I recently acquired an SS wool armband, and after giving it a thorough inspection, I've noticed a number of features that make it rather rare, in my opinion.
Let me begin by saying that I have no doubts as to the authenticity of this piece. It has the proper "musty" smell, and all the details that you normally look for in an SS armband are there. The white roundel is slightly taller than it is wide, the black stripes and the roundel have the proper vertical "ribs. The swastika has the characteristic "folded' construction, and is stitched in a manner that is consistent with known authentic pieces. The stitching itself is made with either black or white thread on the outside, and red bobbin thread on the inside (I'm amazed by the German manufacturers' attention to detail). The RZM tag is original, as well.
Here's a photo of the armband itself:
And the RZM tag, up close:
Here's where it gets interesting! The red wool has two stamps on the inside of the armband. Here's the first one:
The other stamp was made directly in front of the first one:
These stamps are the original markings that were made every few yards on the original bolts of wool before they were made into armbands. The first stamp was an RZM stamp that indicated the intended purpose of the wool: to be used for an armband. Here are a few photos of this stamp (two are on other armbands, and one is on the cloth of a uniform):
The circular stamp is likely a seal that was specific to the manufacturer of this material. It could be a stylized acronym logo (perhaps "CFD"), and I'd love to know which manufacturer it represents. Here's a better shot of this stamp on another armband:
It's somewhat rare to find an armband with these markings inside, but there are other aspects that I find even more unique about this piece. For instance, on the backside, along the edge where the black stripes are, there are three lines of stitching instead of two. On the front side, only two of these three lines are visible: the one along the top edge of the black stripe, and the one along the bottom edge. These three lines are seen on both edges of the backside of this armband. I haven't really seen any armbands that have this feature. Here's a picture:
I have a theory on how this came to be... The edges of the wool for these armbands had to be folded over and sewn, or "hemmed," in order to create a smooth, non-fraying edge. On party armbands, this can be seen on the backside, where the actual rough edge of the wool is visible. It was done this way so that the folded portion would not be visible from the outside. However, on SS armbands, manufacturers were able to take advantage of the presence of the black stripes by hiding the rough edge on the front side of the armband, underneath the stripe. This way, the fold was invisible on both the front AND back sides. Normally, I believe the edge of the wool was folded over on the front side, a stripe was applied, and both the outside edge of the stripe and the folded portion were stitched down together, using a single line of stitching. The black stripe was then secured using a second row of stitching along the stripe's inner edge. The rough edge of the wool is thus completely hidden underneath the stripe. On my armband, however, it appears that the wool was hemmed before the stripes were applied. Thus, I have one line of stitching for the fold (the "middle" line in my photo), and two other lines of stitching where the stripe was sewn on. I would also like to note that this does not mean that my armband was a party armband that was somehow converted to an SS armband, because the edge of the wool on my armband was folded over to the front side, which would not have been done for a party armband (or an SS great coat armband, for that matter). If any of you have an SS armband with these three lines of stitching on the inside, I'd love to know!
Finally, here's a shot of the rather unique way in which this armband was sewn. Instead of the edges having been butted up against each other, they were overlapped and then stitched together:
I'm quite proud of this unique piece. I believe it is a fine example of an SS armband that was worn and properly maintained. I'd love to hear your opinions on it!
Let me begin by saying that I have no doubts as to the authenticity of this piece. It has the proper "musty" smell, and all the details that you normally look for in an SS armband are there. The white roundel is slightly taller than it is wide, the black stripes and the roundel have the proper vertical "ribs. The swastika has the characteristic "folded' construction, and is stitched in a manner that is consistent with known authentic pieces. The stitching itself is made with either black or white thread on the outside, and red bobbin thread on the inside (I'm amazed by the German manufacturers' attention to detail). The RZM tag is original, as well.
Here's a photo of the armband itself:
And the RZM tag, up close:
Here's where it gets interesting! The red wool has two stamps on the inside of the armband. Here's the first one:
The other stamp was made directly in front of the first one:
These stamps are the original markings that were made every few yards on the original bolts of wool before they were made into armbands. The first stamp was an RZM stamp that indicated the intended purpose of the wool: to be used for an armband. Here are a few photos of this stamp (two are on other armbands, and one is on the cloth of a uniform):
The circular stamp is likely a seal that was specific to the manufacturer of this material. It could be a stylized acronym logo (perhaps "CFD"), and I'd love to know which manufacturer it represents. Here's a better shot of this stamp on another armband:
It's somewhat rare to find an armband with these markings inside, but there are other aspects that I find even more unique about this piece. For instance, on the backside, along the edge where the black stripes are, there are three lines of stitching instead of two. On the front side, only two of these three lines are visible: the one along the top edge of the black stripe, and the one along the bottom edge. These three lines are seen on both edges of the backside of this armband. I haven't really seen any armbands that have this feature. Here's a picture:
I have a theory on how this came to be... The edges of the wool for these armbands had to be folded over and sewn, or "hemmed," in order to create a smooth, non-fraying edge. On party armbands, this can be seen on the backside, where the actual rough edge of the wool is visible. It was done this way so that the folded portion would not be visible from the outside. However, on SS armbands, manufacturers were able to take advantage of the presence of the black stripes by hiding the rough edge on the front side of the armband, underneath the stripe. This way, the fold was invisible on both the front AND back sides. Normally, I believe the edge of the wool was folded over on the front side, a stripe was applied, and both the outside edge of the stripe and the folded portion were stitched down together, using a single line of stitching. The black stripe was then secured using a second row of stitching along the stripe's inner edge. The rough edge of the wool is thus completely hidden underneath the stripe. On my armband, however, it appears that the wool was hemmed before the stripes were applied. Thus, I have one line of stitching for the fold (the "middle" line in my photo), and two other lines of stitching where the stripe was sewn on. I would also like to note that this does not mean that my armband was a party armband that was somehow converted to an SS armband, because the edge of the wool on my armband was folded over to the front side, which would not have been done for a party armband (or an SS great coat armband, for that matter). If any of you have an SS armband with these three lines of stitching on the inside, I'd love to know!
Finally, here's a shot of the rather unique way in which this armband was sewn. Instead of the edges having been butted up against each other, they were overlapped and then stitched together:
I'm quite proud of this unique piece. I believe it is a fine example of an SS armband that was worn and properly maintained. I'd love to hear your opinions on it!
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