Newbie ? re: Observer and Orber jump wings

[Alfred]

I'm brand spanking new to the topic of military memorabilia...but now I'm really intrigued. I've spent the afternoon looking over the posts in this area and I have yet to find the exact matches to these two wings. I've noticed that at about 3 1/4" the Observer wing is slightly larger than any of the other wings I've seen and it has no hall/makers mark; only the debossed "sterling". The clasp opens to about 60-80 degrees and the wing weighs a little over 26 grams, (if that makes a difference).

 

The Jump wing is debossed with the words "sterling by order". Is this a company or were these made as a special "order"? It is about an 1 1/2" wide and about 9 grams. Unfortunately, the clasp lock is broken and the clasp is badly bent.

 

Any information you can provide would be much appreciated.

 

Just for historical perspective, these were collected by my grandfather and came into the family sometime between the mid-to-late 60's.

 

Alfred

[flyingfortress]

The Observer wing looks like an American Emblem Company pattern. If the wing was hallmarked it would probably be A.E. CO. UTICA, N.Y. STERLING.

The paratrooper jump wing was made by the Orber Manufacturing Company (a desirable hallmark), Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Nice pieces!

 

Regards, George

[Alfred]

Thank you, George! Do you know if they happen to be World War II vintage?

[KurtA]

Thank you, George! Do you know if they happen to be World War II vintage?

Alred-

Yes, they are. Nice original wings.

Kurt

[Alfred]

Thank you, George! Do you know if they happen to be World War II vintage?

 

I just took a few minutes to look up American Emblem Company and view some of their World War II period wings. They seem to differ, somewhat, from the Observer wings I have in that they all seemed to have hollowed-out backs and the one I have is solid. Did A.E. vary their method of manufacturing during the course of production? If so, does anyone know if the earlier production was solid or hollow?

 

Thanks again!

 

Alfred

[pfrost]

I just took a few minutes to look up American Emblem Company and view some of their World War II period wings. They seem to differ, somewhat, from the Observer wings I have in that they all seemed to have hollowed-out backs and the one I have is solid. Did A.E. vary their method of manufacturing during the course of production? If so, does anyone know if the earlier production was solid or hollow?

 

Thanks again!

 

Alfred

 

 

Welcome Alfred,

This is an AE Co wing with a repaired catch. I don't think your wing is an AE-made wing, but a number of companies seemed to use the same or very similar patterns.

 

I agree, both wings are nice WWII (or maybe even post WWII for the aircraft observer wing).

 

Best

 

Patrick

[flyingfortress]

Alfred,

 

I'm far from being a wing expert but the front of the Observer wing looked like an A.E. Co. pattern-type wing. Their wings are noted for not having crisp feather detail. I've seen paratrooper wings made by A.E. Co. that had a solid back. I don't know for certain if they made wings with a solid back.

 

Regards, George

[jcastellanos4]

These do not appear to be AE Co. wings. The reverse of the wing should be hollow unlike the Balfour wings which are solid. All AE Co. wings/insignia are marked on the reverse.. I have yet to see an AE wing without a maker's mark unless it has been filed down. AE Co. applied various patterns to mark their wings, some circular and some linear. Here is a pic of an observer and bombadier wing made by American Emblem Co. .. notice the feathering pattern on the front, and the reverse of the wings are similar.

Very nice Orber jump wing!!! :thumbsup:

[jcastellanos4]

.

[Alfred]

.

Another feature that I failed to mention is that the "ribbing", I guess you'd call it, in the center of the "O" is convex; that is it is slightly mounded from the edge of the circle toward the center. That doesn't appear to be an attribute of the other Observer wings where the ribbing appears flat and, at times, even concave. On this set of wings the design element (ribbing) in the center of the "O" is actually raised above the outer letter in which it's encased.

 

Thank you all for the help This is a great forum.

 

Alfred

[Alfred]

I think I answered my own question but I'll fill it in anyway just in case someone else would like the info. After looking at the Balfour wings I decided that the variations, in the wing and the placement of the word "sterling" , were just too great to be of their manufacture. I then spent about an hour and a half on Flying Tiger's website, (Ever been there? That website is huge...it takes at least an hour and a half to look at all the stuff). In any case...I found the wings; actually two of the same wings although they have them marked differently. Apparently these Observer wings were made sometime between the 1920's and WW II. They are Sterling Issue Air Corps Observer wings. After the appearance, shape and style of the wings, (which is precisely the same), the key for me, having worked with manufacturers, was both size, approx. 3 3/16" x 7/8", and the placement of the word "sterling" on the back. The expense of changing dies to change the size of a piece or the position of the debossed word "sterling" would be outlandish for most manufacturers. (Unless, of course, there was a compelling reason to make the change that would render this assumption mute;like to reduce materials costs, increase production speed, etc.) However, all things being equal, you can pretty much bet that the placement of that kind of indicia will be the same throughout the run...and the placement of the word "sterling" on these wings and those I saw on the Flying Tiger website is exactly the same.

 

Thank you all for your assistance. This is a great forum...much better than most of the other forums to which I belong.

 

Alfred

[John Cooper]

Just to toss in my two cents - the observer is very similar to an early Meyer pattern.

 

Regards,

John