Plastic top button for RK?

[doomtown]

Hi, I had read somewhere that sometimes RKT used a plastic top button on their tunics so that the RK wouldn't clang against the button, is this true?

[Reichskanzler]

Not familiar with this but it does sound interesting.. Anyone else knows about that?

[Johnny R]

I never heard that from any of the RKT I knew or from other Vets.

[Reggu]

I think i might have seen this on some officer feldbluse sometime, i guess someone could have done it and most didn't! (I definatley don't think it was regulation like okey now that you got your RK remember to change that button )

A nice thing would be too look thru the photos, but it will be hard to find a good photo of it because most photos of the RKT are from photo-studio environment/ on leave or ceremonies, when walking out tunics are worn...

But some good Bundesarchiv phots from front line duty could be an interesting thing to go thru...

[doomtown]

I read about it here in a thread from a respected member. He really just mentioned it in an offhand way in a thread about something else entirely and I found it interesting. I PM'ed him but he never got back to me. I was interested because I have a stripped officer tunic with a replaced top button that seems to be period-replaced. It's a 6 button tunic and when I got it the shoulder board buttons were missing, but the top button had been obviously replaced at some point(it really doesn't match and all the other buttons match to a T, ie hollow for the middle and filled for the pocket closures) It looks pretty worn in comparison to the other buttons and has sort of a hard/plasticy coating to it. It could just be my imagination making a mountain out of a molehill and there's no way to know either way, but I like to think my reasoning is at least somewhat sound. I can post pics, but if this is a bad topic for an open discussion PM me and I won't. Thanks for reading.

[Reggu]

Please post a pic of the button up close and on the tunic! it's a very interesting thing anyhow...

[doomtown]

Here's some photos of the button up close. It looks like it's just dirty, but the "dirt" is actually kinda stiff, and mostly worn off, but you can really feel it near the edge of the button. I have had a few tunics and I've yet to see a button quite like this.
The back is marked "RSS" and the other buttons in the row are marked "A""

[doomtown]

Here's how it's sewn on close up, and a shot to show how the button below it is sewn on.

[doomtown]

Last, a pic for comparison

[Johnny R]

These resin or bakelite buttons were made during the war and you can find them on issue factory tunics as well as parkas and I have seen them unused on cardboard sheets. They are pretty seldom and were only apparently made by a couple makers JFS was one. It may just be a replacement button for one that was lost.

[CWP]

Really it just looks like a regular zinc button to me. The bakelite buttons did not have a gray base color. I believe a photo of the back of the button would confirm this is a standard wartime zinc button. Certainly not a special plastic coated metal button for a RKT tunic, no such thing existed.

[doomtown]

Thanks Johnny, I appreciate the info! I've never heard of any that before, so thanks for sharing your knowledge with me. I like your "APACA" parka with it's RSS buttons

Chris, I never thought this was anything other than a zinc button. It is just a normal zinc button marked RSS with an odd coating on it. I just thought it was odd that the only replaced button was the top one and that there was a stiff, dark coating on that same button.