Ersatz Hussar Regt15

KAGGR#1

KAGGR#1

Well-known member
Just arrived this A M
I bought 6 helmets from the same collector
5 Hussar and 1 Feldgrau Uhlan
Here is H R 15 Ersatz in felt
shown in Eric J.'s book from the 1970's
somewhere along the way the silver fangschnur was added
I do not feel that it is correct , but I don't know what it would be worn with ?
More photos to follow
There is a similar helmet shown in Larcade's book Vol II on page 73
SteveH R 15 wartime f e.jpgH R 15 Wartime .jpgH R 15 E felt.JPG
 
Oh my God...where and how are you finding all these gems! Please tell me your secret!!!

Can I please, please see some picture of the inside of this ersatz busby? Could you please post several pictures of the inside, I am very curious to know how these ersatz are made.
 
Pontiac9999 said:
Oh my God...where and how are you finding all these gems! Please tell me your secret!!!

Can I please, please see some picture of the inside of this ersatz busby? Could you please post several pictures of the inside, I am very curious to know how these ersatz are made.
Click to expand...
I will try and do more photos today
Steve
 
Pontiac9999 said:
H R 15 inside 4.JPGOh my God...where and how are you finding all these gems! Please tell me your secret!!!

Can I please, please see some picture of the inside of this ersatz busby? Could you please post several pictures of the inside, I am very curious to know how these ersatz are made.
Click to expand...
here are a few more shots
I have no idea how they made these felt Ersatz helmets
we see quite a few Infantry
some artillery
and I saw a felt Uhlan
this is the first Hussar that I have seen in person
they must have had a mold of some sort , and get the material
to the correct heat and some dampness? then mold it
It looks to be 1-piece construction .
A pocket for the feldzeichen
Here looks to be a stamp on the inside top , but I can't make it out .
I have no idea about the fangschnur , other than it is not correct
the loops that we see are not the same type as used on the prewar examples H R 15 inside 3.JPG
H R 15 R K side.JPGH R 15 inside 1.JPGH R 15 inside 2.JPG
SteveH R 15 top.JPG
 
Wow, just wow! This is a rare piece, congrats! I have always been fascinated by these ersatz busbies. I have only seen a picture of one at a museum in France, so thank you very much for posting them. There are many fakes floating around, so hopefully others can see your pics to know what a real one looks like!

PS...in regards to how its made, I would assume it would be one mold and one large piece of felt pressurized into shape, maybe kind of like a the high portion of a bowler hat or something. Is that a metal band I see inside used for structural support?
 
Pontiac9999 said:
Wow, just wow! This is a rare piece, congrats! I have always been fascinated by these ersatz busbies. I have only seen a picture of one at a museum in France, so thank you very much for posting them. There are many fakes floating around, so hopefully others can see your pics to know what a real one looks like!

PS...in regards to how its made, I would assume it would be one mold and one large piece of felt pressurized into shape, maybe kind of like a the high portion of a bowler hat or something. Is that a metal band I see inside used for structural support?
Click to expand...
Here is 1 more shot of the inside
This shows the metal band that goes around the inside
also the leather wedges that hold the front plate
and the small leather loop that holds the feldzeichen
SteveH R 15 felt inside.JPG
 
KAGGR#1 said:
I have no idea how they made these felt Ersatz helmets

they must have had a mold of some sort , and get the material
to the correct heat and some dampness? then mold it
It looks to be 1-piece construction .
Click to expand...
You’re killing it with these amazing busbies!

As for the construction of the piece, I’d assume they had a special wood block for shaping these, and the procedure was quite similar to how civilian felt hats were made at the time. A cone or sheet of felt would be stretched and shaped onto a wood mold, the felt would be steamed to ensure it held its shape, and the final product would be starched in order to retain rigidity.
 
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Most people can spend a lifetime looking for and trying to build a collection of Busbies that you acquired in one week.

Just amazing :love:

Congratulations (y)(y)
 
John Josef said:
Most people can spend a lifetime looking for and trying to build a collection of Busbies that you acquired in one week.

Just amazing :love:

Congratulations (y)(y)
Click to expand...
I looked at it as a once in a lifetime chance to acquire them
I was at the right place at the right time
and I had set aside the funds for the collection only
Sometimes I have the funds and there is nothing for me to buy
other times there are things that I would like to buy
but the funds are not there to do so
Steve
 
Yet again another amazing piece of History added to your collection Steve! Congratulations. Regarding it's manufacture, there are quite a few videos on Ytube showing felt hats being made today by custom hat makers. These are very interesting and many of these people use the same antique wooden molds used in the early 1900's. I have collected a few of these molds over the years and still use them to display helmets or actually reshape them.
 
KAGGR#1 said:
here are a few more shots
I have no idea how they made these felt Ersatz helmets
we see quite a few Infantry
some artillery
and I saw a felt Uhlan
this is the first Hussar that I have seen in person
they must have had a mold of some sort , and get the material
to the correct heat and some dampness? then mold it
It looks to be 1-piece construction .
A pocket for the feldzeichen
Here looks to be a stamp on the inside top , but I can't make it out .
I have no idea about the fangschnur , other than it is not correct
the loops that we see are not the same type as used on the prewar examples View attachment 43584
View attachment 43581View attachment 43582View attachment 43583
SteveView attachment 43580
Click to expand...
Congratulations Steve. This busby is a killer piece.
Some years ago I I had the rare opportunity to come across an ersatz busby like this but I was unable to seize the opportunity and maybe this will never happen to me again.
Zeb
 
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