Help Determining Age of Lt Gen Shoulder Boards

[CHASEUSA11B]

Hello all, I bought these as a part of a lot of unrelated militaria and I was wondering if anyone could tell me the approximate age. Thanks in advance! 

[Wake1941]

Look 1960s era to me 

[QED4]

The gross grain material for the color background did not come into general use until after WWII before that they used felt. How ever the specs call for general's star to be on black velvet.

[CHASEUSA11B]

14 hours ago, Wake1941 said:

Look 1960s era to me 

Thanks for the info.

[CHASEUSA11B]

23 hours ago, QED4 said:

The gross grain material for the color background did not come into general use until after WWII before that they used felt. How ever the specs call for general's star to be on black velvet.

Interesting, thank you for the info.

Do you think these are reproductions since they are not on velvet? 

[QED4]

I don't know, this is a rather convoluted situation. They are being made in China a quick check of e-Bay and you will find several plus he fact that they are not maker marked is not good. Now the question is were they used by a general, just because they were made in China does not mean they weren't worn. Back when the blue uniform was being worn as the service uniform shoulder straps had a high mortality rate being fairly fragile. Some generals may have opted for these as they do appear to meet specs except for the velvet and they were not issued officers had to buy them.  It mostly depends on how rigid your definition of a reproductive is. Personally I hold out for the velvet ones as an example of a general's shoulder strap but if they came on an attributed uniform I would not replace them.