Luftwaffe Shoulder straps 1-0 one more time

[John Hodgin]

OR!

Oh Geeesssus, he's back

Here are three Luft. Shoulder staps. Each is a DISTINCT and different length.
I'm off to visit my dad, more on this later...........

Ciao,

Oh, and Reeky, dey is all half uf matchin pairs......

[Jos L C]

HE'S BACK........!...Uncle John...Hi..

What if you've only one shoulder...,you need just one of these...,so..each one is complete IMO..

My opinion is that the intention was to fit small/large people...,in practice we'll find smaller ones on larger jackets and the other way around....

Schwarzenegger would need a 1 foot long schoulderstrap for example...

Jos.

[Dave Suter]

And, just to back John up - yes, the army was the same way. The three straps to the right are all slip-ons. Private purchase tunics were made to fit the individual buyer and had the straps sized to the individual (strap on the left). The slip-ons were usually used on a field tunic and weren't custom tailored as to length. However, they were obviously made in different lengths. I have a fairly large strap & board collection, and the variety of lengths shown in the photo below represents a good cross-section.

[Joe D]

I agree as well. I have a fair amount of Luftwaffe boards and straps. There are at least four different lenghs in my collection.

[John Hodgin]

Thanks

Thanks for the replies gentlemen. Hi Jos!

An interesting point I wanted to make about the straps in the photo I posted is that, if you measure the difference between the three, that is, to where the center of the button would be, there is exactly one cm difference between each as you go from small to large.....or large to small.

Great variation of lengths Dave, thanks for the photo!

Joe, please post a photo of your four lengths sometime. I think I only have three lengths.
Best,
John

[Dave Suter]

Since John is a LW kind of guy, I went through my LW stuff. I can't do a side-by-side as these are in frames now, but this one is 4 3/4" long.

[Dave Suter]

And here's the 'shorty' - 3 1/2". In 'real life' they are the same width. And they are both slip-ons. (No Reeky, they aren't pairs either.)

John, if all this doesn't prove it, we may have to join the Flat Earth Society...

[Rick Research]

So what you guys are illustrating is:

puny privates grew magnificent manly shoulders as they were promoted up through the NCO ranks...



right?

[Joe D]

Hi John,

When I did a side-by-side comparison I found only three sizes. What through me off, was I have different widths as well. Here is a picture of the three different lenghs.

[Joe D]

Here is another picture. Now you can see why I am a little confused. Maybe there are four different sizes, who knows. All I have to say is, that different sizes do exist.

[Dave Suter]

There is a difference between slip-on straps and sew-ins that were removed from a tunic. Tailor-made sew-ins were sized to the individual. And yes, there is a difference in width. By regulation 4.5 to 5.3 cm (Heer regulation). Straps were not made in one giant factory by a huge machine. When including in all the private tailors and individual unit tailors, there were literally thousands of people making these things. Shoulder straps are like snow flakes - no two are exactly alike.

[Chris_Werner]

And that's the bottom line for us confused shoulder strap collectors. The only rule is that there is no specific rule. Sooooo?
How do you tell post war or repros? any guidelines?
For example, I have a pair of short Panzer E.M. slip ons. Mint, with paper band: "G.A. Hoffmann/Berlin". Rose pink waff.. Fine Black wool on top and bottom, basically mirror pieces sewn together, including tongue, with waff. sandwiched between top- and bottom. No cloth backing on tongue. Look OK, but ???

[Joe D]

Hi Dave,

Actually all the straps I posted are slip-on. But it doesn't really matter, I am sure everything you mentioned is true for both types.

[John Hodgin]

Very nice selection of straps Joe and Dave! Thanks.

What is your take on greatcoat straps. Are they larger than tunic straps as Jack suggested they might be? The longest wool pair that I posted are flying blouse straps, and not specifically for a greatcoat; this photo proves they are a length for a blouse or tunic.......

[Joe D]

Thank you John for the comment, I wish they were pairs and not singles. I really don't collect great coat straps. The ones that I have handled seem to have a stiffener in them and also vary in lenghs. Maybe someone else can answer your question.