WW1 Bullion Wings: patterns and examples

[pfrost]

Back a few years ago, I posted this picture (see post #80).  I was able to figure out who the photo was of, and what he did.  This is a picture of Eugene Osmun Barr MD (3/25/1895 - 1/21/1965). Born and raised in Washington DC, he served from 2/9/1918 unto being discharged on 1/10/1919.  After leaving the Army Air Service, he went to University of Virginia and became a doctor.  It appears he had a private medical practice in Washington DC until his death.  He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

 

Prior and early in WWI, he was a Government clerk.  However, It appears he was commissioned at Gerstner Field, Lake Charles, LA in Feb of 1918, and then went to Hazelhurst Field, in Mineola Long Island where he was further trained to fly the Italian heavy Caproni bomber.  During this time, he became involved in medical experiments testing the limits of human physiology in flight (effects of altitude, oxygen, pressure, etc on pilots).  Discharged from the Army in January of 1919, he enrolled in medical school soon after.

 

His participation in medical testing my have led him into the medical field, as he enrolled at UVA and graduated in 1924 as a MD.  He is listed in the faculty of UVA as an instructor of Anatomy and Physiology at UVA in 1929 or so.

 

He also wrote the first book on aviation related medicine titled "Flying Men and Medicine".  It seems that during the time between WWI and WWII he was involved in assessing the medical suitability of pilots for flight, and may have actually been one of the first group of flight surgeons in the USAAF (but I need to do more research on this).  Apparently his nickname was Oz and he seems to have been well established expert in aviation physiology in the interwar period.  I am going to look him up in the American Medical Association books and see what else I can glean about him.

 

It doesn't seem he ever went overseas, but he is wearing what many people tend to identify as a "French style" wing.  I have never been a proponent of this, and I suspect this particular pattern of wing may have its roots in US manufacturing rather than overseas manufacturing.  Although it is hard to see the specifics in this, otherwise, rather nice photo.  But it is nice to be able to put an name and history to it, so I introduce you all to 1st Lt E O Barr.

 

BTW, this photo was taken by the Marceau photo studio in New York, and may give some insight into who/where these wings were manufactured.  This pattern of bullion pilot wings are also sometimes linked to New England USAS pilots...

 

[cwnorma]

A nice image, with a clear wing.  Alas, no ID.

 

 

Appears to be this style wing or one very similar:

 

 

Chris

[cwnorma]

Biographical 1st-type Observer badge from a young 2nd Lieutenant who earned his Observer rating I the waning weeks of the war--long after the badge was obsolete.  Yet another example of how many observers chose to wear the 1st-type badge:

 

[Tolzer]

Provenance: Rock Island Auction Company; Lot 1466; The Putnam Green/Sycamore Collection; (August 2022). 

 

WWI, U.S. Air Service, Bullion Bombing Military Aviator Wing

[kiaiokalewa]

Dug these out of storage last week.

[rathbonemuseum.com]

@kiaiokalewa do you have any id information on these? Very cool!

[kiaiokalewa]

On 5/19/2024 at 3:43 PM, rathbonemuseum.com said:

@kiaiokalewa do you have any id information on these? Very cool!

I'd have to pull them out again to make certain one way or another.  I'm thinking that the 1st Fighter Group Capt coat does have a name in the interior pocket. 

Here's another coat with bullion wings.  It a little rough in shape but mostly intact and it's  really tough to get an accurate depiction of the correct tone and hue appearance that it has in the flesh.  

 

[kiaiokalewa]

Some other pixs with and without flash settings.  Oh, and this coat doesn't have any name associated with it other than the tailor label.  

[cwnorma]

Solid example of a French-made wing.  

 

Interesting combination for an overseas aviator!  Once they made it overseas, many Aviators would visit French tailors and have European-style (longer skirted jacket, half belted, bellowed pockets, etc) uniforms made.  This one has a European wing sewn to a US (San Antonio) tailored uniform.

 

Thank you for sharing!

 

Chris

 

 

[AmHistoryFan]

Here is an example of what I understand to be a French made WW1 bullion military aviator wing I have in my collection. This is sewn on a Paris, France tailored uniform along with his bullion lieutenants insignia on his shoulders. 

[AmHistoryFan]

I felt comfortable when I first posted this wing but after spending quite a bit of time viewing the bullion wing threads on legitimate and fake wings I have started to lose confidence. There were images of this wing in both Campbell’s and Morris’s book under the French patterns but to me when looking at this wing compared to the other period examples it just doesn’t appear to have the aging one would expect.

 

I’ll let the members take a look and provide input. If this needs a footnote or moved to a different thread I can reach out as needed. 

