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Show Yo Swagga - Swagger Sticks, All Eras


12A54
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(Sorry - couldn't resist the title.) Just picked this up a few weeks ago - a gorgeous 21" Swagger Stick. Details follow.

 

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View from the end. As you can see, this is from the US Constabulary.

 

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Close up of top: what isn't apparent in the photo is that the insignia is inset and there is clear lucite filler polished into the cap making the end smooth.

 

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Entire stick seems to be machined, polished aluminum or nickel steel. Handle has polished rings of brass, aluminum/nickel, and leather/wood (?). I found one similar to this in an old on-line auction that had fewer rings and wonder if they related to the rank of the person carrying these within the Constabulary. As you can see, there is also a leather handle loop / lanyard integrated into the handle (attached with the screw between the handle and shaft).

 

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Finally, the shaft is etched with classic German oak leaves:

 

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If anyone has info on this or other examples - please share!

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US Victory Museum

I present two of my Father's Viet-Nam era swagger sticks.

 

The artwork is either bone or ivory; I suspect ivory since

these were acquired overseas and at a time when most asian

art-craft used real ivory (1960s).

 

I photographed them in sections because if I pulled back far

enough to capture them in a single frame all the detail would

have been lost and they would only fill 10% of the photo image.

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END POST

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When did sticks like this stop being popular?

The closest I ever saw in the Army were those large walking sticks bored soldiers would carve in the field...

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They seem to have been moderately popular post-WWII through the 1970's, earlier as accessories and later as presentation items. Before the war many officers carried riding crops. Patton carried a swagger stick on occasion that was made from the blade of a French Lebel bayonet in a tight leather sheath.

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  • 3 months later...
Argonauts2

Here is a swagger stick that belonged to an American officer who served in the Philippine Constabulary in 1905. The cap is sterling silver with the PC crest on the end and with a rosewood shaft.

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  • 2 months later...

Hey all,

Went out with a friend yesterday and this is what I picked up along with afew sterling Navy insignias & some ribbons.

 

Now I have some questions. I know about the USMC swagger stick that came out in the 1950's but never heard of a USN on. Was it semi official? I take it it was for Chiefs? I would guess it was from WW1 Englissh influence? What do you all think?

 

I believe it was 26 inches plus, but is missing a couple of inches. Top is marked sterling but anchor is brass.

 

Terry

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The only one I can compare it with, is a WW1 Regimental British one I have, which is 27 and a 1/2 inches long, it has a silver/white metal tip to it

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Swagger sticks are definitely a traditional British military thing, "borrowed" by the US military.

 

"Much like using Kevlar in helmets was borrowed from the Yanks by the British." :)

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Much like using Kevlar in helmets were borrowed from the Yanks by the British. :)

Chobham armour in M1 tanks....Sam Browne belts....Brodie helmets....etc ;)

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I'll give you the first one Ian maybe even the second but honestly, you know the M-1 was the inspiration for the less than eye-appealing "Turtle" that replaced the near useless Brodie for WWII open fighting. ^_^

Back on track... this is a wonderful "Brit" inspired swagger stick!

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I'll give you the first one Ian maybe even the second but honestly, you know the M-1 was the inspiration for the less than eye-appealing "Turtle" that replaced the near useless Brodie for WWII open fighting. ^_^

 

Back on track... this is a wonderful "Brit" inspired swagger stick!

 

 

Yes...it is. One of my biggest regrets concerns my paternal grandfather, who was a Senior NCO in The Welch Regiment (traditional spelling) in WW1. He had a swagger stick complete with the regimental crest...I recall it as a boy. However, he died in the early 60s and I never saw it again. I'd love to have it today!

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Yes...it is. One of my biggest regrets concerns my paternal grandfather, who was a Senior NCO in The Welch Regiment (traditional spelling) in WW1. He had a swagger stick complete with the regimental crest...I recall it as a boy. However, he died in the early 60s and I never saw it again. I'd love to have it today!

 

You often wonder if those things got misplaced, sold or throne out. All you can hope for is that somewhere in England, someone is taking good care of it in their collection. I've got a great U.S. Army swagger stick with snake-skin overlaying it. It is very cool! I assume it's from an officer of higher rank but, I'll never know. I got it at an antique store where it was stuck in a barrel of umbrella's .

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Yes...it is. One of my biggest regrets concerns my paternal grandfather, who was a Senior NCO in The Welch Regiment (traditional spelling) in WW1. He had a swagger stick complete with the regimental crest...I recall it as a boy. However, he died in the early 60s and I never saw it again. I'd love to have it today!

 

You will like the one I have 'GWELL ANGAU NA GHYWILYDD', 'BETTER DEATH THAN DISHONOUR, its a WW1 Battalion one, the Welsh spelling on the cap badge, the Enlish inflicteded on us :o , the Welch spelling on the cap badge, came back in in 1922,

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Nice naval swagger stick. Though not as commonly used by US naval and army personnel to the same degree as the British and the members of their empire, swagger sticks were used by American Forces in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Marines embraced their usage broadly, were they went out of vogue with the other branches by WWII.

 

The most significant use of Swagger Sticks by US forces from what I have found in my research has been mostly those serving in the Far East in places like the Philippine, Guam, China and Hawaii. A number of these officers and others maintained their habit of carrying a swagger stick to Europe during WWI.

 

Though historically a symbol of authority dating back to Roman times (a baton), swagger sticks in the Far East also helped serve as a means to keep the local beggars as a distance.

 

Since you began this forum focused on US Naval swagger sticks, here are a few that date from 1900 to 1917.

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Top view with USNA class year design

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Here is another stick similar to yours, a copper insignia over silver.

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Another 3 dimensional design nickel and brass USN insignia over a silver cap.

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Another USN insignia in copper.

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Another stick with carved twist wooden shaft, and brass cap. The end cap includes a Naval button design.

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Another officers Swagger stick with a wooden shaft, silver cap and an end cap using a silver Naval button design.

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Another angle showing the silver cap with the Naval officers button design.

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A rare named USNA graduates swagger stick with a custom design in the form of a ships capstan and the officers class year insignia. The graduates monogram is engraved on the end cap.

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