Hello again to all my friends. I would love to post pics of some of my hats and other offerings, including the Officer's Berg that I spoke of earlier; however, I have no pics to upload, and I certainly can't do that here at my office. Tell you what, I'll take pictures soon enough and have the pics put on a CD so I can have one of y'all post them. I'm sure I can rely on my good bud, Manny-the Italian Stallion, to help me out.
Back to the Berg in question. Here's what I like about the hat: the exterior color of the air vents; the doeskin wool and its color as shown in the pics; the toned insignia; the actual piping; the presence of the piping corresponds with the date; the cap's shape; and most importantly, the rounded portion on the ear flaps, as clearly evident by JVH's superb example (contrasted with the squared appearance shown in post #16).
What concerns me are: whether the stamping is correct; whether Willy Sprengfeil would make a private/officer's quality cap; a better view of the air grommets from the interior; lack of photo evidence of the button holes and the back of the buttons (as mentioned earlier by Langemark); and lack of photo evidence clearly establishing the manner in which the sweatband is attached.
The color of the sweatband alone does not kill the hat, nor does the presence of the two air vents on each side instead of only one. What will kill the hat is the TYPE of sweatband. Post-war type sweatbands, regardless of their color (although gray is absolutely the most common for BW) have a thin piece of plastic that the sweatband is zig-zag stitched to. Wartime sweatbands, if the appearance is similar in configuration to post-war styles, will either be attached to a piece of velvet/felt or cloth, or to leather/lacquered covered cloth with a wooden stiffener. However, the later is rarely encountered except on really nice private purchase caps, and when encountered, most collectors suffer an immediate knee-jerk reaction b/c nearly all "Janke" hats have this feature (AND, Janke's sweatbands vary in colors other than gray)!
I am not convinced this hat is a fake; I'm simply giving ManuelR and his Berg the benefit of the doubt that his cap is likely original. However, I am not positive it is original, but I certainly hope it is!
Back to the Berg in question. Here's what I like about the hat: the exterior color of the air vents; the doeskin wool and its color as shown in the pics; the toned insignia; the actual piping; the presence of the piping corresponds with the date; the cap's shape; and most importantly, the rounded portion on the ear flaps, as clearly evident by JVH's superb example (contrasted with the squared appearance shown in post #16).
What concerns me are: whether the stamping is correct; whether Willy Sprengfeil would make a private/officer's quality cap; a better view of the air grommets from the interior; lack of photo evidence of the button holes and the back of the buttons (as mentioned earlier by Langemark); and lack of photo evidence clearly establishing the manner in which the sweatband is attached.
The color of the sweatband alone does not kill the hat, nor does the presence of the two air vents on each side instead of only one. What will kill the hat is the TYPE of sweatband. Post-war type sweatbands, regardless of their color (although gray is absolutely the most common for BW) have a thin piece of plastic that the sweatband is zig-zag stitched to. Wartime sweatbands, if the appearance is similar in configuration to post-war styles, will either be attached to a piece of velvet/felt or cloth, or to leather/lacquered covered cloth with a wooden stiffener. However, the later is rarely encountered except on really nice private purchase caps, and when encountered, most collectors suffer an immediate knee-jerk reaction b/c nearly all "Janke" hats have this feature (AND, Janke's sweatbands vary in colors other than gray)!
I am not convinced this hat is a fake; I'm simply giving ManuelR and his Berg the benefit of the doubt that his cap is likely original. However, I am not positive it is original, but I certainly hope it is!
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