Foreign Made Ranks

[Austin R]

I'm not really into patch collecting and I have never seen ranks made out of felt. Are they foreign made or a variation?

Thanks,
Austin

[KurtA]

The chevrons are U.S.-made, early WW2.

[patches]

Foreign Made ? Maybe..... If your an Italian HHHHHAAAA HHAAAA !

[patches]

I'm not really into patch collecting and I have never seen ranks made out of felt. Are they foreign made or a variation?

 

 

Thanks,

Austin

 

These are a type of patch that is known as Applique, the applying of designs cut in a prescribed shape by glueing in to position and sewing to a background, sometimes glue was not used, and in the case of WWI/1920s patches of this type ( Shoulder patches could also be seen in this style) the motif/design was glued only without it being sewn down. This type OD on black wool applique was as kurt said, an early war type but this type also came out in the 1930s, this specific type could be seen being worn however throughout the entire war, you will even see this type more than a few times on the IKE jackets and overcoats of disharged veterans in 1945/46.

[Lee Ragan]

These are a type of patch that is known as Applique, the applying of designs cut in a prescribed shape by glueing in to position and sewing to a background, sometimes glue was not used, and in the case of WWI/1920s patches of this type ( Shoulder patches could also be seen in this style) the motif/design was glued only without it being sewn down. This type OD on black wool applique was as kurt said, an early war type but this type also came out in the 1930s, this specific type could be seen being worn however throughout the entire war, you will even see this type more than a few times on the IKE jackets and overcoats of disharged veterans in 1945/46.

 

Way back when I started collecting, these wool on wool type chevrons were described by some older collectors as "overcoat" chevrons. This may have been the original intended purpose of these, but like that man said, you'll see them on just about any uniform coat or Ike jacket. During the big WWII, GI's seemed to use what was available. They were used from the late 1930's up thru the war and probably even later. You will find these for the pre 1942 1st Sergeant with two rockers and the later 3 rocker 1st Shirt. And, most I've seen were unused so I always figured there were a lot of these type chevrons left over.

[Wailuna]

In addition to all of the above information, a major drawback of the appliqué chevron was that it was not suitable for wear on any uniform that was laundered vs. dry cleaned, as washing in water would ruin the felt, which is why these chevrons are sometimes seen on wool uniforms but rarely on khakis or fatigues. The woven type chevron (see below) that was introduced during WWII overcame this problem by being suitable for wear on any type of uniform. They were also capable of being mass produced and ultimately were less expensive to make on a unit cost basis than the felt-on-felt appliqué type.

 

[patches]

Way back when I started collecting, these wool on wool type chevrons were described by some older collectors as "overcoat" chevrons. This may have been the original intended purpose of these, but like that man said, you'll see them on just about any uniform coat or Ike jacket. During the big WWII, GI's seemed to use what was available. They were used from the late 1930's up thru the war and probably even later. You will find these for the pre 1942 1st Sergeant with two rockers and the later 3 rocker 1st Shirt. And, most I've seen were unused so I always figured there were a lot of these type chevrons left over.

 

It would seem the the Corporal applique ones where produced in huge numbers, here in NYC in the 90s and 2000s you would see in every Army/Navy Store and vintage clothing stores that dealt heavily in military clothing very large amounts of this type, sometimes stil tyied up in those little bundles with string, in around 2007 I went to this surplus wholesale house in Brooklyn for the very first time, ( I never knew of it's existance till then) and low and behold during my allowed free run of the warehouse proper I seen boxes and boxes, and more boxes of these Applique coropal stripes, he may have been the sourse of all them in the northeast back in the day, and was bought in bulk ? who knows by his father in the 1950s (it was the man's grandfather who stated the bussiness in the 20s).