General's Tunic

[Waffenreich]

Good afternoon,

I picked this tunic up a few weeks ago from a canceled ebay listing and after being in Montana for almost two weeks finally got it yesterday. The wait was killing me and I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it up. The lady I purchased it from said her Uncle brought it back and they found it in his attic in Brooklyn during a house clearing after his passing recently. In addition to the tunic she gave me some negatives of pics of him during his time in the Army.

At first I thought it could be a converted Artillery officer’s piped walking-out tunic, but after close examination this morning using both a high power table lamp/magnifier and natural light I can find no evidence of other tabs ever being applied (indicating something other than a General’s rank by the tabs). The tabs, being an early style are an appropriate match for this pattern of tunic with the angled lower pockets and four rear panels like a Waffenrock so I’m comfortable there. The Generalleutnant boards are correctly sewn in and under the wearer’s right board is a button for an Aiguilette and under the left board you can see the impression in the shoulder material from the prongs of the pip being pressed down for all these years.

There is no evidence of another eagle ever having been applied and as you can see the moths started to nibble a nice little path between the threads holding this one on. I found no evidence of other buttons having been sewn on and they show a nice consistent slightly muted honey-gold toning. As you can see it has an internal belt and a D.R.G.M. marked dagger hanger. The loops look period, but are not the more desirable looking macramé style commonly encountered on tailor produced tunics. Condition-wise there are no moth nips or tracking on the tunic itself, but there is a lot of soiling from improper storage. I’ve had pretty good luck with Woolite on issues like this so I’m going to give it a try in an inconspicuous area to check the results.

Sadly this tunic is not named, but I do believe it’s right as rain and have no reason to doubt the pedigree, but if somebody here is aware of this tunic being discussed before please don’t hesitate to say so.

Thanks and appreciate any/all feedback!

Bob

[Waffenreich]

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[Garth Thompson]

I saw that on ebay and thought about contacting the seller myself. I think it is right as rain and a lovely example. No naming isn't really a big deal to me as not every soldier, officer or general had there name put in their uniform.
Garth

[Waffenreich]

Thanks for the comment Garth.

I was hoping it was named so I could research him, but agree that not all had them named, especially when buying from the Kleiderkasse as these were just basically off the rack garments that the soldier took someplace to have the correct insignia sewn-on.

I figured she was going to receive a bunch of offers so I made her a fair one and she took it (I was actually surprised she accepted it as quick as she did as the bidding was at $2300ish when it got pulled. I offered her more than that obviously).

BTW - do you know where there is a nice wide brown belt with large frame gold buckle for sale??

Thanks again!

Bob

I saw that on ebay and thought about contacting the seller myself. I think it is right as rain and a lovely example. No naming isn't really a big deal to me as not every soldier, officer or general had there name put in their uniform.
Garth

[Johnny R]

I would be willing to bet that it was reported as offensive by someone who then contacted her offering to buy it for a tenth of what it is worth. Did you ask her? 95% of the time when I see something canceled this is what has happened. They do this on Craigslist now as well. If this did happen ask who it was, almost every time it is the same person.

[Waffenreich]

So I hit the whole tunic with a mixture of Woolite and Oxyclean. I mixed the solution in warm water and gave it a light brushing with a soft toothbrush and then rubbed it down with a damp handtowel to remove the lifted dirt and soapy residue. I'm pretty happy with the results (the areas down the line of buttonholes that looks splotchy are just shadows from waves in the way the tunic is hanging). All of the pocket flaps were heavily soiled and the tunic had a yellow patina on the gabardine from years of dust etc.. It's now about 95% free of all of this and in-hand looks great (smells much better too). I used scrapings from an officer's field service tab to fill in the moth tracking on the backing of the eagle, but did not affix it in permanently as it's not an exact match.

I'll post final pics once I get a belt and configure it with an Aiguilette and badges.

Have a good evening.

Bob

[Waffenreich]

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[tmca05]

Congratulations, but I will admit.....
I am jealous

[tmca05]

I love the extra large pips..
Be careful with the woolite, it glows under black light. Rinse it all out.

[Waffenreich]

Appreciate the feedback (and warning)!!

Actually Woolite does not glow. I have used it for over 20 years and Oxyclean since it came out in the 90s. The two combined do an awesome job and I've never had a problem with either. So I can give you a rock-solid answer I just went back and blacklighted the tunic. No glow

I love the extra large pips..
Be careful with the woolite, it glows under black light. Rinse it all out.

[tmca05]

You must be doing a good job of rinsing the woolite out. Hold the bottle under black light and you will see it glows big time. It is the brightner in it that glows.
You can write with woolite on a US dollar bill (which does not glow) and read your message under black light. Most modern detergents will glow from the brightners that are added.
I still love the tunic and I am still jealous.