Early N.S. Meyer Naval Aviator Wings and versions

[B-17Guy]

Interesting early Naval Aviator's wing, that I picked up last spring at a local show.

Wing appears to be an early Meyer pattern, but unlike my other early Meyer Navy wings, has no hallmarks.

It also has a Tiffany style catch.

The catch makes me think WWI, but not sure, my thought is more toward immediate post WWI.

Looking for opinions.

 

Best, John

[B-17Guy]

Back

[CliffP]

John,

 

That USN wing badge may well have been made by N. S. Meyer circa 1918/1919. What I find especially nice about it is the quality of the straight pin and the "lever lock" or Tiffany style catch on the back. By 1920 most if not all manufacturers had stopped using a Tiffany style catch.

 

If you should ever consider letting it go I'll be happy to give you the name of someone who might be interested. :whistling:

 

Cliff :-)

[John Cooper]

John I think Cliff's last comment says it all!

 

You have one very minty Navy wing!

 

Cheers

John

[Josh B.]

This info, directly from the US Trademark office, might be of interest in dating these wings. Though Meyer as an insignia manufacturer pre-dates WWI, it looks as though they did not adopt their common "shield" trademark before 1917. That is my interpretation from what I've been able to dig up, and is what's indicated below. Note they did not actually file to protect that trademark until 1924. If others could post their early Meyer Naval Aviator's wings to this thread for comparison, it might be a useful one for reference in the future.

[B-17Guy]

Sorry for the slow reply, thanks to all for the comments.

The information about the Meyer trademark is valuable stuff, and the trademark web-site has

proven valuable in research many times. Too bad more wing makers didn't seem to file

to protect their trademark more often, as solid dates are so hard to find in this area of collecting.

I have finally had time to take some close up pics of my other two early Meyer Naval Aviator wings

for reference as requested.

Both are 20-30's era, and both have the same Meyer shield. One is marked "Meyer Metal" and the other

is "Rolled Plate".

Meyer Metal was first used in 1923 and trademarked in 1924, but I have not been able to find a hard date for Rolled Plate, as it was

probably not filed for trademark protection.

 

Best, John

 

Top Meyer Metal

Bottom Rolled plate

Same die as post #1

[B-17Guy]

Back(s) showing shield(s)

 

Top Rolled Plate wing

Bottom Meyer Metal wing

[B-17Guy]

Back(s) showing metal mark

 

Top Rolled Plate

Bottom Meter Metal

[bobgee]

Great MEYER hallmark info......not only for wing badges but for all MEYER-marked insignia.......including the earlier USMC insignia. Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup: Bobgee

[Josh B.]

John, Thanks for posting the additional photos. For awhile there I thought I'd killed the thread...

 

I'd done a similar trademark search for "rolled plate" in conjunction with its use by Meyer and also found nothing. In retrospect I'm not surprised that Meyer did not register it. I believe "rolled plate" and "rolled gold plate" are typical marks used by metal-ware and jewelry makers which essentially denote a commonly used manufacturing process. Thus the term "rolled plate" (which describes a process, and a common one at that) would not have been available (or even sensible to pursue by Meyer) for trademark.

 

For more info, see the following wiki that explains how "gold filled" and "rolled gold plate" are related in terms of manufacturing process but imply differing amounts of precious metal incorporated.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold-filled_jewelry

 

Meyer-Metal on the other hand describes a specific alloy used by Meyer. It therefore was sensible for Meyer to create a new hallmark to describe/ advertise the product, which was then protected by trademark.

[B-17Guy]

Thought I would add one more wing to this thread.

Another early Meyer Naval Aviator wing, same die,

with the MYRGOLD marking.

 

Best, John

[B-17Guy]

Back

[B-17Guy]

Hallmark

 

Here are a couple of links to two other similar threads-

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...&hl=myrgold

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...&hl=myrgold

 

Best, John

[B-17Guy]

All four wings together

 

1. 1918 or so, un-marked

2. Meyer Metal

3. Rolled Plate

4. MYRGOLD

 

Best, John

[B-17Guy]

Backs

[bschwartz]

I have to say that is a damn fine collection of Meyer wings. Meyer gets a huge bad rap due to all the fakes out there but the originals are actually quite nice. Very cool to see all four lined up like that. Impressive.

[B-17Guy]

Been meaning to update this thread with two more early Meyer variations that I have picked

up in the last few months.

 

That now makes the following known back marks on pre-WWII Meyer Naval Aviator wing badges (all have stamped shield except Myrgold);

 

1. No hallmarks w/Tiffany catch (probably WWI)

2. Meyer Metal

3. Rolled Plate

4. Rolled Gold

5. Sterling

6. Myrgold

 

 

 

Meyer marked "Rolled Gold" front

[B-17Guy]

Rolled Gold back

[B-17Guy]

"Sterling" front (most finish is gone, only small amount of gilt remains)

[B-17Guy]

"Sterling" back

[B-17Guy]

Meyer ad from 1944.

[tomcatter]

I really like pre-WWII Naval Aviator wings, their design has been the most elegant in my opinion!

 

I have a question about Meyer Metal wings: anyone knows if "Meyer Metal" alloy could be compared to some kind of Gold alloy (like 18kt, 14kt, etc)?

Original box says "Special alloy: some 18kt Gold color throughout its thickness; no gold plating: not injured by polishing."

So, is it correct to say that Meyer Metal is like 18kt Gold?

[B-17Guy]

No, I would not say it is an 18K gold wing.

The Meyer Metal hallmark was first used in 1923 and can be seen till probably early WWII.

I believe it was a process used by Meyer, sort of like OROID by HH, to help prevent mental from tarnishing.

 

Here is the quote from the trademark-

 

"SPECIAL METAL (NOT A PRECIOUS METAL) AND DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR USE ON

ARMY, MARINE, AND OTHER UNIFORMS AND EQUIPMENT, AND MORE PARTICULARLY

ON COLLARS, SHOULDER STRAPS, AND CAPS OF UNIFORMS. FIRST USE: 19231214.

FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19231214"

 

John

 

 

[tomcatter]

Thank you for this info John! :-)

[Flightpath]

Let's keep this informative thread alive....

 

I won a simular wing with the Meyer shield marked:

ROLLED PLATE

N.S. MEYER NEW YORK

 

The wing has N.S. MEYER NEW YORK without 'INC.' If we can find when N.S. MEYER was incorporated would this show that the wing was made before that year?

 

cheers, John