Please show your Tropical caps

[Ralph Heinz]

Soutaches

Since Patrick is enjoying this thread, here are two original soutaches. Note that these are tucked into slits just above the stitching line for the bill. The top is an artillery soutache on a 1941 dated M40 billed field cap made by Schlesisch in Frankenstein. The bottom is on a 1942 dated M40 billed field cap made by Clemens Wagner in Braunschweig. This second firm had two separate factories, one in Braunschweig where I believe the majority of enlisted caps were produced and another factory in Hamburg. Their administrative office was in Braunschweig. There were other makers like Carl Halfar that also tucked the loose ends of the soutache up into slits in the front of the cap just as they all did on sidecaps. Others wrapped the loose ends under the front of the cap and it was sewn over when the bill was added. Even some caps made by Clemens Wagner used this technique -- in other words, they did it both ways (probably because they had two factories in different parts of Germany).

True German soutache as found on tropical caps is much coarser than that made in the US even at the same time. It is uneven and "lumpy" looking. The US product is much more perfect. German soutache varies from 3 mm to 4 mm in width on these tropical caps however you can see other variations in continental German officer sidecaps since these were a private purchase item. It would pay to be suspicious of any soutache that is 2 mm wide on a tropical cap as that is what was available in the US and I've got several cards of this stuff made in the US that is that dimension. It is still available now in the US in 2 mm wide soutache wound on cardboard at many fabric stores.

[Alain]

A question of ... grommets, look at this cap the grommets are not the same on each side !! poor Germany

[Alain]

the poor side

[Alain]

from the front side

[derspiess63]

Ralph Heinz rocks'n rules !

[Ostmark]

Yep .. i agree with derspiess63 ... well worn pieces ...i like that

kind of stuff most ... therefore

[Alain]

I agree too
Ralph have the best DAk items I ever seen !! and so much good explainations !!

[Ralph Heinz]

Danke schon

For those who have been reading this thread -- thank you for the compliments. We all get burned with fakes over the years and the more I myself learn about this field, I more I realize I know very, very little indeed and seek to learn more. I started collecting militaria in 1951 when I was 8 but there's a lot more I don't know about this field than I do know. Sharing the small things I've learned over the years is one way we collectors can benefit each other and our hobby and help others to keep from getting burned. We learn from our mistakes and hopefully can help others to avoid making the same mistakes.

I've borrowed a lot of great tropical items from advanced collectors in order to photograph them for an extensive book on the subject (which has cost me thousands of dollars I probably won't even recover when it is published) and traveled long distances just to see a few items. I've bought a lot of great things myself and have been fascinated with the DAK since the 1950s.

Unfortunately, a few very real tropical caps have been condemned as fakes simply because of misinformation and have been passed up by collectors who should have known better. Still, there seem to be more fakes for sale than real tropical caps today.

If you want to avoid a number of the fake tropical caps being produced now and in the last decade or so, look closely at the fake tropical cap eagle at the top in this photo (the lower one is an original) and note that the feet are poorly formed with no real claws. Just above them on either side, the two secondary wing feathers in the bottom row closest to the body have a split line down the centers of each one. This repro eagle comes from a firm in Palm Desert, Calif. and from their information, it is made in Europe. The background is tan and is stiffer than the rayon used for originals. It is also wider (when uncut) because it is woven on the same 2" wide strip their repro tropical cockades are woven on. When one of these has been scuffed up and soiled, it's harder to see but with a magnifying glass, you'll still see the lines in those feathers and the lack of claws and I've seen a couple fake caps on eBay with this exact eagle advertised as original caps!

[Langemark]

Even if I’m somewhat late, I sincerely support other’s comments : Ralph, your comments, observations and explanations are very much appreciated.
The details concerning the makers, the construction, the cloth, the grommets, the piping, the sewing, etc, … that’s what I like the most about collecting uniforms !
Best,
Mark<O</O

[djpool]

I thought I'd post 2 other hats.These are both made of light weight materials in earth tone colors which might qualify them as being tropical ha,ha. the first one I've shown before and is a field made cap.The insignia was missing when it was picked up but the outline of the T Eagle was present. Heres the first pic:

[djpool]

another view

[djpool]

Heres a cap I just got. The story is that it came from a POW interned in New Mexico. The style/cut is typical German but the material is US Army WWII. I suspect it was made in the POW Camp even though captured cloth was sometimes used in the construction of Field Made clothing like field caps.There is no indication of any insignia being applied.

[djpool]

The inside shows some wear to it.

[djpool]

Here are a couple of pictures of what to be unusual tropical caps.These are POWs captured in Tunisia.Regards Jim

[djpool]

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