Glowing Threads?

[monty]

Hi All,
Sometime back I purchased a luftwaffe Gefreiter Chevron. I noticed that the stitching to the silvered braiding on the front side of the chevron glowed whereas the darker coloured stitching on the blue/grey backing did not. At the time I had some doubts about the chevron but as it cost very little I kept it. In the last few days I have acquired a set of Obergefreiter boards and tabs to a flying unit. These have come directly from the son of the veteran along with the owner's dog tag and photo albums. The owner flew Ju-52's. The boards and tabs are very nice examples showing period wear only. I have found that the boards also have glowing stitching to the front side braid stitching but not to the darker reverse side stitching. I have very closely examined the stitching and I am 100% sure it has not been replaced or altered since these were made. I am still happy these boards are totally of period manufacture. Has any other member noticed this on period made boards? Here are photos showing the boards and tabs and the glowing stitching.

Thanks in Advance!!

[monty]

Glowing Threads

Photo 2

[monty]

Glowing Threads

Photo 3

[monty]

Glowing Threads

Photo 4

[John Huff]

Are the button holes unfinished? They look strange.

[PaulR]

These particular boards look strange to me as well. They are definately not finished as the eyelets do not have the re-enforcing stitching.

A back light is a great tool yet it should not be an end all. I have seen quite a few cloth items that are definately period glow under the light.

[CWP]

I agree with Paul that it is not unusual to find pre-1945 manufactured textiles that glow under UV light. Some people have argued that white fibers like those in the photo above that fluoresce with a blue color are post-1945 but that is a falsehood.

[NTZ]

Put me down in agreement with Paul and Chris, I seen it first hand. My buddy’s father is a vet and brought back a bunch of stuff including a party armband. Just for the hell of it I was showing him the black light trick (I used to believe it worked back then). The white circle itself did not glow but the stitching attaching it to the band did. This was a 1000% guaranteed pre 1945. Since then I don’t even bother to use one.

[PaulR]

I believe that your insignia set is 100% original, perhaps taken from a factory before completion.(boards) I cannot imagine these being on a tunic as they are now... but I guess that anything is a possiblity.