Dorykratos Posted July 3, 2014 Share #1 Posted July 3, 2014 Hi all, new poster here. Found the forums doing some research after my Pawpaw gave me his uniforms from his time in the Navy...eventually I hope to fill in a couple of items that were lost/damaged over the years in addition to figuring out the best way to preserve things. The main things that I think I'm going to need are a visor cap, dress shirt, and necktie for the chief petty officer uniform and a dixie cup cap and second neckerchief for the white uniform. I also have my Grampa's army uniform which I think is pretty much complete. Pictures follow split over a couple of posts due to size constraints...any information, comments, and advice regarding the uniforms, what might be missing, and preservation is most welcome. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorykratos Posted July 3, 2014 Author Share #2 Posted July 3, 2014 Continued... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsmilitary Posted July 3, 2014 Share #3 Posted July 3, 2014 great uniforms. its awesome to have both grandfathers uniforms if they were both in that is. I have both of my grandfather's uniforms. maybe I'll post them sometime Sent from my SCH-S738C using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SergeantMajorGray Posted July 3, 2014 Share #4 Posted July 3, 2014 Is that a subdued patch on a WW2 uniform? That must have been added not to long ago. Did you grandfather in the Navy change his rate when he made chief? Because they are not the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHASEUSA11B Posted July 3, 2014 Share #5 Posted July 3, 2014 Great uniforms! Looks like your missing collar disks for the army uniform- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDogMilitaria Posted July 3, 2014 Share #6 Posted July 3, 2014 Is that a subdued patch on a WW2 uniform? That must have been added not to long ago. Did you grandfather in the Navy change his rate when he made chief? Because they are not the same. The 81st ID patch looks 100% period correct to the uniforms Great stuff! I am very envious that you are able to have both your Grandfathers uniforms. You will find a lot of great things in this hobby, but none of the will ever compare to those. Congrats to you and welcome to the forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SergeantMajorGray Posted July 3, 2014 Share #7 Posted July 3, 2014 Ah I didn't know the division to check but it looked like a subdued patch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VolunteerArmoury Posted July 3, 2014 Share #8 Posted July 3, 2014 Ah I didn't know the division to check but it looked like a subdued patch. It's not "subdued" as generaly referred but it's regular colors after the establishment of the single 81st SSI wihtout the branch colors included as in WW1. Of course the later subdued SSIs used the same colors so the same 81st became the dress SSI & the SSI for fatigue uniforms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted July 3, 2014 Share #9 Posted July 3, 2014 I'm not clear on whether these all came from the same grand father or not. Regardless they are superb. If the army and navy uniforms all belonged to the same person what is the history behind them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorykratos Posted July 3, 2014 Author Share #10 Posted July 3, 2014 Did you grandfather in the Navy change his rate when he made chief? Because they are not the same. He did. He did an interview for the Veterans' History Project years ago where he explained that when the new sailors went aboard, they were assigned to different groups. In his words, he was selected for the quartermaster-signalman group and as he advanced he 'struck' for whatever position of those two ratings became available. I'm not clear on whether these all came from the same grand father or not. Regardless they are superb. If the army and navy uniforms all belonged to the same person what is the history behind them. Sorry I wasn't clear - they aren't from the same person. One grandfather was in the Navy and one in the Army. My grandfather in the Navy enlisted in 1940 and my grandfather in the Army was (if I understand correctly the implication of his separation paperwork specifying that he was in the Army of the United States) drafted in 1942. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930artdeco Posted July 3, 2014 Share #11 Posted July 3, 2014 Great uniforms and it is great that you still have them. I have what is left of my grandfathers uniforms (Navy and Army Air Forces), so I built them back up over the years. Regardless, here are some pointers: -take lost of photos and have them cleaned. They should still be strong enough to have them dry cleaned, but check all of the fabric and seams. -If you are going to wear them great, just remember they are almost 80 years old and they were your grandfathers, so you may want to take it easy with them. If you are just going to store them make sure you store them in either an acid free box with acid free paper or in a cloth suit bag. -UV light and dust can destroy the fabric along with moths. -for missing pieces you can look here, ebay, or local antique stores. Other than that enjoy them and be proud of them. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David D Posted July 3, 2014 Share #12 Posted July 3, 2014 Great uniforms, and from experiance even if they are not what you collect they will still be some of you favorite uniforms. -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfishcraig Posted July 3, 2014 Share #13 Posted July 3, 2014 This is AWSOME that you have both of these. I would gladly give up entire collection for great uncles Tunic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorykratos Posted July 4, 2014 Author Share #14 Posted July 4, 2014 Great uniforms and it is great that you still have them. I have what is left of my grandfathers uniforms (Navy and Army Air Forces), so I built them back up over the years. Regardless, here are some pointers: -take lost of photos and have them cleaned. They should still be strong enough to have them dry cleaned, but check all of the fabric and seams. -If you are going to wear them great, just remember they are almost 80 years old and they were your grandfathers, so you may want to take it easy with them. If you are just going to store them make sure you store them in either an acid free box with acid free paper or in a cloth suit bag. -UV light and dust can destroy the fabric along with moths. -for missing pieces you can look here, ebay, or local antique stores. Other than that enjoy them and be proud of them. Mike I've tried on Grampa's Army uniform once and it is in fact an almost perfect fit...I'm exactly the same waist and height and the pants and shirt fit perfectly. However, the jacket is a bit snug in the chest and shoulders, and the garrison cap is a bit small. Pawpaw is several inches taller than myself so I think the Navy uniforms would probably run a bit big were I to try them on. But I don't actually plan to wear them any more - one of these days I intend to put together a glass cabinet and display them on mannequins museum-style, with some of their other photos, documents, books, maps, etc. from the war. Until then I do need to get storage boxes; I've measured all the clothes and just need to contact a seller and give them the measurements for the box sizes. Opinion seems split on cleaning - like you, some folks think it would be perfectly fine, others are more nervous and recommend preservation as-is. Honestly I'm not sure cleaning the blue USN uniforms or the Army uniform is necessary, but the whites definitely show lots of staining. I'll probably store the uniforms for the time being and continue slowly making up my mind about cleaning. Thanks for the comments, all! They are appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now