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World War One Weekly Wing #9


cwnorma
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Some really great discussion on "Dallas" wings for the last two weeks. Really interesting and some very fascinating primary research was brought out into the light. Fantastic! Every week can't be about "Dallas" wings though...

 

Sometimes you get a wing and it is not what it seems...

 

I thought that this week's WWOWW was a very interesting wing. When it originally came my way, I thought for certain it was a European, probably French made badge for an overseas pilot:

 

post-594-0-62247000-1582501935_thumb.jpeg

It certainly has all the characteristics we collectors tend to think of as "French" made wings; three rows of horizontal feathers, square shield, moderately padded, gold US consisting only of single coils of gold bullion...

 

Until you flip it over.

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The back reveals a different story:

 

post-594-0-89183600-1582502460_thumb.jpeg

The back of this badge is distinctly American with its "waffle weave" stiffener made of alternating rows white thread!

 

Interesting!

 

From the front this badge has a very French-made countenance, but from the back it genuinely looks like a fairly typical WW1 era American made wing.

 

To me, it goes to show that when it comes to WW1 era wings, it can be extremely hard to draw hard and fast conclusions. As soon as you think you are getting a good handle on them, along comes a variant that sets your preconceived notions on their ear and turns them into shibboleths. For me, this was one such badge.

 

I'd love to see badges that made you reevaluate your preconceived notions.

 

Chris

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  • 1 year later...

Going back over some notes, a distinct similarity of this badge to several period catalog illustrations came to light.  With this information in mind, a tentative identification of the manufacturer/marketer of this particular badge can be Bailey Banks and Biddle.

 

In their 1917 Pamphlet, "The Service and It's Insignia," BB&B illustrated an embroidered badge of a particular design.  This badge, in the pamphlet's line-drawing illustration, exhibits slightly drooping wings consisting of three rows of roughly horizontal feathers and a coil-like border.  The shield is somewhat square, with US apparently made of single rows of bullion, and a coiled border and separator between the chief and field.  In the illustration, there are 14 X-shaped "stars" in the chief:

 

851759372_BBBTheServiceandInsignia.png.5e9b2fd692c77e5024eda3d4ac34b34c.png

 

Re-examining the badge at the top of this post, we can observe many similar design elements to the BB&B illustration:  Drooping wings consisting of three rows of horizontal "feathers," a squarish shield, single coil US, etc:

 

IMG_0733.jpeg.c73a61c81971d6bbb4f518742c6701e0.jpeg

 

While on the reverse, the waffle-weave stiffener strongly suggests American manufacture:

 

IMG_0735.jpeg.f36a0c48e51e14660b655a72fcf05223.jpeg

 

The Military Aviator insignia in BB&B's 1918 version of the pamphlet is also very interesting to this discussion.  In this later edition, the line drawing has been replaced by a somewhat refined engraving.  The resemblance to the badge above is even more pronounced--with one noteworthy exception.  The engraving appears to show 13 actual stars in the chief of the shield.  What is unknown is if this was merely a stylistic choice on the part of the engraver, or if this represents an as yet un-discovered version of this badge with small applied metal stars.  As illustration engravers were often extremely precise at their craft, both options are equally plausible.

 

1105148657_BBB1917bookletpage.jpg.ebdc2bcaa6b4b8d43029bbd3f00f28e7.jpg

 

It is always a challenge to definitively assign manufacturers/marketers to bullion badges.  Each wing, was essentially hand made and thus even two samples made by the same woman would somewhat vary over the course of a day's production.  However, 100+ years later, trends and similarities can be observed.  Given the strong resemblance to the illustrations in the two BB&B pamphlets, it is safe to point at that firm as the likely manufacturers of this particular badge.

 

Chris

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Chris, there is a distinctive line between the two rows of stars/x's in the two illustrations that I don't see any indication of in the actual wing.  The Norman Sweetser wing on Bob's website looks to be in this style and have a line between the two rows of X-stars.  The US on this wing has uniquely styled letters.

image.png.be0850ba160976ffbe8937914bd743ac.png

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Marty,

 

I think in general, the wing at the top of the page resembles what most would take to be a "French-made" wing.  It was my surprise at seeing the distinct construction materials that prompted the original WWOWW write up on a wing I initially took to be French, but (as it turned out) had definite American characteristics.  The episode caused me to re-evaluate what it means for a badge to be "French-made."

