Wehrpass Qu

[dphillipsd]

Has anyone ever come across a WP with its original staples but also new ones added at sometime to attach it to the cover again? The reason I am asking is that I recently got a WP to a bloke born in 1898 who saw service in the Battle of France with an artillery regiment, before being discharged after a fitness examination in 1940, with its old but also new staples. The group came with some feldpost letters and POW letters from his son.

[Ian Jewison]

I have seen this before with old "rusty" staples and new to re-attach the cover.....and keep the pages together! This is not so uncommon as over time they do deteriate and if not stored correctly will fall apart...now as well as 60 years ago!
I have also seen them held together with string!

Incidentally are they steel staples or new ones?

[dphillipsd]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the reply. I am not entirely sure, anyway I can tell either way?

[Edward]

Hello dp and Ian,

Imo, with period staples it is difficult to tell at exactly what point WP's or SB's were restapled either during or after the war as stocks of the same staples used during the war were also around after as well. As Ian points out, from the books I have seen the use of string seems to have been a popular method. Another is the many types of tape one comes across that is found on passbooks to keep them together. Imo, alot of these types are repaired postwar pieces, possibly but by no means neccesarily reparied by the veteran...a member of the family, dealer...or even done by a collector are all possibilites.

Regards

[Si1964]

I have seen this before with old "rusty" staples and new to re-attach the cover.....and keep the pages together! This is not so uncommon as over time they do deteriate and if not stored correctly will fall apart...now as well as 60 years ago!
I have also seen them held together with string!

Incidentally are they steel staples or new ones?

Hi Ian,
Been away for a few weeks working and just catching up on things etc, in your opinion, what is the best way to store WP & SB to stop them deteriating. If you have one retapled does that detract some of the value of the item? If you have one that is in poor shape/falling apart would you leave it or restaple it?

I look forward to your thoughts on this topic.

Thanks

[Ian Jewison]

Hi Simon,

I keep my Soldbücher and Wehrpässen in plastic sleeves designed for keeping first day covers (FDC) in!
There are two types that I have come across...first is flimsy and loads from the left hand side, the second is stronger and loads from the top...the latter is the type I use!
For documents I used normal A4/A5 plastic document sleeves...normally from Staples or computer/office shop.

Here is a photo of some...taken a while ago but shows roughly what I mean! There was a thread on the forum regarding some of my binders, the text is still there but the images long gone

Regarding Sb. or Wp. being restapled I would not say it detracts any of the value....unless it is obvious and repaired poorly....I have some examples that are single pages that have fallen apart over the years....some of them have been "repaired" with celotape, however this should never be used Over time it will come away leaving a greasy smear to the page.
I have on a few occassions used brown sticky (gum backed!) paper to repair spines of Sb. or Wp. when they are in two halves.....this can be easily removed if you are not satisfied...but be careful and not to remove an original wartime repair as they tend to look similar!!!!

/Ian

[Si1964]

Thanks for that Ian, I have one or two that could do with new staples.

As for room temp or changes in temp can this be threat to the documentation as well??

Thanks

[Si1964]

Ian, I have just noticed that award doc, I don't thinks its an RK, is it a 20 July 44 wound award??

[Ian Jewison]

Ian, I have just noticed that award doc, I don't thinks its an RK, is it a 20 July 44 wound award??

No it's a "Heldentod" (death of a hero) document for a Pioniere Hauptfeldwebel.

/Ian

[Ian Jewison]

Thanks for that Ian, I have one or two that could do with new staples.

If it is bought with new staples then depending on how it is done I would leave it or remove them....I would not put any in myself!
As mentioned I only repair the covers if they are in two halves, at least that way if the pages are also singular and loose the cover will keep them together!!!

[Edward]

Hello Simon & Ian,

Another way you can store your passbooks is by using Ryker mounts(spelling?). They are small and come in various sizes. Relatively inexpensive presentation cases with glass tops that have been around and sold for years and usually seen at shows. The lining material is usually a white thick square wadding which should be removed and relined with a thinner material to fit the passbooks in. Even better are what are known as archival sleeves for holding various sized documents. There are also archival boxes to hold them in.

Next, and most importantly, store those passbooks away from direct sunlight! The down side of collecting ephemera, to include passbooks is the highly acidic paper that was used in passbooks.

Regards