Unusual Medal Case

[jmar]

Hello all,

 

Here's a weird one, made nearly identical to the WW II issue cases, very nice and solid. My guess is for a state or commemorative medal. Has anyone else run into something like this, or even better know what it was made for? I put it next to a wooden PH case for comparison.

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Thank you for stopping by.

 

Best wishes,

 

Joe

 

 

 

 

 

[Thisisme]

New one for me too.

Did you look under the pad to see if you can find anything?

[jmar]

yes, my first stop, not removable, glued down.

 

thank you for your reply!

[BigJohn#3RD]

Hi Joe,

New one on me Joe and I think you are right that it is a state or other organizational case.

Best regards,

John

[LuftStalg1]

I have had original black leatherette medal cases reworked and reused by jewelers. I suspect that is what you have here.

[jmar]

On 8/24/2024 at 6:32 PM, BigJohn#3RD said:

Hi Joe,

New one on me Joe and I think you are right that it is a state or other organizational case.

Best regards,

John

Hi John, Thanks for stopping by, always nice to see you! Hope all is well, Best to you! Joe

[jmar]

On 8/24/2024 at 8:37 PM, LuftStalg1 said:

I have had original black leatherette medal cases reworked and reused by jewelers. I suspect that is what you have here.

Hi Luft!

 

I hope you're doing well, it's great to see some of the "old timers" stop in. I've seen the black repurposed cases, but this one is quite different, the amount of work that would have to be done to maintain the quality of this case would be impractical and too costly for repurposing, the workmanship is very high even down to the gold "squiggles" on the inside of the lid on the red leatherette. I'm leaning toward a state or organizational award, the case being made by the one of the government contractors who manufactured the WW II issue cases. I just wish there was a "footprint" left by its original occupant! Perhaps a Marine Corps League award...since the case it red? We may never know for sure!

 

Thanks for stopping in, my best to you!

 

Joe

[Thisisme]

I noticed the "squiggles" too.  There would be to much work and production involved to redo an existing case, so am guessing they used the same equipment as the original WWII cases to make this one. 

 

Since they are so rare, I am moving to a sales example or a prototype case that did not work out.

The Marine thinking is good too since that is the color of the Marines and it does not have a space for the lapel pin like the Marine WWII cases have.

[jmar]

13 hours ago, Thisisme said:

I noticed the "squiggles" too.  There would be to much work and production involved to redo an existing case, so am guessing they used the same equipment as the original WWII cases to make this one. 

 

Since they are so rare, I am moving to a sales example or a prototype case that did not work out.

The Marine thinking is good too since that is the color of the Marines and it does not have a space for the lapel pin like the Marine WWII cases have.

I never thought of a prototype, but that is a very good possibility. Thank you again for your input! Best to you, Joe

[Dave]

Keep in mind these cases were made by Arrow Manufacturing and their business was the making of cases. It would make sense that they'd use the same and/or similar tooling to make cases for other customers. 

 

What WOULD be interesting is if records could be found that indicated whether or not Arrow made a sample run of cases for the Navy, particularly when the Mint was so far behind production. The case looks very much like a Navy style Silver Star one in color. I could easily see the Navy reaching out to Arrow in 1944 and asking for them to provide a sample run of cases should the Navy have needed to rely on a secondary supplier. It's an interesting theory...we'll probably never know, though. 

 

[Spartan19]

58 minutes ago, Dave said:

Keep in mind these cases were made by Arrow Manufacturing and their business was the making of cases. It would make sense that they'd use the same and/or similar tooling to make cases for other customers. 

 

What WOULD be interesting is if records could be found that indicated whether or not Arrow made a sample run of cases for the Navy, particularly when the Mint was so far behind production. The case looks very much like a Navy style Silver Star one in color. I could easily see the Navy reaching out to Arrow in 1944 and asking for them to provide a sample run of cases should the Navy have needed to rely on a secondary supplier. It's an interesting theory...we'll probably never know, though. 

 

I like this theory but it could have also been used for a state award like the New York Conspicuous Service Award. I find it hard to believe that a jeweler would repurpose a case like this. 

[jmpmstr]

I tend to lean toward Dave's assessment regarding the Navy needing alternate Navy style cases. The color is the key for me as well as the interior tray design. Although I can also see the use in civilian jewelery housing diamonds etc, but I am leaning toward military use as it so closely mirrors other military cases of the period. I'd house a Navy Silver Star or just about any early Navy decoration in it for that matter ILO the correct case if only for display purposes....it is visually pleasing IMO