Boards and Blacklights

[Larry Lipps]

Before my veterinary shoulder boards pass to another collector, I thought you guys might enjoy a little something out of the ordinary. These boards were removed from a tunic that had far too much moth damage to be restored. Like most collectors in the nineties, I put absolute faith in the black light. That faith took somewhat of a beating when I checked my own boards.

First the boards,

[Larry Lipps]

See anything unusual, I certainly didn't. The insignia looks fine as well.

[Larry Lipps]

Comming form the same tunic, they were probably manufactured at the same time. Maybe this explains the oddity.

While the Blacklight photo isn't the greatest, I was very surprised to find that on one tab the outer ban glowed under UV, the otthers were completely dead. On the other tab, the outer band and one inner glowed as well. I found it interesting that at some point in the maunfacturing phase, they aparently ran out of one lot and started on another. While I guess it's not news today that some original fabric glows, ten years ago these created quite a stir.

[TONY Q.W.]

Hi Larry I cannot agree more with you in that some period fabric glows under black light.

For me the "burning test" its much more superior in judging the originality of a fabric