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WW2 CBI Bullion Uniform


Aephillips
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huntssurplus
8 hours ago, louie said:

I'm pretty sure that's another one that I pulled out of a rag house in the nineties.

 

i'm curious to hear more about your rag exploits. Any interesting stories of what you found? What kind of stuff did you put back? Just how much stuff was there?

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I used to work in downtown L.A. and there were many rag houses close by.  In my lunch hour I would go and search out the piles and barrels of military stuff they would separate from the civilian clothes.  Most, even in the eighties was you're more modern stuff, but at that time many WW2 and even some WW1 stuff would come out.  A rag mill is what now is called recycling clothes, or making into actual rags for whatever.  Probably ninety percent of stuff u give the Goodwill, or Salvation Army, etc. never make it to the racks.  It is bailed and sold for it's weight.  It is a commodity and the price varies.  Some is exported to poorer countries as clothes, others shredded, and yes some make it to very cool vintage shops in L.A. N.Y. S.F. you get it.  Now, it's not the same since WW2 and even Vietnam are so far behind us.  Also the internet made everyone into an expert, so many things tossed are now kept. I can't even begin to tell you the stuff I found.  II would take a book.  I'd find at times WW2 camo,  Army Paratroopers m42's,  m41's,  dress uniforms with beautiful bullion or rare unit patches, etc.  If they had an Ike or a blouse with say an AAF HQ patch, or 5th Army, etc. just throw it back.  All kinds of shirts, trousers,   HBT, and yes Vietnam stuff.  To me since I was in during that period, that stuff really didn't interest me  that much, but later I started picking up that stuff too.  Hope this gives u an idea.

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huntssurplus
1 minute ago, louie said:

I used to work in downtown L.A. and there were many rag houses close by.  In my lunch hour I would go and search out the piles and barrels of military stuff they would separate from the civilian clothes.  Most, even in the eighties was you're more modern stuff, but at that time many WW2 and even some WW1 stuff would come out.  A rag mill is what now is called recycling clothes, or making into actual rags for whatever.  Probably ninety percent of stuff u give the Goodwill, or Salvation Army, etc. never make it to the racks.  It is bailed and sold for it's weight.  It is a commodity and the price varies.  Some is exported to poorer countries as clothes, others shredded, and yes some make it to very cool vintage shops in L.A. N.Y. S.F. you get it.  Now, it's not the same since WW2 and even Vietnam are so far behind us.  Also the internet made everyone into an expert, so many things tossed are now kept. I can't even begin to tell you the stuff I found.  II would take a book.  I'd find at times WW2 camo,  Army Paratroopers m42's,  m41's,  dress uniforms with beautiful bullion or rare unit patches, etc.  If they had an Ike or a blouse with say an AAF HQ patch, or 5th Army, etc. just throw it back.  All kinds of shirts, trousers,   HBT, and yes Vietnam stuff.  To me since I was in during that period, that stuff really didn't interest me  that much, but later I started picking up that stuff too.  Hope this gives u an idea.

 

Thanks for the inisght! Sounds like a uniform collectors heaven! Have you gone to any recently at all and see anything? I'm guessing like you mentioned by now you might find some OG 107's, BDU's, and UCP"s, or possibly some OCPS and modern stuff. But maybe there is an Ike in there every once in a while? Were most uniforms devoid of pin on insignia and only had sewn on insignia?

Hunt

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Some came out complete with everything, and others only what was sewn on.  Haven't gone back for a year or so.  Mostly modern Army, Marine, uniforms,  marpat, dcu, etc.  Once in a blue moon last year I would find an Ike or some WW2 stuff, but very rarely.  Lots of Army greens, with mostly eighties and forward dates.  I used to find a lot of Navy blueberries too.  The days of WW2 stuff is pretty much gone from the rag house since most vets are long gone, and now people collect much more than before.  In the old days when pop died, or gramps,  off to the Goodwill, or worse trash can.  A good friend of mine who is now passed went to the dump once and as he was tossing out his stuff saw a sleeve of an Army officer's blouse sticking out.  It had all bullion wings, troop carrier, and Ninth A.F. patches on it!  Only the ribbons and brass were taken off.  Yes, people tossed away stuff that now would bring you hundreds and at times thousands of dollars, sadly.

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huntssurplus
23 hours ago, louie said:

Some came out complete with everything, and others only what was sewn on.  Haven't gone back for a year or so.  Mostly modern Army, Marine, uniforms,  marpat, dcu, etc.  Once in a blue moon last year I would find an Ike or some WW2 stuff, but very rarely.  Lots of Army greens, with mostly eighties and forward dates.  I used to find a lot of Navy blueberries too.  The days of WW2 stuff is pretty much gone from the rag house since most vets are long gone, and now people collect much more than before.  In the old days when pop died, or gramps,  off to the Goodwill, or worse trash can.  A good friend of mine who is now passed went to the dump once and as he was tossing out his stuff saw a sleeve of an Army officer's blouse sticking out.  It had all bullion wings, troop carrier, and Ninth A.F. patches on it!  Only the ribbons and brass were taken off.  Yes, people tossed away stuff that now would bring you hundreds and at times thousands of dollars, sadly.

 

That's really crazy to think about, but also very believable. The older generations kept pretty much everything, but the newer generations have adopted a much more "live with as little physical stuff as possible" mentality. I can very much see possibly millions of uniforms being thrown out pretty much. Very sad... Really makes you wish people took another minute to think about what kind of history they are throwing out.

 

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