Ever seen plastic used as a stiffener in a officer collar?

[Sonderkommando]

Hi all,
A recently purchased officer tunic just arrived today, and I was suprised to find that the high collar uses plastic as a stiffener???
Has anyone ever heard of, or seen this before in an officer tunic collar? My first thoughts are that it is an aged repro, but if anyone could help me verify that it was indeed used in original tunic collars that would put my mind at rest
The tunic is tailor made, and has the zig-zag stitching behind the collar, but it is also very different to what i have seen before,,,

any help apprecieated

[Sonderkommando]

6

Just to clarify, the plastic is used internally and is inside the material collar, and is only visible due to heavy wear on the collar. It is part of the construction of the tunic

[Johnny R]

Hello, there are some other materials that are period that can look and feel like modern plastic. Is the color off-white like bone? Can you post pictures of the tunic, inside outside etc. That is the best way to figure this out. All of the stitching and period materials, construction etc. is being faked now and collars are replaced to hide the evidence of removed tabs etc. . It is best to see everything to identify one problem.

[Sonderkommando]

^

The plastic type stiffener is black in colour and seems like a hard modern plastic. I guess what I would like to know is if anyone has seen this type of construction using plastic in the collar, on any repro tunics over the years. Is it a known feature of any of the tunics re-enactors use etc?

Thanks for any help you can give.

[John Pic]

Id need to see a picture of it . They had materials that may seem to look and feel like modern plastic but in fact were not.

[naxos]

Yes, i have seen that kind of stiffener (thin, shiny, black plastic like material) used inside original shoulder boards.

[John Pic]

Thats the stuff, I have seen it in off white color as well.

[naxos]

Yes, i have seen that kind of stiffener (thin, shiny, black plastic like material) used inside original shoulder boards.

Here is the board

[Sonderkommando]

^

Gents, thanks for the replies and the picture of the shoulder board, this has been very revealing indeed.
Tonight I took the jacket under a strong light and used a magnifying glass to really take a look at this, and I will be honest, after really looking close it seems to be some sort of "plastic like" substance, or cardboard with some sort of coating that has gone rock-hard over the years. As an example, it has broken in half in some places giving me the impression that it is cardboard with some coating on it that has hardened, or an early type "plastic" that has gone brittle.
Apart from this first concern with the collar there are no other negatives, and it seems to be a nice genuine but heavily worn jacket.

On a side note, a friend of mine has about 80 tunics and I asked him to check a few of the collars on his, and he said at least several of his officer/parade tunics seem to have some sort of stiffener in the collar, while others seemed to be of standard construction with the stiffness coming from multiple layers of material stitched together, and in one that had a seam open in the collar he observed a buckram sort of material as well.

Once again, thanks for the input on this as it has been very helpfull

[BenVK]

I've seen a few period visor caps that have a white "plastic" cord inside the piping.

[Sonderkommando]

^

Thanks Ben,
I also vaguely remember seeing one as well

[Johnny R]

If it is what I think it is, it is resin impregnated card board or more correctly termed "paperboard". It feels like plastic and is sort of waxy. It was a industrial material from the 19th century on, you see it also used in vintage womens hat boxes from the 30s etc.

[Diane]

Yes ~ Exactly! I've had shoulder boards like this also.

Yes, i have seen that kind of stiffener (thin, shiny, black plastic like material) used inside original shoulder boards.

[Dmv]

agreed, original boards!

[naxos]

Yes ~ Exactly! I've had shoulder boards like this also.

The plastic like material is called Catalin
[I]
"Catalin-Bakelite plastic was used from the 1930s to the 50s for many household objects, jewelry, small boxes, lamps, cutlery handles and desk sets. The Catalin Corporation introduced 15 new colours in 1927 and developed techniques to create marbling. The colours included yellow, orange, red, greens, blue and purple, with clear, opaque and marbled versions.
Catalin is heavy, quite greasy in feel and as hard as brass. It is heat resistant and does not soften under boiling water. Like Bakelite it gives off a distinctive phenolic odour when heated, and can be tested using Simichrome - which turns from pink to yellow. Due to oxidation, older Catalin items darken in color with white fading to yellow"[/I]

Other palsic-type materials used were Bakelite and Celluloid