Heer officer's M43 cap - with a surprise

[RUHL13]

In picture #3 looks like another tag underneath?
Regards,
Gary

[Mike Davis]

Gents, as background, the cap came from an Atlanta flea market for few dollars. As I understand it, this was the only military-related item the dealer had.

[djpool]

Hi Jim,

The movie studio tag is machine sewn to the caps interior with the same thread and style of stitching used to construct the hat so I assume that this film studio constructed it.


It only makes sense to me that if the Army constructed printed breast eagles then why not trapazoid insignia (late) To be honest I don't know if this printed trap (which is hand sewn to the hat and looks convincing considering some of the funky looking original insignia produced late war) is original or not but I would give it a chance of being real. (the insignia,not the hat)



Glenn

Hi Glenn,

I like the way the insignia looks too. I think Garys right, it appears there was or is another tag underneath the property tags. Another clue? Maybe Mike can update us.

I'm fairly certain the hats a prop, but since theres dispute about the insignia, theres no harm in checking out the hat to be sure. WR Jim

[Mike Davis]

Here is a better shot of the property tag which has pulled loose a bit. I don't see any sign of a previous label.

[wurfmine]

Trap

I bought one of these traps and restored a late war m43 cap with it. Mine had been machine sewn to a previous hat , I am convinced by the insignia because of the symetry of the roundel and eagle also the top side of the insignia exhibits age and fading compared to the back. If it is studio made it doesn't look like any other film prop insignia I've seen.

[wurfmine]

trap2

2

[Bear]

It might have been worn by a famous actor. I wonder if it saw some action in a movie. It might be worth more than we think...

[hcliffe]

Neat item and I like the trap. Based on the year on the tag, can we determine some possible movies it was in?

[PANZERPIONIERE]

Cool cap, wish I had it, I have some unissued WWII Marine Camou studio marked.
steve

[Richard P]

I knew two guys that brought out over 5 semi truck loads of military clothing out of Warner Brothers Men's Wardrobe. I was able to visit the Men's Wardrobe at the time and the building was huge with clothing racks stacked 3 tall the full length of the building. The building had overflowed out into the open and many items were damaged. There was a mixture of original uniforms, caps, web gear, etc., and studio made or repro gear. They kept originals of almost every type of uniform for reference and they were so marked. There was drawer after drawer of original insignia for uniforms and headgear. The stuff wound up in warehouses in piles 12 feet tall. Many items were taged similar to this hat. That lower number is probably a production number and the movie could be identified by it if you have the studio productions listings.
Most items worn by the stars had their names on the tags. I saw John Wayne, Errol Flynn, and many, many more personality items set aside. I purchased over 50 original flying helmets from WWI thru WWII. That was about 15 years ago now, but I have seen another individual pull more items from the studios much more recently. I believe that the hat is studio made and the insignia is real. A very common practice for studios in the 40's and 50's.

Richard

[billbert]

My bet on this hat is its from MGM s 1949/50 epic BATTLEGROUND.. about the bastogne 101st airborne view...Billbert

[BenVK]

Did you just finish watching a repeat of it on TV?

[billbert]

Nope.. just stumbled on the thread and had a foto memory moment..Billbert

[Mike Bollow]

So is the consensus that this printed trap is legit? I would think that any late war insignia item such as this would have been found by the bundle, unused and brought home by GI's.

This is an interesting topic to be sure!

Mike

[Richard P]

As I stated before the number on the cap is most likely a movie production number. The actual movie it was in can be determined by this as long as someone is wiling to do the research. The studio would probably be able to answer you with a phone call if it is still in business.

Richard P