WW1 Bullion Wings

[Phroger46]

Just received these two WW1 bullion wings this week and thought I would share.  Unfortunately, the jackets had been stored in a shed and not protected.  The all-wool jacket was beyond saving and was lucky that the mice and moths did not damage the wing or patch (the rest of the jacket was completely ravished with tears and holes with large sections missing).  However, I will be keeping the other wings on the corduroy jacket and preserving it in its current condition.  Unfortunately, neither jacket was named, and had no tags or markings of any sort.

[cwnorma]

No issues!  

 

Both wings are appear to be French-made styles.  It is always a shame when the original owners (or subsequent family) don't properly care for historic items but as my Father used to say, "You take them as they come."   The wing with the sequins is a nice example of a hard to find style.  

 

Chris

[Phroger46]

1 minute ago, cwnorma said:

No issues!  

 

Both wings are appear to be French-made styles.  It is always a shame when the original owners (or subsequent family) don't properly care for historic items but as my Father used to say, "You take them as they come."   The wing with the sequins is a nice example of a hard to find style.  

 

Chris

 

The unfortunate part about these uniforms is the seller found them at an estate sale of somebody that definitely collected military items.  He bought several boxes and bags of uniforms and all of them had been stripped of their insignia or any parts that were easily removed.  I was originally after the shoulder patches and got the nice surprise that the jackets still had their wings.  These will now be very well cared for and I'm excited to have my first WW1 wings in our collection.

[cwnorma]

 

1 hour ago, Phroger46 said:

...I'm excited to have my first WW1 wings in our collection.

That is how it starts... 😂

 

Both wings appear to be in excellent shape with very little bullion loosening and nice overall toning.  Really a great snag for your first WW1 wings!  European made badges are more scarce than their US made counterparts.

 

Warm regards!

 

Chris

[cwnorma]

On a related note, I think our own Dr Frost @pfrost may have done some research that could associate that specific sequined wing with certain Aero Squadrons.  It's a long shot to be sure.  The other wing is a fairly generic French-made example but since your guy was "over there" it may be possible to pick him out of a photograph (like in Gorrell) based on details of the uniform.  

 

Expectation management:  A very, very, very long shot, but there just might be enough information for you to get lucky and narrow him down.

 

Warm regards!

 

Chris

[Phroger46]

2 minutes ago, cwnorma said:

On a related note, I think our own Dr Frost @pfrost may have done some research that could associate that specific sequined wing with certain Aero Squadrons.  It's a long shot to be sure.  The other wing is a fairly generic French-made example but since your guy was "over there" it may be possible to pick him out of a photograph (like in Gorrell) based on details of the uniform.  

 

Expectation management:  A very, very, very long shot, but there just might be enough information for you to get lucky and narrow him down.

 

Warm regards!

 

Chris

 

Thank you for the information and the tag.  I probably helps knowing that he was part of the 1st Army based on the shoulder patch.  The full uniform is just so interesting to me with the corduroy fabric.  This is the first one of those that I've come across as well.

[pfrost]

These types of sequin wings seem to be associated with some photographs of pilots who were with the early squadrons that went to France, including the 94th.  This was a thread that I talked about a few years ago.  Sometimes you hear them called Rickenbacker wings as there are some nice pictures of him and other pilots wearing this pattern.  I love them!

 

There seem to have been some variations.  This is a version that sometimes is attributed to 147th AS (IIRC)