Postwar Labels Of Wartime Makers

[stonemint]

First POSTWAR (non-repro) Schellenberg logo I have ever seen:

[stonemint]

A postwar Pekuro variant:

[stonemint]

"Marie Slama & Sohn"--this is a Vienna maker who produced mostly Polizei hats during the war, and are still in business today, making Visors for the Austrian armed forces:

[NTZ]

Stonemint, does this count? The late war Erel.

We will be addressing this issue soon. Hopefully with the aid of modern forensics we can solve this mystery one and for all.

[stonemint]

I'm still out on the late war Erel, Nick--haven't seen enough of 'em "in hand"--I await your verdict...

[NTZ]

I'm still out on the late war Erel, Nick--haven't seen enough of 'em "in hand"--I await your verdict...

I will email you with my detailed analysis.

[NTZ]

Stonemint, let me give you a little teaser. You tell me what you think.

[Dave Kane]

Here's another...

[NTZ]

Another late war Erel. The late war Erel was supposed to be produced around mid to late 1944 to 1945. The Emhage could have been made no earlier than 1953 up to the late 1950’s when they changed the name again. Late in 1952 is when the East German government confiscated the company from Lubstein and started to use the Emhage name. The construction and materials of the caps are identical to the Emhage. Lubsteins visors changed more than a few times just between 1938 and 1944. Now we are to believe that the East German company Emhage (without the help of Lubstein) just picked up were they left off 8 years later using the same techniques and materials. Is it possible that the late war Erel was actually produced by Emhage or makers within the company using some left over stock like the shields for sale as souvenirs to the occupying Soviet troops? I am sure there was a market. I am also sure there were unusable left over stock. Just a theory but worth thinking about.
Also think of this. How many makers were still employed by Emhage that were with Lubstein in 1945? There are examples of caps made by Lubstein between 1945 and 1953 and they don’t share the commonalties these two caps do.

[Dave Kane]

Oh come on now Nick!!! That is just preposterous....cap manufacturers were not like the cash starved medal makers and didn't have left over stock.....yeah right!!!!

I'll send you this cap for the 'big test' and yet another 'outing' of dealer fabrications about LATE WAR!

[NTZ]

Dave I would say the need for a cap maker in East Germany around 1953 is about the equivalent to the need for a chimney sweep today. There is absolutely no doubt that the Germans were pawning off souvenirs real and fake to occupying forces on both sides. How do I know this? My grandfather spent a little over a year in Germany right after the war. He told me that the people were always trying to trade the GI’s stuff like that for food and cigarettes.

[stonemint]

Wow...until Nick posted the "Emhages" next to the "late war" Erels, I was always on the side of believing that there was a probability that they were legit--they are practically mirror-images of one another--I think Nick has demonstrated, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Lubstein was making repros in the early postwar era--so I am now joining the side of the NON-believers in the "late-war erels". It was always the paper visors that threw me, but in the desolate German economy of 1945-1952, leather and vulcanfiber were probably scarce.

On another note, Soviet Generals caps are still being churned out by the same factories to this day, and I believe the same is true with those East German visors which are available on ebay 24/7--so the concept is not novel, and its all about making a buck (or should I say mark). I would like to hear from any "true believers" in the "late war" erel theory to support their position--any takers?

[NTZ]

Stonemint, I think if I could see the peak stiffener on the Emhage I could conclusively say they were made by the same hands around the same time. The peak stiffener in the late war Erel is different than any of the earlier Erel examples I have owned.

[Wolften]

Very Good Subject !

Nicky is a non humain machine with 1 German book references pistol lol
this is Terminator, the jankes dead with this total killer....


yes, the late war eReL is easy to find lol but this is a good late war reference; after the other late war cap is hard to find, because the manufacture is unusual and maybe + rare...

the NTZ Student
Wolfy.

[stonemint]

I'm cleaning out pix from my hard-drive--this is a better shot of Clemens Wagner's POSTWAR label--"Clewa" (and I have seen hats sold many times with this label as originals):