Couple of Edelweiss questions

[Beamoebic]

I'm sorting through some US soldiers medals and pins and this one I was wondering if I could get some input on.

It's maker marked G.B. 41 which I take to be Gustav Brehmer.

One odd think that I wanted to point out is that the center piece has 2 separate pieces, I assume identical, applied. Is this just something that happened on accident during assembly, or is there any reason it would have been done on purpose.

All his souvineers (sp) are from Italy except this, pin. Were there any cases of Italians being in German Alpine units or is there some other explanation?

Here are some pics, I hope.
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The white stuff on the brass is old dried polish of some sort, not from me for sure. I just don't like to clean anything off without a lot of thought and others opinions.

Thanks for any shared info,

Jeff

[Beamoebic]

How about just the cleaning question?

I have found one way to remove old polish residue in recesses is to use an old clean toothbrush with no polish and just scrub gently until you are satisfied. Sometimes requires a little more pressure than others.

[fugpaw]

I think the duplicate centre piece layers were done by accident - there just happened to be 2 stuck together and the assembly worker wasn't paying much attention - it isn't normal on these badges.

As for cleaning - be very careful if you use a brush or anything - it can effect the finish. If you do use a toothbrush, make sure it's a soft one and use some warm (not hot) water on it - shake the brush before using. Personally I would leave the badge how it is.

Mike

[Beamoebic]

Well, I'm always leery of any kind of cleaning and keep it to a minimum when I do. I have an old printers block cleaning brush that I've always used and found it to be as good to any surface as it can get.

That said I decided to take the biggest globs of the old paste off without getting too carried away and I think it makes it nicer. My worry of changing the finish didn't materialize as there isn't any difference where the powder residue was with the surrounding areas.

Here's it's new look:

[fugpaw]

Jeff, that's a nice cleaning job, done with some serious care and attention - the results are great

By the way, I apologise for my ignorance - but what is so different about a "printers block cleaning brush"?


Mike

[Beamoebic]

Hi Mike, thanks for the compliment.

The brush I found (a long time ago) is like a stiff round paint brush but the whole thing is maybe 3 inches long. The bristles are probably natural, like boar but maybe a little softer than the ones on a hair brush.

I might be wrong on what I'm calling it but I found it with a bunch of type, etc. and figured that is what it was used for, if I recall it had to be cleaned of old ink but that might have been another that was in with the bunch. It's a handy size to use and keeps you from getting too aggressive. Here's a pic with a medal for scale: