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Supposed 1926 Officers dress uniform cap & collars EGA's


teufelhunde.ret
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teufelhunde.ret

Here we have the quintessential garden variety emblems for the Dress blues and Whites. An H&H pattern with likely began life in the 30's and continues in production into the post WW2 period. Its quite likely the pattern was sold for a longer period after the change by outfitters and such. Seen here is a group with medium wear, no serious defects, no issues... except, this set was very likely made to the end of the production run as evidenced by the cheap wartime rollers. Is is frustrating to date these pieces accurately, hopefully we will someday be able to determine if hallmarks play a part in dating these precisely.

 

Another frustrating issue the price some folks will spend to add these to an EGA collection. A pattern which spanned many years and into the post WW2 period reflects a satisfactory number of sets out there for any collector to acquire with relative ease... this bidder went well over the top to secure these $760..! :blink: Thoughts anyone....

1926_H_H_style_dress_cap_collars_front.jpg

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I have decided that rollers cannot be used to date something because they are removable and interchangeable.

 

I picked up this pair of collar EGA's recently and thought they were the "1926 style" but in showing them to another forum member who has a very large collection of vintage USMC photos (and EGA's), he said he that he's never seen then in any photos from that period and considers them a 1930's style. Anyone have any period photos of these?

 

egapair.jpg

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teufelhunde.ret

Bob, I have a hunch they are post war unmarked vanguard. I had a set which I traded away earlier this year. To make it worst, inadvertently deleted the front view when trying to delete the out of focus one posted here. My hunch is based upon the poor (light) fletching of the globe, lack of real sharp details on the eagle (when viewed with others, side by side). I recall Gary commenting about this at some point this year... perhaps he will pick up on this thread... just my two cents

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Hi Darrell,

 

Sorry I've been UA! EGA's have temporarily taken a back seat to SSI's. :)

 

I have always wondered when and how the pattern that started this thread got its P1926 association. I have, as of yet, never seen them in photos or groupings before 1940 and have always thought of them as direct pre-WWII, possibly as early as 1936 through post-Korean War sets. Those zinc "flower" rollers would certainly suggest WWII to me on this set. $760, huh? Man, where is the whistling smiley, because that's exactly what I'm doing right now! I personally believe this pattern was the standard garden variety H&H emblem set that preceded the "squatting bird" pattern of WWII through 1962, and certainly doesn't go back as far as 1926. It would be nice to see some photographic evidence or better yet, a set come out of an officer's belongings that retired or quit the Corps, say, late 1920's or early 1930's, but I think we would have already seen that by now if it were going to happen.

 

Do you remember the single pin-back H&H marked collar I found this past spring. It is slightly different than the ones above, in that the bird is skinnier and the anchor smaller, but even then, the straight drop-in, roller-lock catch suggests mid 1930's construction, and not 1920's. My jury is still out on whether this pattern goes back any where near 1926, but then, some of the H&H's posted for discussion have really changed my mind on allot of things about that firms emblems and hallmarks.

 

As for Bob's set? If they are H&H, it's really unusual for them not to be hallmarked by that company, but then again, see above comment on my mind being changed about H&H emblems. The unmarked Vanguard theory is also a possibility, although it's kind of tough to find Vanguard emblems with sterling marks dating from post WWII. Those are usually Stay-Bright metal of some sort or other. They certainly have those Vanguard legs that look like hair instead of feathers, don't they?

 

s/f, Gary

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Bob,

I want to clear some things up, during our meeting I mentioned that "I do not call these p1926s" that is based off of my experience at never having seen evidence of them worn pre mid-1930 or obtaining these in a lot of pre mid-1930's. I have always displayed a disdain for assigning a pattern to any EGA, as the reference that most go by is from 1968 or is the horrible one at the back of Moran's book. As we have discussed here so many times, EGAs display so much variation as to maker, color, method of construction and material, it really makes the head spin. I for one do not call this the P1926, I'd say it is closer to mid war to late war quality than anything made in the 1920's (regardless of fouling as well).

 

Mike

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Thanks for jumping in Mike and clarifying - my head was spinning after that meeting :)

 

Considering that the officer who used these did not get commissioned until WWII he mid war to late war period makes sense.

 

There is a natural desire to catalog any collectible by year or era, but I've now become convinced that these "1926" officer's pieces are not from the 1920's. So my question would be: what was the latest EGA design worn by officers in the late 20's - was it the droop wing shown in out reference section at http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...p?showtopic=609 ?

 

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In that same reference section, we also show one of the type of pieces that are the subject this thread - should be move that elsewhere?

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Here's more photos: a closeup of the eagle detail, and the back (the inside of the globe looks very much like silver in person, not the warm color you see in the photo):

 

26ega.jpg

 

26egaback.jpg

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