Very Nice Allgemeine SS White Piped Officer Visor

[derek]

Dear Sturmbannfuhrer,
"it was named to a high ranking General and the cap had the SS runes on the liner which I was told, was not a good sign for such a high ranker's visor in that organisation."
Whilst the cap you saw may have been a duff one, the information you were given about runes and rank in a cap is erroneous when it comes to black caps. Many period pictures show high ranking officers with runes in their caps. White caps are another matter. I have only see three examples that I believe to be good and all were private purchase. RZM runes would definitely be a red flag in a white cap, whatever the officer rank.
Derek

[Napalm]

What do you mean by backlight tested? What are some ways to tell if a visor or other cloth headgear is real or repro? Sorry for the dumb questions but I am quite new to this and am very interested.

Thanks
Craig

A backlight ( ultavoilet ) test on stiching will show the glow of post war nylon thread etc:

[Ernst-H]

A backlight ( ultavoilet ) test on stiching will show the glow of post war nylon thread etc:

How can you distinguish postwar Nylon thread from wartime Nylon thread

[Arran]

If you do a search on this forum for "black light test" you should come up with something. The test really has nothing to do with nylon, but is a test for the presence of chemical brighteners used in white thread and textiles after the war. If there, white will glow a bright blue-ish under the black light...

[Bob Hritz]

The glow, on white thread, is from phosphates, which were used to enhance the brightness of whites. This was invented in the late 1920s, but was expensive and usually reserved for the shirts of the most expensive type. In the 1930s and 1940s, phosphate enhanced white fabrics were not in massive use, other than for theatrical and stage use, when the ultraviolet light was used for special effects, ie; magic shows and spiritualist stunts.

Bob Hritz