[cwnorma]

1 hour ago, AmHistoryFan said:

I’ll let the members take a look and provide input. If this needs a footnote or moved to a different thread I can reach out as needed. 

 

As @pfrost (Patrick) is fond of saying, "I am not the wing police" and so did not comment before as none was requested.  With that door opened, I too must admit that I am uncomfortable with the wing in post #285: In my opinion it is not a period example.  Part of my reasoning has to do with the relative scarcity of Military Aviators after WW1.

 

Although the exact number is not known, there were probably less than a dozen exceptional Junior/Reserve Military Aviators elevated to Military Aviator for "merit" at the end of WW1.  Since regulations stipulated that a Junior Military Aviator had to have three years experience to achieve the advanced rating, only the original 24 1913 Military Aviators (many of whom died before the war), the handful of additional men who completed training before 1916, and those very few exceptional aviators who were elevated for merit would be eligible to wear the star.  

 

Almost all these men were personages with names still familiar today: Rickenbacker, Arnold, Ball, Foulois...  It is is a fairly easy task to find photographs of any of these men.  The point being that any time a collector encounters a jacket purporting to have belonged to one of these luminaries, he should approach it with a dose of healthy skepticism.  Such a combination should come with iron-clad provenance.  Additionally, the number of on-the-loose WW1 era Military Aviator badges is vanishingly small and a significant percentage of those few that exist are known to be New, Old Stock (NOS)--never sewn on a uniform.  Of the four embroidered examples on Bob Schwartz' web page, three are NOS and cannot be attributed.

 

https://www.ww2wings.com/wings/wwi/us/us.shtml

 

Specifically with respect to the badge in post #285, the construction of the gold US and the three large X "stars" on the shield are generally uncharacteristic of WW1-era, French-made bullion wings. Again referencing back to the examples on Bob Schwartz' site, the one attributed embroidered badge there is a classic example of a French-made badge.  The badge in post #285 appears (to my eye) to be an artificially aged example of the type sold by S&S firearms of Glendale, NY.

 

https://www.ssfirearms.com/proddetail.asp?prod=W129

 

For any moderator @rathbonemuseum.com reading this note, I am also uncomfortable with the embroidered BMA in post #280.  It too is a fairly well known reproduction that can be quickly spotted by the additional set of fins in the middle section of the bomb:

 

:

 

Warm regards.

 

Chris

[pfrost]

Bullion can be a tricky thing.  I can just give you some of my thoughts and strategies.

 

First and foremost, I try to look at the wing and see if it pleases me in its form and construction.  Buy what you LIKE, and pay accordingly.  I tend to approach any bullion with the sense that "it could have been made recently, but is it pretty?".  If so, and if it is cheap, I will usually buy it.  It is YOUR collection, not ours. We are just nitwits pontificating about things, but if YOU like it, then you should enjoy it, independent of what some silly fool says online (LOL) . Only my doggie thinks I am perfect, but she eats cat poopies. Frankly, opinions are cheap, and like a**holes, every one has one.

 

Second, I try to look at the bullion and get a feel for age.  Sometimes, aged bullion has a "dusty smell"; it's like walking into an old attic where people have stored clothes and blankets. It has a particular smell.  It's not always true, but using all your senses helps.  New-made stuff just smells and feels different.

 

Third, I look at the bullion and its aging.  Bullion that is old tends to have a richer and uniform tone or patina. That can only come with time.  Newer bullion tends to lack the patina or show signs of having the wing chemically aged. Sometimes you can actually smell the chemical residue  (I am not kidding... see second point above).  One way to get around this is for the fakers to use "old bullion" from old cheap USN rates.  But no matter how good they are, the bullion will have a "salt and pepper" or mottled look with the same thread having different patina and lack of uniformity across all the threads.  If you see multiple highlights, or one bright thread next to a dull thread... tread carefully. In my experience that is the kiss of death on a bullion wing.

 

Fourth, try to match the patterns to ones you think are good.  Most (all) of these wings were done by hand, usually by a couple of women sitting in the shop making them one after another.  That means that many of these bullion wings (while individual works of art) tend to fall into clear groupings and patterns.  Look for similar ones to compare.

 

Fifth, if you can, look at the back.  The thread and stiffening material can be diagnostic.  Also check the backing, it should be a melton fabric not a thick wool felt (like from an old wool blanket).  Again there are all sorts of variations and "ya buts" here, but handle plenty of wings to get good sense.

 

I use some other things, but as I get older and less patient and more experienced, I have to see that the first rule is my main rule. I rather have a hinky wing that looks good than an ugly "vintage wing", especially if they are cheap.

