Germany, Third Reich. The Collector's Guide To Cloth Third Reich Military Headgear

Hardcover, black cloth cover, the text on the front cover and the spine in a silver-coloured ink, with dust jacket, entitled "The Collector's Guide to Cloth Third Reich Military Headgear", by Gary Wilkins, copyrighted by the author in 2002, studio photography and book design by Robert Biondi, published by Schiffer Military History, a division of Schiffer Publishing Limited of Atglen, Pennsylvania, printed in China, Library of Congress Catalog No. 2001094919, ISBN 0-7643-1428-9. As stated on the dust jacket: " 'The Collector's Guide' is a 'must have' book for headgear collectors at any level - novice to advanced. Though designed to provide useful, practical information for novice collectors, the second half of the book is devoted to more advanced information on the cap makers themselves. Cap construction basics are covered, including materials and finishes (doeskin, Eskimo), and a brief overview of the individuals, equipment and procedures involved in manufacture. Descriptions of each type of cap (including lining and sweatband colors) for each service and comparisons with modern Bundeswehr and former East German headgear help novice collectors avoid costly mistakes. A series of Quick Reference Lists allow for a convenient check of questionable items when inspecting a potential purchase. 'The Collector's Guide' details - for the first time in print - information on the Army Offizier Kleiderkasse, interior markings such as D.R.G.M., Ges. Gesch, and the many generic labels: Stirndruckfrei, Meisterklasse, Sonderform, Erstklassig, Deutsche Wertarbeit, etc. The book includes a history of the German cap-making industry and a listing of more than eighty separate cap-makers including August Schellenberg, Clemens Wagner, Peter Küpper, and others. Many are accompanied by product information, interior color details, makers mark illustrations and company histories with documents and period advertisements. Also revealed here for the first time is the history and final fate of that most famous of all companies, Robert Lubstein, maker of the renowned EREL-Sonderklasse caps. 'The Collector's Guide' is a book you will never put away on your shelf." It begins with a Foreword by Bill Shea (DBA The Ruptured Duck), a Table of Contents, an Introduction and an Acknowledgements. The book is divided into sixteen chapters: 1 - A Brief History of German Cap Making; 2 - Basics of Cap Construction; 3 - Die Heeres Schirmmütze - The Army [Service] Visor Cap; 4 - Part 1: Die Waffen-SS Schirmmütze - The Waffen-SS Visor Cap; Part 2 - Die Polizei Schirmmütze - The Police Visor Cap; 5 - Die Luftwaffe Schirmmütze - Air Force [Service] Visor Cap; 6 - Die Kreigsmarine Schirmmütze (Model 1939) - Navy Visor Cap; 7 - Die Offizier Feldmütze alter Art - Officer's Old Style Field Cap, Army-/Waffen-SS; 8 - Part 1: The Standard Field Cap M34 [Continental, Panzer, Tropical]; Part 2: The Officer New-Type Field Cap M38; 9 - Part 1: Waffen-SS M1940 Schiffchen [Continental, Panzer, Tropical]; Part 2: Polizei Schiffchen; 10 - Die Luftwaffe Fliegermütze - The Air Force 'Flyer's Cap'; 11 - Die Kriegsmarine Feldmütze, und Die Bordmütze M1939 - The Navy Field Cap (Field Gray) and ('Shipboard') Cap Model M/1939; 12 - Die Feldmütze M42 - The M42 Field Cap, Field Gray Version/Panzer Version; 13 - Die Einheitsfeldmütze M43 - Standard Field Cap M43, Die Bergmütze; 14 - Sammleranfertigungen - Reproductions; 15 - The Cap-Making Industry and the "Extra"-Mütze; 16 - Individual Maker Entries. It concludes with an Afterword, eight Appendices (A - Quick Reference Lists for Identifying Fakes; B - Companies Arranged Alphabetically (by first name); C - The Difference Between the D.R.G.M. and the D.R.P.; D - Insignia and Accessories; E - More on the EREL Air Vent and EREL Maker Marks; F - Important Institutions; G - The Heeres [Offizier] Kleiderklasse Catalog; H - Care and Maintenance of Headgear) and a four page Index. The book contains 416 pages of detailed text and multiple photographs, printed in four-colour inks, on a thick white paper stock, measuring 220 mm (w) x 285 mm (h) x 37 mm (d). It exhibits fingerprints on the black cloth cover on the exterior, along with surface wear and tape repair on the dust jacket, however, the pages within remain in terrific condition. Better than very fine.

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