I was wondering if there are concrete was of tell the diferance of the period of ribbon devices, like the V and multiple oak leafs etc.

Yes, but unless you have handled quite a few of these devices, it can be very difficult to tell the difference. However, there was no such thing as "multiple oak leaf devices" from WWII through the 50's. You do see multiples of "individual" oak leaves being worn, but a singular device consisting of "multiple" oak leaves was not introduced until much later on. As for the "V" devices, the earliest ones did not have the "serif's" at the very top of the "V". So the sides of the "V" would be straight and would not have the serif's or horizontal lines at the very top of the device. These can be seen at the tail end of WWII and through Korea, but I don't remember when the serif was first introduced. Oak leaves (from this time frame) to my knowledge are indistinguishable from each other. This is basically the long story short as there are a lot of variants out there and exceptions to the rule.

Yes, but unless you have handled quite a few of these devices, it can be very difficult to tell the difference. However, there was no such thing as "multiple oak leaf devices" from WWII through the 50's. You do see multiples of "individual" oak leaves being worn, but a singular device consisting of "multiple" oak leaves was not introduced until much later on. As for the "V" devices, the earliest ones did not have the "serif's" at the very top of the "V". So the sides of the "V" would be straight and would not have the serif's or horizontal lines at the very top of the device. These can be seen at the tail end of WWII and through Korea, but I don't remember when the serif was first introduced. Oak leaves (from this time frame) to my knowledge are indistinguishable from each other. This is basically the long story short as there are a lot of variants out there and exceptions to the rule.

 

Thank you, this was a little conformation of what I thought, for instance the serif V devices are known to be on WWII uniforms of the immidiate post war period, the oak leaf though will vary to some degree in the pre WWII/ WWII period I'm thinking, would any one care to post photos of WWII ribbons with oak leaves ? Any idea on when the muliple Stars and oak leaf devices actualy first came out, in the late 50s ? perhaps early to mid 60s ? Or perhaps an earlier topic that has actual photos in a collection, I tried to do a search but so far came up with zip, I input WWII ribbon devices and similar combinations in the search topic box, but had no luck. Thanks again.

Thank you, this was a little conformation of what I thought, for instance the serif V devices are known to be on WWII uniforms of the immediate post war period, the oak leaf though will vary to some degree in the pre WWII/ WWII period I'm thinking, would any one care to post photos of WWII ribbons with oak leaves ? Any idea on when the multiple Stars and oak leaf devices actually first came out, in the late 50s ? perhaps early to mid 60s ? Or perhaps an earlier topic that has actual photos in a collection, I tried to do a search but so far came up with zip, I input WWII ribbon devices and similar combinations in the search topic box, but had no luck. Thanks again.

 

 

This is your lucky day regarding the "V" device, as another member just listed this up for sale, check out the link below. It is the perfect example of what a late WWII to 50ish "V" device should look like.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...howtopic=134095

 

I think you are way off on the date of the "multiple" ribbon device. IIRC, those didn't come out until the 70's or 80's. I'm probably wrong on that, but off of the top of my head, that is what I remember. I hate to say it, but you are probably going to have to spend an inordinate amount of time surfing through both the uniform and medal forums to find random pic's of what your looking for. As to the oak leaves, they do vary from their inception as you will see the large caliber oak leaves of WWI vintage and shortly there after. I don't know exactly when they became a "standard" size, but it can be very difficult to differentiate between a WWII oak leaf and a Vietnam era oak leaf. As far as I know, the design is the same, at least from the front. If you take a standard oak leaf from WWII and a standard oak leaf from Vietnam that have been aged similarly, it will be almost impossible to tell the difference between them.

 

I don't know if this helps, but I don't really know what your looking for either ???

This is your lucky day regarding the "V" device, as another member just listed this up for sale, check out the link below. It is the perfect example of what a late WWII to 50ish "V" device should look like.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...howtopic=134095

 

I think you are way off on the date of the "multiple" ribbon device. IIRC, those didn't come out until the 70's or 80's. I'm probably wrong on that, but off of the top of my head, that is what I remember. I hate to say it, but you are probably going to have to spend an inordinate amount of time surfing through both the uniform and medal forums to find random pic's of what your looking for. As to the oak leaves, they do vary from their inception as you will see the large caliber oak leaves of WWI vintage and shortly there after. I don't know exactly when they became a "standard" size, but it can be very difficult to differentiate between a WWII oak leaf and a Vietnam era oak leaf. As far as I know, the design is the same, at least from the front. If you take a standard oak leaf from WWII and a standard oak leaf from Vietnam that have been aged similarly, it will be almost impossible to tell the difference between them.

 

I don't know if this helps, but I don't really know what your looking for either ???

 

 

Thank you for the info, checked out the link its a good referance,these non serif early V devices by themselves, are they hard to find ? on the muliple one pieces I was'nt dating them so much as I was throwing start periods out there to get an idea, it would seem that you will be right, I guess those multiple Stars and oak leaf devices are a type from the 70s or 80s. Thanks again.