General Insignia Glider badge

[Tesla]

Hello All,

    I hope your New Year is off to a great start.  Can someone advise the time period for this badge?  I can't find any information on it.   

 

Thanks!

 

 

[Tolzer]

From my references, this is from General Insignia Corp. 626 Whittier St, Bronx, NY. It is believed they were a post WWII company, and they were short lived.

[Tonomachi]

This just sold for $152.50 on eBay which I thought was kind of high for a post war piece but this is the first one that has surfaced to my knowledge.  As for time period I'm guessing 1960s but could go back to the 1950s.   

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/394401334897?mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5335821211&customid=&toolid=10001&nma=true&si=mXSDOVzOFXs1ANV%2B0Ov46FWrbuA%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[Tesla]

Thanks for the information.  

[john1644]

I qualified as a parachutist and gliderman on 9 March 1948 at Fort Benning, Ga.  Glider training stopped, I think, sometime later in 1948.  Wings  in the not too distant past were

manufactured with a pin pole on each side as fasteners instead of the solid pin across the back.  (sorry, don't recall proper names  for attaching pins)

[Allan H.]

On 5/14/2023 at 9:54 PM, john1644 said:

I qualified as a parachutist and gliderman on 9 March 1948 at Fort Benning, Ga.  Glider training stopped, I think, sometime later in 1948.  Wings  in the not too distant past were

manufactured with a pin pole on each side as fasteners instead of the solid pin across the back.  (sorry, don't recall proper names  for attaching pins)

John,

 

To help you out with the terminology, the single hinged pin and catch type fastener as you see on the back side of the wing above is what we call "pin back." The two prongs that are hard soldered to a piece of insignia that have "caps" applied to them to hold the insignia in place is referred to as "clutch back" and the caps are called fasteners, or veterans will call them "dammits." There is another fastening system that looks like clutch prongs, but they are threaded. This is called "screw back." The fasteners are called retaining nuts.

 

When you first responded to a post, you said that your wings were clutch back, though after reading your posts, I believe that your wing had a pin back system.

 

I hope this helps.

Allan

[john1644]

ALLEN.   sorry if I used  the wrong  terminology.  but remember I recalling  event from over 70 years ago.  Give me credit for effort...............

[Allan H.]

1 hour ago, john1644 said:

ALLEN.   sorry if I used  the wrong  terminology.  but remember I recalling  event from over 70 years ago.  Give me credit for effort...............

JON,

 

I was simply trying to help you to understand the terminology used since you probably didn't ever have any reason to use the terms prior to joining the forum. I for one, welcome your input. I'm sure that others do as well.

 

Allan

[manayunkman]

On 5/14/2023 at 10:54 PM, john1644 said:

I qualified as a parachutist and gliderman on 9 March 1948 at Fort Benning, Ga.  Glider training stopped, I think, sometime later in 1948.  Wings  in the not too distant past were

manufactured with a pin pole on each side as fasteners instead of the solid pin across the back.  (sorry, don't recall proper names  for attaching pins)

John, thank you for your service and look forward to seeing any artifacts you might have kept.

 

 

[john1644]

Had a Japanese rifle and bayonet but some how lost the rifle (stolen ?) and when I left Korea the MP's took my bayonet saying it was not on the list of approved items.

To myself, I said shove it up your rump..................

[john1644]

ALLEN       no offense taken, just my old age memory lacking............

[manayunkman]

12 minutes ago, john1644 said:

Had a Japanese rifle and bayonet but some how lost the rifle (stolen ?) and when I left Korea the MP's took my bayonet saying it was not on the list of approved items.

To myself, I said shove it up your rump..................

He probably brought it home for himself.

[john1644]

more then likely...........................

[WarRelics]

I saw this pair of glider wings listed today and was curious about them. The seller doesn’t appear to deal mainly in militaria and they are titled as “vintage 40’s WWII U. S. Army airborne glider pilots wings.”According to the seller’s description they are 3/4 of an inch wide by 5/16 and sterling silver from WWII. There are no hallmarks visible. They don’t appear cast and have sterling marks on both wings. The sterling stamps appear odd to me. They aren’t crisp. I’ve seen this on the forum before with regard to another item. A explanation given in that instance was that the die was worn when it the item made. On their face I would say that they are original WWII period sweetheart or mess dress glider infantry wings given their appearance and the pin back attachment on both. The only thing that gives me any concern is the look of the sterling marks on the back of both. Of course I could be wrong in my assessment. Having said all that I am anxious to see what other members think about them. I’m attaching photos of the wings from the listing. I look forward to see what others of you think about them.