Dating Rank insignia

[FAAA]

Still not really found anything on here in regards to dating the various patterns of WWII Rank insignia. So I guess a direct question may result in some further info.



WWII or not!! Yes!

Late War!! Yes!

Kind Regards

Lee

[FAAA]

Still not really found anything on here in regards to dating the various patterns of WWII Rank insignia. So I guess a direct question may result in some further info.

 

 

WWII or not!! Yes!

 

Late War!! Yes!

 

Kind Regards

 

Lee

Any info at all as to the time frame this pattern of Ranking was used!!

[craig_pickrall]

It is WW2 period.

[FAAA]

It is WW2 period.

 

 

Late war possibly!

 

Kindd Regards

 

Lee

[General Apathy]

 

 

It is WW2 period.

 

 

Hi Lee, on the question on stripes, is that besides the ones commissioned and issued by the army there were many more private manufatureres that manufactured stripes and sold them to army bases and or the PX system.

 

Attached above is a page from a mid 41 to mid 42 catalog I have of a company that produced stripes amongst all other army equipment in what appears direct mail order sales to soldiers.

 

If the page is clear enough to read see the amount of variations from just this one company that are shown.

 

I also have to say that when I had racks of Ike jackets and four pocket dress jackets and wool shirts then there was not any definate style used on a particular item of clothing, the stripes were any pattern-style of stripe on any item of clothing, as long as it wasn't a summer khaki background stripe on a wool item.

 

If you also take a look at the stripes mentioned in the oblong box at the bottom it sounds like the pair you are showing at the start of this topic, ' embroiderd O.D. silk on blue felt background '

 

ken

[blkjack07]

... in regards to dating the various patterns of WWII Rank insignia.

In his book Chevrons, which is pretty much "the bible" for US Army enlisted rank insignia collectors, William K. Emerson says the following:

 

"From 1933 until the close of World War II, personnel in the Office of the Quartermaster General issued various standards and specifications that officially affected the types of chevrons being issued. Various committees decided to adopt one type of chevron or another, only to change the decision later on for a variety of reasons. Wool and cotton backgrounds with embroidered and cut-out devices and designs came and went and so did woven chevrons ... . On occasions, the Quartermaster Corps simply bought available chevrons even if [ they ] were not officially prescribed. ... [ The use of nonregulation insignia ] during the 1939-1941 expansion of the Army ... is a cause of considerable confusion if someone tries today to classify chevrons by official color and material categories. It is much more realistic to group chevrons by color and material that was widely worn, ... and then make allowances when a rank device is found that does not precisely fit one of the types listed."

 

Emerson then provides a table listing seven common types made and worn in the 1940s, of which one is "Olive drab embroidered on dark blue wool".

 

Elsewhere he lists chevrons with olive drab embroidered stripes on a dark blue background as having been in general use from 1925 until 1948. I think that's probably as close as you could get to putting an exact date on these.