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1919-1941 Interwar Period vintage pilot wings: examples and patterns


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Some very interesting additionas to this thread thanks for posting! The one you posted as an unknown maker looks massive does it weigh as much as it looks?

 

Cheers

John

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Here is a second of the exact same pattern, but note the replaced "C" style catch.

 

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And the backside with the replaced "C" style catch.

Also, in reference to the comment of it looking massive and "does it weigh as much as it looks?" Because it is a bit hollowed out as seen on the back view, it is not as heavy as it may appear. Thanks for the question! Pete

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  • 1 month later...

:think:

 

This portrait might raise an eyebrow or two.

 

Colonel Phillip Schneeburger wearing a 1919 balloon pilot badge made by William Link & Company with gold letters US added to its shield. Although he is wearing a very early badge, this picture is dated 9-17-1938.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 1 year later...

Question on dating vintage pilot's wings if I may; I bought these wings recently (very similar to the wings pictured in post #60) thinking the were a fairly recent vintage. My reasoning was the dimple or raised dot on the anchor fluke. When I researched Marine EGA's here on this forum, one of the tell tale signs of a newer EGA was the dimple on the anchor. While looking on this topic, it appears that most wings have that dimple on the anchor fluke, no matter the vintage. So, the dimple is no indication of age with wings? Any idea of when my wings were made?

 

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  • 1 month later...

Hi tom63,

 

I think I bid against you for these, I thought they might be 1930s or earlier (the style looked like it), before I bid I emailed John Vargas and asked him, he replied that they were probably WW2, there were a lot of wings that were struck useing older dies during WW2, that is what makes dateing some wings and other badges (marksmanship awards for example) a bit hard......... and of course that also means they could be older!

 

cheers,

 

-John

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  • 2 months later...
  • 9 months later...
rathbonemuseum.com

We can't let this thread go quiet. Adding some more wings to ponder. Not mine but I wish they were!

 

First is another example of Patrick's "hairy pattern". Was it determined that these are William Link or from the Amcraft die in Cliff's post?

 

 

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rathbonemuseum.com

Another great wing is this style which I have not seen posted here and not with the AMICO hallmark. Is this the predecessor to the later, simpler three tiered wing pattern? Are we seeing the evolution of the AMICO style?

 

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rathbonemuseum.com

And finally, my personal favorite and "holy grail" target which I may never acquire (though I have said that about other things I have been lucky enough to find), a beautiful pilot wing made by the A. H. Hankins jeweler of Seattle, WA. Simply amazing.

 

 

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I can see why the last photo is a grail for you. Beautiful feathering and shoulder details which totally steals the show when compared to the rather pedestrian shield. I have to say I really appreciate the designs that artistically represent actual wings.

 

Cheers

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We can't let this thread go quiet. Adding some more wings to ponder. Not mine but I wish they were!

 

First is another example of Patrick's "hairy pattern". Was it determined that these are William Link or from the Amcraft die in Cliff's post?

 

 

 

Hey Tod,

 

This wing is actually a Link pattern badge.

Amcraft acquired the dies from Wm Link Co sometime in the mid-late 1920's and produced

the wing up through early WWII, but with a snowflake back.

Both are rather hard to find, the smooth backed Link and the snowflake backed Amcraft.

 

John

 

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  • 5 months later...

This is a recent addition. A wonderful bullion wing, likely from the late 1920's- early 1930's. Tentatively, this has been ID'd to a guy who went on to serve at the commanding officer of a fighter wing in the ETO.

 

The bullion work is stunning, the used a couple of different styles of metal thread and silver foil.

 

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Close up of the wing

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Final picture showing some of the detail in the shield.

 

I have found that the bullion wings of this era are some of the nicest available (and the rarest).

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rustywings

Patrick, that's a stunning between-the-wars bullion Pilot wing! I r-e-a-l-l-y like the individual flair and artistry they put into these oversize Pilot wings...

 

Russ

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Great details to a very nice wing badge.

Thanks for adding to one of the best and most informative threads in this forum.

 

John

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  • 4 weeks later...

Somewhat similar to Patrick's nice addition posted above, here's another oversize 1920's - 1930's bullion US Army Pilot wing. Unfortunately, the prop/wing collar insignia are missing and the uniform is riddled with moth track damage, but the 4.25 inch wide bullion wings are in surprisingly good shape.

 

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Close-up of the bullion wings:

 

 

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Label on the inside pocket indicates this coat belonged to Lt. W. G. Edwards and is dated January 22, 1931.

 

 

 

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Major General Frederick L. Martin (O2507) (November 26, 1882 - February 23, 1954) was assigned to take command of USAAC Hawaii based units stationed there on October 4, 1940.

 

Note that in this picture he is wearing a very nice pre-WW2 wing badge made by Orber.

 

Cliff

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  • 5 months later...
Steve Brannan

Have three early Air Corps wings in my collection. All marked "FROM OFFICIAL DIE". First is the Pilot wing:

Has the so called Tiffany style catch marked Sterling.

 

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Second wing is the Observer wing:

 

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Last one is the Pilot Observer wing authorized from 1920-1921. The US appears to me to be solid gold.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Steve, those are really great wings.

 

Here is a new one that I got off of eBay recently. It is on a WWI uniform with and I Corp patch and Mexican service/WWI victory ribbon bars. A post-WWI set up and worn in the early 1920's.

 

I have heard that one reason why the bullion turns this bronze color is if the original owner was a smoker, the cigaret smoke would tarnish the silver bullion thread this way.

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I have heard that one reason why the bullion turns this bronze color is if the original owner was a smoker, the cigaret smoke would tarnish the silver bullion thread this way.

 

Well, not exactly.

 

Usually silver military embroidery was manufactured using (1) silver wire, (2) cotton thread wrapped with a thin silver wire or (3) copper wire that had been coated (plated) with a silver wash of vary thickness.

 

Over a period of time and due to any number of different reasons such as heavy use, dry cleaning, oxidation, etc the silver will tarnish and need to be cleaned or. . . as in the case of number (3) and depending on the thickness of the silver plating applied to the metallic thread used as its base, the silver coating could be lost completely because of age or flaking.

 

cp

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Hi Cliff,

 

Art told me that little trick about the cigaret smoke. Of course, you're correct, lots of things tarnish the wings. On some uniforms, you can actually still smell the cigaret smoke in the fabric. ewww.

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:huh:

 

Patrick, I've received many a bullion insignia that reeked of cigarette smoke because the dealer who sold it was a smoker. Having said that, I don't agree with the theory that cigarette smoke will discolor (or harm) silver bullion on a permanent basis. If by chance the smoke did leave a minor tar stain both it and the smell may be removed by using warm vinegar which will not harm the bullion.

 

cp

 

 

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