Meyer Metal EGA's question?

[DKNYC71]

Dear Members,

 

I do not know much about EGAs and appreciate all the great opinion and help! These Officer Dress collar EGAs are marked Meyer Metal. What period are these from, they certainly look nice.

 

Many Thanks - Dave.

[DKNYC71]

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[DKNYC71]

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[Brig]

1930s shoulder epaulette emblems...the dress mess fell out of use during WWII, and the hand-stipled fretwork and Meyers Metal marks place these mid-30s, most likely

[DKNYC71]

So these are actualy not collar's? Interesting about the dress EGA'a, so were there no dress EGA's produced during the war?

[Brig]

They could be used as collars, and often were, but by the 30s these pinbacks were marketed and intended for the shoulder knots on the dress mess...and screwback versions were produced for the collars.

 

Screwback dress emblems were still produced during the war, as the standard dress blues still saw limited use mostly in ceremonial and attache duties...however the dress mess uniform itself ceased to be used during the war and wasn't reintroduced, in a whole different pattern, until the 50s. I'm sure surplus pinback stock was sold as collar emblems to get rid of it during this period.

 

Attached is a photo in my collection of a Marine attache to Brazil, taken around 1941 just before the war broke out...it shows the shoulder knots in question

[DKNYC71]

Thanks Brig! very interesting and educational! Was there a difference in time period between just Meyer Metal marked without an additional sterling mark, and one with it?

[Brig]

Silver has been used in dress emblems since the 1800s...so sterling marks don't necessarily help, other than usually post-WWI when the law changed that sterling had to be marked with a sterling mark rather than just the word 'silver'.

 

The Meyers Metal mark is the big tell on these...the Meyers Metal markings predominantly appear on EGAs produced in the 30s. Afterwards, they dropped the word 'Metal'. Here's a chart of Meyers hallmarks and periods used

[Brig]

And here's a set of epaulettes in my collection that the emblems would go on...

[DKNYC71]

Wonderful and insightful, your expertise on this subject is of the highest caliber - Mamy Thanks!