures of Americans he drew.

post-51189-1343962304.jpg

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manayunkman

This was also a favorite. You can see my attempt to draw a plane just like the one in the previous picture.

post-51189-1343962935.jpg

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manayunkman

A group shot. Notice that almost everyone has their hands in their pockets. Dad was having a hard time drawing hands.

post-51189-1343963547.jpg

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manayunkman

My Dad drew many Anti Nazi pictures but most of them did not survive.

 

My Opa would throw them away.

 

If they were found by the wrong people it could be a death sentence.

 

The caption reads " The Noble Teuton "

 

The plane is a Dutch Fokker that my Dad made.

 

They would salvage aluminum from crashed planes, melt it and pour it into a mold.

 

And his toy soldiers.

post-51189-1343964415.jpg

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manayunkman,

Simply phenomenal historical artwork!!

 

In humbly describing my own 'collecting catalyst'; it long ago began with an intense interest in edged weaponry.

 

Regards,

Don.

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The NEX uniform shop in Hawaii had (and still has some) uniforms on display. I was always so fascinated everytime I walked by and looked at the Navy whites with the blue collar that was displayed on the

mannequin. Never thought I would be able to own one, now I have like 150 uniforms....haha

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Great drawings, thanks for sharing!

 

There wasn't a particular item that sparked my interest. It was learning about my grandfather and his insignia that brought it on. Then someone at ww2f.com told me about this site, and I have been hooked ever since.

 

Josh

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History Man

Well, for me it started with a USAF Lt. Col. estate sale where I got a 48 star memorial flag and the mans retirement folder which I still have. I stopped for a while and it reignited again when I found a WW2 captain helmet at the flea market for $10.

 

Philip

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agate hunter

Got interested in military related stuff when I was around 8 or 9 because I would always look through my dad's books he had about WWII Germany and other WWII and military stuff. Then got into GI Joes then collectible 1/6 figures then real stuff.

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Robswashashore

Back in the early 60's, my dad would take out his GCM and his USAAF Weather Forecaster Q badge and let me hold them. Then he would tell me stories about Bluie West One in Greenland during the "Last Big One."

 

I've been hooked ever since.

 

Jean

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I sort of inherited the collecting bug. My dad was an avid collector starting when his uncles would send stuff home from "the war". I became interested because he had my uncle's Ike jacket and most importantly the helmet that he jumped into Normandy wearing. My uncle was in the 82nd airborne and made all of the combat jumps starting on D-Day. He took a bullet across the top of his scalp and one nicked his earlobe. The helmet (with net) had an entry in the front, an exit at the back and the liner was nicked by the earlobe. He was only slightly wounded (basically a bad scratch) and didn't even have a permanent part to his hair. He adamantly refused to turn in his "good luck charm" and was never even scratched through Holland, the bulge and into Germany. My uncle wore that helmet on every jump the 82nd had until he died in 1965.

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Well when I was very young I used to collect the 1/6th scale figures by Dragon Models limited. I can honestly say this gave me a lot of base knowledge that I could expand on as I learned more. I went to go visit my boss's collection which got me started, but my first grouping from a 9th AF radar operator really got me hooked.

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Incredible! It must be great t have something so personal from your family that is, at the same time, so charged with history.

 

I've always been a collector (of whatever I thought was cool as a kid), and I picked up military stuff from time to time. It wasn't until we cleaned out my grandmother's belongings and we found her father's WWI navy uniform (along with just about everything else) that I really got interested in collecting militaria specifically.

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as a kid I always liked watching old war movies, WWII Sand of Iwo Jima, Korean war "Pork Chop Hill", Vietnam the Green Berets", etc

 

I wanted a WWII M1 steel helmet with camo netting very badly!

 

finding a WWII helmet was my top priority when I became interested in militaria

 

my dream helmet use to be the same kind Clint Eastwood wore in Kelly's Heroes with the camo netting

 

 

I guess playing army as a kid got me started collecting later on

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WOW M some outstanding atr from your father. Shame that kids had to see that kind of thing but still very impressive. thanks for sharing.

 

I have alwyas been interested in military history and bought my first book when I was 10. "colliers pictorial history of WWII" still have it. I did not start collecting photos, my main collecting love, untill about 12 years ago when I got my Grandfathers photo album from his time in the Pacific. I have been hooked ever since. Itis bad.. lol I now collect uniforms and running out of room..

 

Mike

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doinworkinvans

I was always fascinated with SSI and would always buy cheap repros at flea markets and such when I was a little one. You know .50 here and .30 there. Now I realize I have to (AND HAVE!) pay the big bucks. As I got older my love for history grew and was constantly watching History channel or Military Channel and ultimately majored in History in college. But what really got me going was seeing a picutre of a man on my grandparents wall my entire life. He was in a Navy uniform but never knew the story. Oliver Worth Peele was his name (my grandmothers brother) and he was a Machinist Mate 3c on the USS Wasp in WW2. He took off one day in 1942 with a pilot and never came back. The only thing I have of him is that picutre. Its led me to countless dead-ends, but I always search for any info on him. Not a Navy collector by any means, but he is what led me to my WW2 love and collecting. Hopefully one day I'll spy him off to a side in a picture or something, but until then I'll keep loving and collecting WW2.

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