Evolution of the M40 to M44 beast eagle

[Fred Green]

Hello,

While cleaning the "Fred" room today I came across some eagles that I had set aside to photograph. These eagles show a clear evolution of the manufacturing process of the M40 breast eagle to the M44 breast eagle. I really like this kind of stuff!

First up is an standard M40 grey on grey breast eagle. These came in rolls and they were woven with the eagle wingtip to wingtip on the rayon strip.

[Fred Green]

Now this is where the magic happens! With the Germans keen on labor and material conservation later in the war, they started weaving the eagles nest to each other, one right side up the next upsidedown. This is the same way that the M44 eagles are woven. You can see the characteristic weave patterns on the back between the eagles.

[Fred Green]

The standard M44 eagle. Again on the back you can see the characteristic weave pattern on the back that was between the eagles.

Fred

[nlmedic]

What is the difference between the 40 and the later type beside the upside down production? The darker green color?

[Fred Green]

Hello,

The eagle is the same it is just how they were woven on the base material.It is the evolution of the manufacturing process. You will see many different minor variations in the colors of the M40 eagle by the use of slightly different colored threads. Also the base material gets lighter and lighter, weight wise, as the war progress'.

Fred

[Jean-Claude]

Very interesting thread Fred; thanks for posting. I always found the "evolutionary" aspects of TR insignia collecting and the ensuing variations fascinating too. So far, I've been concentrating on the metal summer uniform eagles and you can see similar changes (metal quality and finish, hardware type and hardware attachement, die wear/changes etc.) as the war progresses

Best regards

JC

[Fred Green]

[QUOTE=Jean-Claude;7171690]Very interesting thread Fred; thanks for posting. I always found the "evolutionary" aspects of TR insignia collecting and the ensuing variations fascinating too. So far, I've been concentrating on the metal summer uniform eagles and you can see similar changes (metal quality and finish, hardware type and hardware attachement, die wear/changes etc.) as the war progresses

Hello Jean-Claude,

I find the transition and evolution of insignia very interesting. Knowing how an item is made and the materials that it is made with can give you a better focus on when the item was used!
I would bet soon after they started making the M40 eagles in the M44 fashion, that they started sewing them like the M44 eagles in the triangular form.

Fred