Very nice, Rick! Thanks for posting!
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Thanx Dietrich!
The Order of Merit made its appearance during the series, worn by certain Germans. It was described as: “The Order of Merit (and) is an updated version of the famous Prussian Order of Merit (colloquially known as the “Blue Max”). Established in 1740 which became the most coveted decoration in Germany by the First World War. The order was dissolved with the Prussian monarchy in 1918.” It was imagined the Germans would re-institute this award in the alternate reality and that this version would only be used for German nationals (so-called Herrenvolk) to represent both military and civilian merit of the highest order.
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The series spawned a switch from the 1930s political eagle to what became known on the set as the “world domination eagle” ~ a political eagle perched atop a globe & swastika. It reminds me of von Ribbentrop’s sleeve insignia where his featured the national eagle atop a globe. The eagle was also produced in metal (silver & gold) although I never caught where they were used as well as a one-off prototype handkerchief for the (1st) Führer with the “world domination eagle” embroidered on it. I was told Hitler never blew his nose so likely this was never seen during the season. Finally, a stylized ‘world domination eagle’ was featured on the 1960s version American Blood Order which, presumably was awarded to the first Americans to join the Reich’s consolidation of the American continent.
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Many thanks for sharing those images. As a fan of the series, I love to finally see these items up close.
By the way, about that "Blood Order": I think it is supposed to be the award for those involved in the action against certain conspirators (I don't want to spoil too much for those who haven't watched the series yet) depicted in the final episode of season 2.
Those events take place in 1962 and are centered around the Volkshalle (which is depicted on the medal). Also, Smith starts wearing this ribbon in the second episode of season 3.Comment
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Another place where that world domination globe was seen was on Himmler’s shoulderboards. When the Reichsführer got a promotion to Führer the designer developed a set of shoulder boards for Kenneth Tigar playing Himmler having a distinctive set of cyphers designed to represent ‘Leibstandarte Heinrich Himmler’, as well as the swastika superimposed on the globe from their world domination eagle which the producers insisted the character wear later in the series. Oddly, the top down view of this shoulder board cypher/globe combination almost looks like a top view of Star Trek’s fictional Constitution class starship. (Maybe someone was a fan.) (original artwork for LHH armshield below)
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The ‘American Campaign’ Medal (Star with the Reich’s eagle) came in gold and silver. Presumably awarded to US personnel taking part in the conquest/consolidation of a defeated America. The character Smith wore a silver Star on his parade bar:
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Then there’s the MITHC SS visor, worn by Smith. I was told:
“When the pilot was shot, Rufus Sewell refused to wear the skull on his SS cap because he thought that it was the insignia of the Nazi concentration camps! Even after I explained the skull’s significance and history, he still refused, so I said, at least let’s use an SS insignia as a cockade so we don’t look like complete idiots. ”
Thus, due to an ill-informed actor’s bias against a piece of insignia he knows absolutely nothing about, the series had to design a hybrid Heer wreath using the SS runes instead of the SS totenkopf to pacify him. I guess Sewell set the ‘fashion style’ of the American SS. Some photos below ~ a nice leather sweatband but certainly not an eReL, eh? Anyway, clearly, these baubles aren’t collectable militaria on any kind of a par with the German WW2 originals we enjoy but they are ‘sort-of’ related in an alternate reality sort-of way.
The fact is that most folks know as little about collecting film related movie props as most people know of collecting German WW2 memorabilia, which isn’t much. Unknown to me when I snagged these, film props are surprisingly popular. Star Wars: https://news.justcollecting.com/han-...p-for-auction/ Star Trek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rt6ohHQg6M “Unsurprisingly, the people who sell movie props don't usually price them as bargains. After all, in most cases, anything created specifically for a film production is either unique or one of a handful of that prop made for it. There just aren't an endless supply of them floating around, and if a film is popular, that will be reflected in the prop's price. ” https://www.houstonpress.com/arts/ob...ecting-8136830
Anyway, I thought some of you who may have watched the series and enjoyed it, might enjoy the imagery provided.
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Brilliant; this thread has made my day!
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It just occured to me that my buddy sent me a pack of smokes from the series and no matches to spark up with ~ I've been cheated!
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great thread, thanks for posting (and acquiring)
any copies of these available anywhere?
regards
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Interesting :
Do we know where and who made these Insignia and Decorations ?
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I put an email to my buddy after lunch today asking what might be left of the props 'in-hiding' ~
I recall there were two Smith visors so unless someone snagged the other... there was more stuff so when I get a return email I'll drop you and those who've PMed me a note.
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With respect Douglas, I'm not at liberty to say. Not being a dick. I was just asked to keep names out of any showing of this stuff.
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That's ok Rick .
DouglasComment
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What a fun thread and one that I literally stumbled into while looking for a totally unrelated topic using the search function. I loved the series, and thank you so much for letting me see these items up close so to speak, you've satisfied my curiosity about what these looked like in detail. Loved the story about the actor refusing the totenkopf which in 'real life' Smith himself might have also not wanted to wear. It makes a certain amount of sense to me. I am glad you were able to snag some of these items, would love to hear more and see more artifacts from this alternate reality should they surface.
EricComment
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