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Preserving 1950's uniform patches


hmberge
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Hi all,

My grandfather was a paratrooper in the US Army during the early 1950's. He passed last year and I found his fatigues. My grandmother would like to put his patches into a shadow box to preserve them. She does not want the whole blouse preserved, just the patches. Additionally, I am a parachutist myself, so I would like to bring his wings with me on my next jump as a commemoration (not wear it, but carry it in my pocket). What is the best way to go about all of this safely in a way that will not damage the patches? I have the means to carefully remove the stitching that attaches the patches to the uniform, but I dont know what more should be done to ensure they dont get damaged. I am thinking for the wings I could wrap it in something like felt and put it into a protective casing. I will attach pictures of the uniform. 

D79E4854-C15A-481A-8140-D813191E88CF.jpg

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To be honest, I would not remove the patches. You could nicely fold the blouse so that all the patches can be seen and place it in a large shadow box or frame. I've seen it done that way before and it looked good. I think it would be a shame to remove everything from the blouse and not preserve it in it's original condition. Just my opinion.

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Yes If it was mine, I would not remove the patches. The blouse is a piece of your family history. You can display the blouse as already recommended.

 

As as far as preservation,  the patches are made of cotton and are quite sturdy, so not sure you need to undertake any special measures. My patches are stored in plastic baseball card sleeves. 

 

BTW:  The corporal chevrons on that blouse look to be World War II style rather than the small style chevrons used post-war (1948-1951) or the style used during the Korean War (1951-1955).

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