1894-1905 apothecary/steward

[zljones]

Here is the style he is looking for, but it's not a Apothecary .

 

Jason

 

Exactly it would be that exact style but with the apothecary symbol and also one with the geneva cross, if such a thing exists.

[Steindaddie]

Here are some ratings I once posted in a different topic - Geneva Cross is in second row.

[navyman]

Here are some ratings I once posted in a different topic - Geneva Cross is in second row.

 

Very nice collection!! The master-at-arms is the same style. You can tell by the eagle and tail feathers and by the stiching on the chevrons.

 

Jason

[Steindaddie]

Here it is, I do believe.

[dpcsdan]

Here it is, I do believe.

Note the difference the chevron stitching is applied in the above non-apothecary CPO example. That's the key.

-dan

[zljones]

Here it is, I do believe.

 

I actually have one of those, yours looks way better though, but that is the 1905-1913 steward CPO.

[navyman]

Note the difference the chevron stitching is applied in the above non-apothecary CPO example. That's the key.

-dan

 

You can tell the pre 1905 style by the sitching of the chevrons. Black thread used on the red chevrons just like the 1886 rates but no padding. Sorry for the bad picture quality, but it had to be lowered to fit.

 

Notice the difference in the eagles also.

 

Jason

[zljones]

You can tell the pre 1905 style by the sitching of the chevrons. Black thread used on the red chevrons just like the 1886 rates but no padding. Sorry for the bad picture quality, but it had to be lowered to fit.

 

Notice the difference in the eagles also.

 

Jason

 

That hits the nail on the head right there. I know John Stacey's book says the 1894 pattern was the standard issue til 1905, but I am starting to wonder if it died out sooner, maybe 1897, then possibly the 1905 pattern really came out in 1897. It would explain the extreme scarcity of 1894 era rating badges, I just find it strange that I can happen accross the much older 1886 era style much easier than the newer 1894 era badges. I can see collections on this forum from all of us and we have 1886 eras, just about all devoted collectors have at least one sample, but usually more. But most devoted collectors seems to have an extremely hard time getting a 1894 era, and the bidding gets really high when one appears. From what I read in Stacey's book, he seems to say that the 1894 style came out in the Uregs of Sept, 1894 but it did not seem to be mandatory, plus we have seen old pictures of sailors wearing both 1894 and 1886 style, sometimes in the same picture. Seems like from 1894-1897 there were two different styles worn and Stacey's book seem to say that too. In 1897 Uregs it outlined the new style for rating badges, but from what I read in Stacey's book, the Uregs did not seem to specify inner chevron stitching and the eagle's head facing straight forward to the bottom center of it's wing, it seemed to only specify the size and style of chevrons, it seemed to have deemed the 1894 style as acceptable but possibly not MANDATORY.

This leads into my theory that I believe the 1905 style was actually launched in 1897 not 1905, and then preferred by sailors over the 1894 style. My theory is that the 1894 style was never mandatory, nor ever preferred. This would explain the extreme rareity. My theory is that this style was only worn 1894-1897 only, and during that period only some sailors wore it because they were still mostly wearing the 1886 style. This would then explain the pictures that have been posted in this section. The samples posted have 1905 style mixed with 1894-1905 style rating appearences.