 

I do agree with you that the Sweetser wing does indeed share many characteristics.  But, I would also consider the Sweetser badge to be almost stereotypically "French-made."  And, while the wing at the top of the page (and the BB&B illustrations) do share many design characteristics I suspect that if we were ever able to examine the back of the Sweetser badge we would find it not to have waffle-weave stiffening cloth.

 

I do suspect the distinct line visible in the illustration is mostly a function of the relative height of the shield's chief when compared to the "stars" and not necessarily a separate design element.  The chiefs of both badges appear to be substantially constructed of horizontal bullion with X-shaped stars superimposed.  Small enough stars would lend themselves to more space between the rows.

 

This is an interesting discussion so I thought it might be illustrative to do some side-by-side comparisons.  In the next two photos below, the bottom four badges are strongly believed to have their origins overseas.  The two RMA badges came from mothed-out French-made uniforms and the cut out 1st type Observer came from a split-up group.  The uncut version from the family of a defunct French tailor.  The upper two badges cannot be specifically identified as to origin.  From the front, all have characteristics of certain European badges (three rows of horizontal feathering, squarish shields, etc).  

 

IMG_0423.jpeg.ac7004c0e974fdfb6f1c08a786009d3a.jpeg

 

However, the backs confuse the issue.  The badge on the left (the one from the top of the thread) has the (distinctive?) waffle weave backing.  The specimen on the right has an embedded pin-back--a feature uncommon on overseas manufactured wings.  On the other hand, the four European specimens all exhibit a fine-woven muslin backing with onion-skin paper to protect the threads:

 

IMG_0425.jpeg.f7de4c1060fa0fcc9d505af31a14e2dd.jpeg

 

To continue the juxtaposition for the sake of comparison, here are two badges (along with the badge from the top of the thread in the center) strongly suspected to have had their origins in the United States:

 

IMG_0430.jpeg.3dbd683515685e10df576b9c32f67f15.jpeg

 

All share the (distinctive?) waffle-weave stiffener:

 

IMG_0429.jpeg.4983762475aca6a1fa5debe2b18ee6c2.jpeg

 

Finally, here is a new close-up of the badge from the top of the thread.  I have tried to light it differently to better illustrate the multi-textured nature of the bullion:

 

IMG_0433.jpeg.4be063ce9b765adbbf12b5441d9dba7a.jpeg

 

Of course, when it comes to bullion wings, short of the very few badges bearing maker labels, it is nearly impossible to ever be fully definitive.  At best, we can identify trends or note similarities with period illustrations.  Still, while we will likely never be absolutely certain, I believe there is enough combined evidence to point toward a tentative origin for this badge.  One final clue as to the potential maker of this badge could be found in its size.  The badge is exactly three inches tip to tip--making it exactly regulation.  Bailey, Banks and Biddle are known to have had a close relationship with the government (having developed many official insignias) and would have had access to the badge specifications before many manufacturers.  Regulation sized badges were not generally popular with the Aviators--to the point of being uncommon in collections today.  Could BB&B, before larger badges came to dominate the market, have marketed such a badge as this?

 

Warmest regards!

 

Chris

 

 

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  • 1 year later...
rathbonemuseum.com

Thanks to @cwnorma's  sharp eye, he suggested this recent acquisition probably falls into this group type. It has the look of French made bullion and pattern, padded, and a single bullion gold thread for the US letters. On the back it still retains the parchment but on the very bottom some of the waffle-pattern backing is visible. It also has characteristics of the BB&B illustration as well. Just a lovely unworn example. 

42BD1265-C81F-4705-8313-54D5E8EF1A0A_1_201_a.jpeg

E93FD13E-AD63-4185-9168-4FD7DE9DEAEB_1_201_a.jpeg

27EA0A80-23A0-494C-8234-01CB39DCB13C_1_201_a.jpeg

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