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Let's play Army!


mvmhm
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Earlier this year, I posed some items donated by the grandson of a 26th Infantry Division vet:

 

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/165578-26th-infantry-division-bring-backs/?hl=26th

 

 

We've stayed in touch, and he'd mentioned he had some things hegot from an Army surplus store to wear when playing Army as a kid..of course, I mentioned if he ever "needed a good home for them"...when I got home last night this was waiting:

 

The sateen shirt is dated 1969..it has the outline of a shield shaped patch on the left sleeve. The USMC pocket knife is a 1978 Camillus. He found another stack of his Granddad's occupation currency (80 pieces); the M1 carbine pouch looks like it's dated 1958...can't make out the date on the M1956 canteen cover..the canteen itself has no date.

 

 

 

Mark sends

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The liner is in surprisingly good shape cornsidering it was used as a toy...it's a Westinghouse /D4..the nape strap has "Size 1" and "Q.M.D."...can't tell a date...the liner band is a DSA-100. The decals are in great shape..and looking at the brass grommet, you can see the faint remains of a white star.

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...and a little "provenance"...two black and white pictures of Aran playing...you can clearly see the M1 pouch, but I think he was wearing his Granddad's WWII pistol belt and canteen. The one picture looks like he's wearing a tigerstripe boonie under the helmet....

 

 

Mark sends

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The liner has survived in remarkably good shape considering its "play" history! One thing though....the sweatband is wrongly installed. This might be the cause of the slight tearing of the suspension at the front. It might be worth re-installing it correctly so as to relieve the pressure at those weak points.

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You will want to check the watermarks on the Allied Military Currency for Austria. There were two varieties of watermarks -- (1) wavy lines and (2) the words ALLIED MILITARY AUTHORITY. The wavy line variety is more common and can be seen clearly. The other type is often indiscernible and often appears as only parts of words. If you cannot see wavy lines then they are the scarcer variety.

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I let my boys play with most of my military gear and some VN surplus as well. That is part of being a kid.

 

You should see the look the neighbors give to a 5yr old running around with a toy rifle and a helmet :)

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Yeah, I wish I had stuff like that as a kid..although I did have a vast Army of Gi Joes. of course, when my kids ask for new gizmos, I always say "You know what I had to play with when I was a kid?? I had a rock. And I was happy to have THAT!".

 

 

Mark sends

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Those are really neat pictures of the kid playing Army. Sure brings back memories of growing up in the 50's when we all had that stuff. Lots of GI gear got double duty as camping gear and again when playing. Surplus stores were in almost every town and the stuff was cheap. I wish I still had all my gear from those days.

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You will want to check the watermarks on the Allied Military Currency for Austria. There were two varieties of watermarks -- (1) wavy lines and (2) the words ALLIED MILITARY AUTHORITY. The wavy line variety is more common and can be seen clearly. The other type is often indiscernible and often appears as only parts of words. If you cannot see wavy lines then they are the scarcer variety.

 

I went through all 80 notes, but only found 2 that don't have wavy lines....I have another stack at home from the first box they sent me - I'll try to check those out tonight or tomorrow..let me know if you can use any of them....

 

 

Mark sends

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you should have a copy of this photo enlarged and make a display with everything together with the photo

 

That's a great idea! BUT, finding some extra space will be the problem...space is at a premium for me now, and it doesn't look like the VA is going to have a buigger building I cna use any time soon....

 

 

Mark sensd

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Great stuff! I remember my father bought me a similiar ammo pouch that an Army-Navy store had made into a first aid kit. It had DDT powder in it. When my Mom saw that she went ballistic! The year would have been about 1969, and my sisters had just finished reading "Silent Spring".

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  • 3 weeks later...

I had an extra display case so I started on a "Let's play Army" display...I might add some older GI Joes, comic books etc.....

 

 

Mark sends

 

 

you should have a copy of this photo enlarged and make a display with everything together with the photo

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Very cool display!

I know I was one of "those" kids that was always building bunkers and digging foxholes.

I had an old Italian Carcano rifle my dad pulled the bolt from and said "have fun".

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I had a toy rifle that I think was like one of the Victory Trainers...alas, no bayonet. So, a little tape and one steak knife later.....that lasted until the mother unit got home...but for a brief time, I was king of the hill....

 

 

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WOW! That does stir up the memories! In the 50's all the guys would play army with their Dad's bringbacks...everyone would dig through their basements and find all kinds of gear to wear...we were probably running around with a small fortune on our backs given today's prices. Sadly, I wonder what ever happened to all that "neat stuff". Guess we had limited choices back then...Sgt. Rock...Davy Crockett...The Lone Ranger. As long as you didn't get the role of "Silver" you were doing good :D

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