Nickman983 Posted October 16, 2019 Share #1 Posted October 16, 2019 Just got this one in the mail and wanted to get some outside opinions on it. It's an early Firestone liner with unpainted A washers and a nice double wire sweatband. The outside may have been repainted at some point a darker OD. On the front the last name "GIDDINGS" is painted and a modified Captain's insignia is attached to the liner. The clasp has been removed from the Captain's bars and a small bolt has been soldered on to one side of the bar. There was a small hole added through which the bolt is used to secure the bars to the liner with a square washer and a nut. Overall the liner shows a lot of use but is still in an overall nice condition. Of interest is the sweatband. Not only is it a wire sweatband but it is also a vinyl sweatband and has the webbing sewn over the vinyl rather than under it. I assume that this is a pretty rare variation of the sweatband? Also of interest is a possible ID. The seller claims that this liner belonged to Captain Ralph Giddings of the 7th ID who was injured on Okinawa. I haven't done the research on this just yet but the seller is based out of Minnesota and claims that the liner came out of St. Paul Minnesota (which is only about 25 minutes away from the seller). From the little bit of research I have done so far Giddings was originally from Colorado but was in St. Paul working as a design engineer in 1941. It appears he moved back to Colorado at some point but if the liner was in fact found in St. Paul there may be something to it. I still need to do more research of my own to determine other possible matches and reach out to the seller to see if they have any additional information but I wanted to hear some thoughts on this one first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickman983 Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share #2 Posted October 16, 2019 More pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickman983 Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share #3 Posted October 16, 2019 close up of the bars and the name. Also a picture of the modification made to the Captain's bars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickman983 Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share #4 Posted October 16, 2019 Interior shot of the liner, the nut/washer under the front webbing, and the back of the sweatband Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickman983 Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share #5 Posted October 16, 2019 closeups of the name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickman983 Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share #6 Posted October 16, 2019 closeups of the name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickman983 Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share #7 Posted October 16, 2019 closeups of the name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickman983 Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share #8 Posted October 16, 2019 closeups of the name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickman983 Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share #9 Posted October 16, 2019 last picture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daskrieg Posted October 16, 2019 Share #10 Posted October 16, 2019 I dont know if it is just my eyes at 130am or is that a teflon lock nut holding the insignia on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theriddler Posted October 16, 2019 Share #11 Posted October 16, 2019 Yes that’s a Nylok nut attached to the bolt, Nylok nuts first appeared in the 30’s early ones used a fibre insert to lock the nut and then at some stage over the years they started producing the nuts with Nylon instead of fibre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickman983 Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share #12 Posted October 16, 2019 I dont know if it is just my eyes at 130am or is that a teflon lock nut holding the insignia on. I'm very much not an expert on hardware so I can't say for sure. Here's a picture of the assembly taken off the liner. It was only tightened down enough to hold it in place so I did not force it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daskrieg Posted October 16, 2019 Share #13 Posted October 16, 2019 I am NO expert but to me i do not like the insignia. I do not like the way the bolt is attached to the "sterling" bars, what is attaching it? Glue? And i an not sure when they came out but the nut looks like a teflon nut ive never seen one on a piece this old. I can be ( and i hope i am) completely wrong but i would have passed on this purchase. I do not want to offend you it is just one persons opinion.please lets see what others think... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickman983 Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share #14 Posted October 16, 2019 I am NO expert but to me i do not like the insignia. I do not like the way the bolt is attached to the "sterling" bars, what is attaching it? Glue? And i an not sure when they came out but the nut looks like a teflon nut ive never seen one on a piece this old. I can be ( and i hope i am) completely wrong but i would have passed on this purchase. I do not want to offend you it is just one persons opinion.please lets see what others think... If I was worried about being offended I wouldn't have posted this for opinions. Looking at how the bolt is attached it is definitely soldered on to the Captain's bars rather than being glued. As for the nut, I don't think it's a teflon locking nut. I think it might be fiber but I'm not certain. The wiki page on locknuts has a link to an February 1946 Popular Science article that mentions fiber locking nuts https://books.google.com/books?id=2yADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA151&dq=popular+science+February+1946&hl=en&ei=vOPkTL3jJsnOnAf8toClDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=popular%20science%20February%201946&f=true Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cagedfalcon Posted October 16, 2019 Share #15 Posted October 16, 2019 I have seen jars of old fiber insert nuts at sales. Seems to be almost a phenolic like. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickman983 Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share #16 Posted October 16, 2019 Any other thoughts on the rank insignia or painted name? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickman983 Posted October 17, 2019 Author Share #17 Posted October 17, 2019 I'm going to start doing some research on the name this weekend unless the general consensus is that the name/rank are bad and I should be trying to return this one. Any suggestions on resources for looking up WWII officers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchangelDM Posted October 17, 2019 Share #18 Posted October 17, 2019 How much did you pay for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickman983 Posted October 17, 2019 Author Share #19 Posted October 17, 2019 $150 after taxes and shipping. It's a bit high if the name and rank are faked but I don't think it's too crazy if it was just an early Firestone with a nice double wire sweatband Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickman983 Posted October 19, 2019 Author Share #20 Posted October 19, 2019 So I take it by the responses (or lack there of) that this one is a bit iffy? If that's the case is the sum of the parts worth around what I paid or am I better off trying to get my money back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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