Emblem added to tool

[Rustykamel]

I thought that some of you might enjoy seeing how some wiremen decorated a tool they needed. I added the wall locker sign for a little flair. All these items circa 1963. After radio school I became a radioman in a mortar platoon. Radio and extra battery heavy, so probably better off staying a wireman.

 

Best wishes, Jim

 

PS. I can't tell if EGA brown or black.

[Brig]

it looks like the EGA is actually tarnished silver

[Rustykamel]

it looks like the EGA is actually tarnished silver

Hi, I wish! Actually, the EGA is a garden variety EM collar emblem. The two pins on the back were pushed through the leather and bent over to attach. I don't think that it was too common for the EGA to be used on equipment. For example, I can't remember seeing one on a holster.

 

Best wishes, Jim

[craig_pickrall]

Here is one on a holster circa 1953.

 

[GLM]

Jim,

 

That looks like an Oki name tape on your utilities? Your bunk or locker plate also has that Oki look to it?

 

So far, in 25+ years of collecting EGA's, I haven't found any factory black, clutch back M1955's, only the Em-Nued browns, so my guess is the emblem applied to your pouch is the brown version that was abandoned in 1963 in favor of the black screw back emblems. You were there at exactly the same time the changeover to screw backs supposedly took place, so maybe you can fill in the blank spots for many of us on exactly when the Corps switched to black screw back emblems?

 

Here is a comparison of the choclate brown cover emblem next to the black cover emblem. On some emblems, the brown is much lighter than this one and on others, they look almost black, but they are noticeably brown when comparing the two side by side.

 

s/f, Gary

[Rustykamel]

Hi Gary, I was discharged end of April, 1964. My barracks cover and shoes still have the cordovan brown color, but remember the order to start using black shoe polish. So, this order must have come late in my enlistment since I didn’t make the change. Also, I checked my seabag and do have a set of black screw back collar emblems. I compared them to the one I embellished my wireman pouch with, and this clutch back EGA is indeed a dark brown. I suppose the black EGA’s replaced the brown version at same time orders came down to switch shoe polish color. I also remember that the last set of utilities I bought were different than the one pictured. It seems to me that the new set had buttons showing. The name tag is indeed 3rd Division. They were cheap so we had them sewed on clothing where a name stamp was used in the 1st Division. A small name tag was used on, say, a pisscutter, and the large herringbone material tags for utilities and field jackets. When the battalion returned to the states, the men that still had a year left to serve reported to the 5th Regiment---they had to remove their nametags. Wish I could give you a more accurate date, but late 1963 or early 1964 is best I can do.

 

Best wishes, Jim

[GLM]

Jim,

 

A wealth of information in this post as to exactly when the changeover, in not only leather colors and EGA's, but also when the hidden button utilities were discontinued. When I was collecting USMC uniforms, 782 gear, etc, I came across two different versions of the hidden button utilities. Those with non button down sleeve cuffs and those with button down sleeve cuffs. Do you have any idea when they started the button down sleeve cuffs? Which type are yours? I went through boot camp five years after you were discharged, but some of the older DI's were still wearing the older type hidden button utilities, which looked almost white from washing and starching. A very nice looking "salty," if you know what I mean. I know that a few PX's at Pendleton still had some of the clutch back dress and service emblems for sale as late as 1970, but I never saw any cordovan brown leather. That they had completely gotten rid of by then. 3rd Mar Div was completely stateside reserve by the time I got to Oki in 1970 on my way to Vietnam, but some of the 3rd Div signs and bunkplates were still there that showed your presence several years earlier.

 

s/f, Gary

[Rustykamel]

Hello Gary, My utility jackets have the button cuffs---I can’t remember seeing the non-button style. For what it’s worth, the jacket pictured has one metal replacement cuff button that must have been installed by the Okinawa laundress the last time it was washed and starched. I suppose this type button left over from the earlier herringbone dungarees. I have asked a friend who kept a journal your question about switch from brown to black. I doubt that he jotted down the date, but he did enter when we turned in our M-1 rifles for the new M-14. So, maybe we’ll get lucky. Attached is a photo of myself which speaks of life aboard a naval transport ship.

 

Best wishes, Jim