Ah! The Good Old Days!

kaiserzeit

kaiserzeit

New member
I'm feeling mischievious. I thought I'd torment you with a few scans from an old catalogue I found.

After you've choked on the prices, think for a second: A darn good chance that every single one of these pieces was genuine.

1. Especially for Tony - Rare! and only $15.00!:

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2. For those of us still looking for a tin hat - This isn't a mere M1894:

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3. Just to round out the collection - Let's really splurge:

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Anybody else got any old catalogues like this? They make fun reading.

Cheers,

Laurie
 
Otto! With your discerning eye!

Usually you are all over a good set of photos like a rash!

Your want to buy a whole carload based just on some hand sketches???

Do I have a deal for YOU!

Cheers,

Laurie

ps. I think I may have stumbled upon Hulan-neuf's source!
 
I've told this story before, but it fits right in with this string.......

When I was 14 I lived with my brother and his wife for a year in West Berlin, Germany where he was stationed as a lieutenant with the US Army. We went to an antique store once and the fellow had about 10-15 very nice looking pickelhauben sitting on a shelf. I asked, "How much?" and he told me "$45"!!!!! Of course, that was way, way too expensive for me then so I couldn't buy one. :cry: There was a huge elephant's foot umbrella stand by the door that was packed full of imperial and Third Reich swords. I didn't have the heart to ask about them.

My brother bought an SS dagger in another antique store for $20.
 
Here is a half page out of N. Flayderman's catalogue of 1968, prices have jumped as some where I have the catalogue from which my M1915 was ordered at $19.50.
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Lauriw what catalog is this?
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Joe, these are from the Francis Bannerman catalog. In case anyone doesn't know, he was the first military surplus and relics dealer. Ever. His old catalogues are huge, well illustrated, make fascinating reading, and are still a good reference tool. His heyday was 1900 to WW2, had his own island in the Hudson River that he built a castle on. A friend has a Civil War musket barrel that he pried out of a jetty on the island. Bannerman had so many that he used them as rebar to reinforce poured concrete. His retail shop was in New York city. I have owned several items from his catalog, including one of the Winchester Lee straight pull rifles recovered from the USS Maine after it was blown up in Havana Harbor in 1898. Steve
 
You bunch of sadists. Reading these prices is agony. I remember back when I got a Luftwaffe helmet in 1968 when I was 10 years old for 30 shillings but what I really wanted in this shop was the M95 EM spike helmet the guy had. It was £25 - a Kings ransom in those days ( mind you, I suppose that depends on who the King is). I never saw another one and I wish I'd known about these catalogues back then. I can only imagine the collection, the nocturnal unrest, the divorce and the bankruptsy hearings I'd be enjoying now.
 
Hi Joe,

Ottodog8 is spot on. The scans are from an old Bannerman's catalogue. I don't know the exact date, the cover has perished, mid-30's I think.

If you're interested, I see them on ebay from time to time - quite reasonably, too.

Cheers,

Laurie
 
Joe: The scans are from the 1927 Bannerman Catalogue of Military Goods. The catalog was reprinted by DBI Books, Inc., 4092 Commercial Avenue, Northbrook, IL 60062 in 1980 (ISBN 0-87349-165-3)
 
Perfect R1 Thanks!

Anybody else got any old catalogues like this?
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We intend to do a reprint of Muller and Neumann soon. Just waiting on Neumann scans. We have wrestled with captions. My feel is no captions just give folks the catalog. Wooley has the opposite opinion. I'm not qualified to comment on most of the contents.
 
Well done, R1, I wasn't aware of the reprints.

I can highly recommend them, particularly if you are interested in Civil War to Span-Am War stuff - good fun.

Cheers,

Laurie
 
Joe: A further comment on the Bannerman catalog. Do not pay too much attention to the illustrations in the catalog. In addition to selling actual suplus items Bannerman also assembled many different items from parts they either had on hand or purchased from other suppliers.

Reservist1
 
Hi Joe,

Just caught your note on the Muller and Neumann catalogue. Please put me down for a copy.

My feel is no captions just give folks the catalog. Wooley has the opposite opinion.
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I side with you on the captions issue. As I slip more and more into geezerdom, I find the mental exercise of reading in German is healthy stuff. That, and I'm a bit of a purist, I'd rather see the catalogue in its un-altered form, anyway.

Cheers,

Laurie
 
Thanks Laurie,

It is a good debate on captions. Many people disagree with Charles' captions or say nothing and just give him "the look". I think hobbyists should have the info and don't care about my thoughts. I figure a short intro, a foward and both catalogs in one volume. Paperback? Hardback? Pricepoint? The copyright attorney's had no problem with it.

Besides waiting on the scans we have to wedge this into our retired schedule. Survivor (tonight!), Golf, cruises, church, Maggie going to Texas A&M, reading, sleeping, working the stock market, writing checks to Gonzega University, and trying to get the water right in the hot tub, also Bar-B-Q and beer drinking. I tell you time is short!
 
we have to wedge this into our retired schedule. Survivor (tonight!), Golf, cruises, church, Maggie going to Texas A&M, reading, sleeping, working the stock market, writing checks to Gonzega University, and trying to get the water right in the hot tub, also Bar-B-Q and beer drinking. I tell you time is short!
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Hey Joe, if you skip survivor, you will have an hour more time, you could even spend it smooching your sweety. When we visited Joe and Janet, a year ago, there was a report on the TV about a man being charged with kidnapping because he tied up his girl friend and made her watch survivor, that is what Joe did to us, so we have seen it, but I can not understand why you watch it more than once.
Best wishes
Gus
 
"Survivor" - I think it's the chicks in the skimpy outfits.

Joe, I'd go for paperback. Face it, hundred year-old military supplers' catalogues are pretty esoteric stuff, appealing to a fairly narrow audience (this pack of odd-balls - sorry, Gus, I wasn't singling you out).

If the price wasn't too high, say $20 each, I'd happily see each catalogue as a separate volume.

Okay, guys, now shoot me.

Cheers,

Laurie
 
You guy's are so cruel .I remember a flea market in the area Igtrew up in , Anybody in Soutern Ontario will remember Stoufeville . Every both seemed to have a Picklehauben all seemed to $99 this would be the early to mid 70's .
but to show us newer to collecting this period it is just cruel judt cruel.
:cry:
 
What all of this is telling us is, even ten years from now, today's prices will look cheap. So, if you see something good out there and have the cash, don't blink or someone smarter than you will buy it out from under you.

A point to note is we're talking WW1's centennary so there will very likely be an upswing in interest for this stuff in the years ahead. Brace yourselves.

That said, keep studying and reading this forum. There's a lot of problem stuff out there nowadays that looks good to an unschooled eye.

All the best,

Laurie
 
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