'Old Style' SS Field Cap - Quick opinion needed

[Calvin Hall]

Hey folks,

I have the opportunity to purchase this cap. However, I need an opinion fairly quickly.

Cap has an 'old' feel to it. Smells of mothballs. Still has a few moths nips. Shows a few sweat stains and some age.

I can post many more photos of the details/stitching/seams as requested.

All help is greatly appreciated!

Calvin

[Calvin Hall]

Side photo

[Calvin Hall]

lining photo

[Calvin Hall]

skull

Skull is help in place by two round prongs. Prongs do not go through the lining material.

[Calvin Hall]

Eagle. Eagle is also held in place by two round pins. Pins do not go through the lining material.

Eagle is bent to conform to the shape of the cap.

[Fritz]

The few originals I have seen looked different...

Cheers

Fritz

[Calvin Hall]

Here is a shot that details the material.

The black material is like velvet or velvetine.

[Robert H]

I wonder why the inliner has a "worn" condition around and not in the center inside. Would't be anything for me.

[Bobwirtz]

I have a friend who owns one and this is really different from his. This one doesn't seem as tight - kind of loose and fluffy -- how do I say this -- doesn't look correct to me. I don't think I'd have this one in my collection to be honest.

Bob

[Calvin Hall]

Anyone have any opinion regarding the skull or eagle? Known originals or known fakes?

Thanks for the comments thusfar!

[Felix]

Both skull and eagle are fakes!

/Felix

[SJP]

Has the top of the liner been removed? Cheers Steve

[Donald Abenheim]

Pfui

There are others hereabouts more expert in this headwear than I. However, I would say there are at least three things seriously wrong with this piece: a.) the cap badges are plainly fake; b.) the worksmanship in key areas is wholly off, i.e. piping.; c.) the field grey cloth reminds me of the 1970's fakes from the firm of Sieder, Vienna, which was in composition and color, widely at variance with the textiles of the era 1933-1939. Wolfe-Hardin had one of these posted on the GDC site with a very special Bevo VASS tag which sets the standard for this kind of thing. Also the Harper Noehren cap in the McQuire/Moran book is also a kind of bench mark. I am not able to post images, but I believe the Wolfe-Hardin cap is on the GDC site. Also the Major Plumb site in France has a nice authentic cap, too. Look at these images for a comparison. I favor a cap in proper field grey of the pre-war era, and likely rendered in Trikot vs. this Einheitstuch. However, what I have written here is far from the last word. If you seek one criterion of authentic headwear, then it is the piping. This example was made by someone without the artisan training in the handicrafts of the era.

[Calvin Hall]

Gentleman,

Thanks for the help and input. Your comments are certainly appreciated.

I had hoped that the cap would be authentic. The story goes that it a came from a vet's estate in Florida. The cap certainly appears to have been worn by someone for an extended period of time. Perhaps a biker or reenactor wore that cap at some point. IMO, it shows the right wear in the right places - except for the interior top. I surmised that the interior top was cleaner than the rest due to the lining/sweat shield having been removed.

I could make excuses as to why the cap doesn't conform to known originals: field made or made in an occupied country, etc. However, the bogus eagle and skull kill it.

For curiosity's sake, what would an original be worth?

Again, thanks for the help.

Calvin

[Donald Abenheim]

eine kleine Bemerkung

Others hereabouts better know the market in an authentic piece of this type. I am sure such a cap would be very costly, indeed. Further, the headwear I have seen from the Europe of the New Order, i.e. caps made in say the Protektorat or Belgium or whereever were of high quality. The lousy worksmanship in this piece can only be explained by the fact such things were made by the purveyors of fakes and frauds of a past decade who had no training in the handicrafts of the era. The skills necessary to make such headwear were formerly more widely spread, even in the ranks of the German military.