 

As for this wing, I share many of Chris' concerns. Perhaps the most serious is that here you have a uniform with a VERY WELL decorated "pilot" with lieutenant insignia.....  It's unlikely in my mind.  For him to accrue these decorations, he either was an early arrival and saw some combat (and at least a promotion or two) OR was a late arrival but had a good day ("Lt Snoopy shot down 3 balloons, 2 zeros, the Red Barron and his wing man, and killed the Keiser's favorite dog on his first combat mission" type of day).

 

Thus, it seems more reasonable that you have a couple of additions to a nice vintage uniform (either the wings OR the ribbons or both).

 

It could be possible (never say never) but apply the rules and see where you fall.

 

[pfrost]

This may be the way the picture was taken, but if you compare this wing, you will see areas where there are bright spots. Also if you compare feathers next to each other, one tends to be darker or lighter to the one next to it.  it doesn't seem to make sense how it was aged.  Its NOT always very obvious, but look at the post before and you see that ALL the bullion have the exact same tone.  Its hard to get this uniformity

 

[pfrost]

This BMA wing shows classic signs of being composed of old bullion threads.  You can see that in one thread will be bright but the next wire less than 2 mm away is tarnished.

 

That is because the wings were made from old strands of bullion taken from an old cheap piece of insignia (often the common WWII USN rates) and remade into a wing badge.

 

This is a perfect example of what to look for.

[kiaiokalewa]

Yesterday while at the storage unit I pulled out another jacket.  The wing on this one has some great dimension to it as if it were padded.  The service chevrons on the cuff are also interesting denoting both stateside and overseas service combination that was unauthorized by the WD according to  WWI Nerds excellent l thread on WWI Cuff Chevrons.  I gather that this coat was worn by the  veteran at his reunions.  

 

Found several other WWI uniforms that also have bullion wings on them too.  I'll post those later on.  

 

Aloha,

 

John

[kiaiokalewa]

Here's the other stuff.  I realize some of is interwar but I'll post them here anyways

[kiaiokalewa]

Here's the other stuff.  I realize some of is interwar but I'll post them here anyways

[warguy]

Good grief those are some nice uniforms with bullion wings. Thanks for sharing. I wish I had a storage unit with this kind of material where I could just “find” some uniforms with bullion wings on them. Amazing!

[5thwingmarty]

Wow, some very nice uniforms and wings.  Someone needs to go back in time and have a talk with the person who made the Observer wing about which direction the center bullion should run.

 

Is the Airship wing hallmarked?

 

Marty

[AxolotlHelmet]

Wow! Amazing sets!

[cwnorma]

4 hours ago, kiaiokalewa said:

Here's the other stuff.  I realize some of is interwar but I'll post them here anyways

Unfortunately, I strongly believe this wing to be a fairly modern reproduction.  The biggest tell is the "sparkly" bullion in the shoulder and canton of the shield.  Neither is typical of Pre 1938 bullion.  

 

Another strong sign that the jacket is not as originally worn are the stateside, signal flags with wing insignia.  Not to be confused with the overseas worn winged globe Signal Corps insignias.  The insignia bearing only a wing was most typically worn by aviation cadets off duty (and strictly unofficially) to show their status as training aviators when "walking out."  Pre-internet, collectors were unaware of their use and quite a few (unfortunately it seems many, many) jackets were "improved" by well meaning collectors adding these cadet insignias.

 

Warm regards

 

Chris

[kiaiokalewa]

Aloha Chris,

 

Once again thanks for assisting by sharing your knowledge on the subject.  Over the course of early last year to date I've been sharing various collectables I've inherited from my best friend here on the forum.  A greater portion of the collection span way outside of my collecting interests though.  What I've learned about wings and their associated items are that they are minefield for fakery.  Its been suggested that nefarious activities and its proliferation started way back in the 1940s. I suppose too, it's not to far fetched to believe that reproductions, in the innocent manner, could had started as early as the 1920's but for a different very market, the Veterans.  I gather that's what going on with the Aeronaut coat I posted earlier.  Btw, I see three different titles for that very same wing.  My guess is the one on my coat is representative of the Reserve Military Aeronaut would this be correct?

 

Thanks,

 

John

 

[cwnorma]

18 hours ago, kiaiokalewa said:

...

What I've learned about wings and their associated items are that they are minefield for fakery.  

...

Aloha John!

