Nelson Co. Long Beach LI NY marked pilots wing 3 inch

[warguy]

I just picked up a pilots wing from a grouping a buddy of mine purchased from a woman in her 80s. The pilot was in WWII, and flew through the fifties. The grouping contained his campaign and victory medals in boxes, an air medal, etc. Some of the medals appeared to be post WWII. There was a 1950s nylon flight jacket that she held on to. Additionally, a 2 inch Meyer senior pilot wing with the 9M mark.The woman said this pilot went to work for Lockheed afterward and several old aircraft photos were purchased as well. I don't have any of his WWII history (dates served, etc).

 

The wing I acquired is a full size, three inch and is pin back, very well constructed rather heavy and neatly and clearly stamped on the reverse Nelson Co. Long Beach LI NY. It appears to be sterling although not marked as such.

 

I have found this maker mark on a general listing of hallmarks for WWII insignia on this forum and another, but I cannot for the life of me find this maker on a wing in any of my references, this forum or online.

 

I will post photographs this evening, but in the meantime, can anyone tell me if this hallmark is rare, or can you point me to other examples for comparison? Anyone know if a wing with this maker would date to WWII or after? Thanks, I will return later with photos.

[Ivydiv]

If you Google the entire name Nelson Company Long Beach LI NY one of the answers was Flying Tiger Antiques. They had a pair of Senior Pilot wings they had listed as Rare, that has already been sold. Maybe they can help if you contact them. Dave

[warguy]

Thanks Dave, I actually saw that wing after the original post here. It looks like it has many of the same characteristics. It is the only other wing I have been able to find by this same maker. Here are my photos of the wing I just picked up. Any and all comments are welcome. I have a feeling this is a rare one but would love to hear from others. I said earlier it wasnt marked sterling but as you can see it is. I have a wonderful memory, it is just very short apparently. Kevin

 

 

[Ivydiv]

One more thought, although Nelson Co. is not shown on the website of US Maker Marks by Andrew Lipps of Wartime Military Collectibles, he may be able to give you more information on your wings. He is very knowledgeable on all types of wings. He is a good guy that has helped me out in the past. He is a member here on the forum. Dave

[triplecanopy]

Nelson also made a few parachute badges as shown here. There is very little information known about this maker and I would certainly say these badges are rarely encountered. I have collected parachute badges for 50+ years and I do not have one, but I know they exist. So if you have a badge by this maker, you have a very nice find.

[warguy]

Thanks for the comments so far. Hoping to hear more.

[warguy]

I am still interested if anyone has one of these wings in their collection for comparison? Any serious wing collectors out there?

[warguy]

I am back into collecting wings again and wanted to resurrect this post. Has anyone else seen this maker on a pilots wing. Is it a rare one? I still can’t find another example of a pilot with this maker mark. Thanks 

[pfrost]

I did some research on Ancestry.com.

 

What I found out was that there was a Joseph W. Eigo who lived in New York and was listed as being the president of the Nelson Co.  A search of phone directories in New York (Including Long Island and Brooklyn) shows that there was a Joseph W. Eigo who lived/worked at 370 Hamilton Ave During WWII and was employed in military surplus.  On Mr. Eigo's draft card, he is listed as being employed at A. N. Nelson Inc.  A bit more research shows that Eigo may have been a mill worker and salesman prior to WWII.

 

A. N Nelson Inc was located at 370 Hamilton Ave and was involved in "Industrial Supplies" after the war (post mark looks to me like it was 1948???).

 

So... I suspect that this wing was made by A. N. Nelson Inc, either on purpose or as part of something that JW Eigo was working on--either as a wholesaler of military insignia, a jobber for other companies, or simply grabbing up surplus and trying to resell it under his company's name.  A. N. Nelson Inc Claimed to be founded in 1865, and perhaps Eigo was involved in developing  his own business as a military surplus supplier whilst working at A. N. Nelson Inc as a mill worker and salesman....

 

There is some more research work to be done.  This wing is of the AMICO design and AMICO did go out of business after WWII.  So, it could have been old stock.  I think Eigo may have lived at 43 Hamilton Street, so it may have been more of a guy using his connections and trying to pull a fast one using A. N. Nelson Inc's name and changing it to Nelson Company. 

 

So... there you have it.

[pfrost]

BTW, there are some catalogs available from A. N. Nelson Inc at the Stanford Library from 1952 or so.  I suspect that A. N. Nelson and JW Eigo didn't actually make these wings, but rather a hallmark was added to some military surplus (perhaps from AMICO).

[warguy]

Very interesting, thanks for the information. I saw one other wing for sale when I was doing research on the internet that Is mentioned above a senior pilot sold by Flying Tiger and listed as rare. It is interesting it’s an Amico design, I didn’t realize that. Thanks again for the info. I like that it is not a common mark and it came out of the woodwork.