 

Unfortunately, you are correct.  Around 1968 with the 50th anniversary of the war, America developed a sort of mania around WW1 aviation.  During this era, a few badges were struck for reunions.  Shortly after, Campbell published the first edition of his wing book igniting a collecting fire still burning today!  As prices inevitably began to rise for these rare WW1 badges, the dishonest and deceitful began their parallel efforts to fleece the unwary and a sort of arms race was launched.

 

For the next few decades, the "state of the art" in WW1 wing knowledge remained Campbell's book.  A few other works tried to expand the available body of knowledge, but most only managed incremental advances. Much remained a mystery until the coming of the internet.  Suddenly within the span of about half a decade, dozens of knowledgable collectors all over the country became instantly connected.  Able to share notes, shibboleths and "collector/dealer lore" fell by the wayside.  Exquisite, high resolution images of WW1 badges could be readily reviewed and compared.  Campbell could only have dreamt of the resources we have now!  We are truly fortunate.  Although great strides have made in the last decade or so, there is still plenty uncertain that remains for future research.

 

Less deceitful but still incorrect are the many pre-internet WW1 era aviation uniforms that have been "improved" by well intentioned collectors and dealers.  A prime example are the various unofficial aviation cadet insignias.  Over the years, forum members like @cthomas, @CliffP, @pfrost, @rustywings, and several others through discussions here came to notice inconsistency with respect to these insignia.  They are frequently found on the collector market affixed to uniforms. Ostensibly, these uniforms represent overseas aviators, but photographic evidence shows them worn exclusively stateside and almost always by cadets.  Even Campbell before he passed away was not fully aware of the total nature of these scarce insignia.  Aviation related, their mystery added to their allure and even though they are quite collectible they have nonetheless found their way, non sequitur, onto non-cadet uniforms.

 

A similar phenomena surrounds the "fat wing" enlisted collar disk.  This very attractive disk, with its extra wide wings and oversize silver propellor, is a favorite of collectors!  So much so, this particular disk has now made its way onto a lot of WW1 enlisted uniforms--many supposedly representing overseas Airmen...  Again, most photographic evidence suggests this disk is strongly associated with squadrons that spent the war on the west coast of the United States.  The waters were muddied long ago.

 

I am privileged to get the opportunity to examine a fairly large number of WW1 wings every year.  Collectors and dealers frequently reach out for "second (sometimes first) opinions." One thing I can add, based mostly on my own experience is that there exists a consistent ratio of fake to real WW1 wing badges:  That ratio seems to hover around 10 to one.  In other words, of all the badges I am called to examine, through photos or in real life, I see only about one good badge for every 10 fakes.  That ratio has remained fairly stable for years--speaking volumes to just how prolific those fakers were.  Caveat emptor.

 

So to address your questions above, there are two designations that show up in official sources:  Junior/Reserve Military Aeronaut, and Balloon Pilot.  The former generally pre-dates the latter but both designations seem to have been used somewhat interchangeably into the 1920s.  

 

With respect to the coat in question, I am confident the Reserve Military Aeronaut badge sewn to the chest is a very nice example of an authentic and quite rare US made embroidered badge.  I am less confident with the cadet insignia pinned on the collar.  The insignia do appear to be authentic, but incongruous with the uniform.  My guess would be the coat arrived into the hands of some collector/dealer sans its collar insignia and the cadet insignia were added (see above).  I also am less worried about the odd combination of overseas stripes.  Although they were not supposed to be worn mixed, they in fact sometimes were.  With WW1, it's practically useful to never say "never."  I think the most likely scenario is that the Reserve Military Aeronaut who originally owned the jacket was sent from overseas back to the US to serve as an instructor.  He likely wore the mixed combination of service chevrons to highlight his overseas service.  Finally, that the jacket was tailored in Los Angeles, CA is actually very congruous with this jacket having been worn by a Reserve Military Aeronaut--likely stationed at Ross Field in Arcadia, CA.  Ross Field was never large and if the jacket is un-named, it might be possible to put a name to the jacket through additional research.

 

I hope that helps.

 

Warm regards!

 

Chris

 

 

 

 

 

[pfrost]

Years ago at the Great Western, I recall seeing a dealer pick up a whole "set" of WWI aviation insignia for a uniform just by walking around and buying pieces from one table or another.  He started with a pair of wings that he got from a "walk-in", a nice plain uniform, .... and by the end of the afternoon, had a complete NAMED WWI pilot uniform for sale on this table.... With a picture of a pilot and some "paperwork" to go with it all.

BTW, don't believe Chris when he says I know anything about collar insignia.  I know NOTHING about them, never did and never have.  I will buy the wing and prop devices if I can get them cheap, but I have none of the other types. I am strangely proud of my ignorance!  LOL