Patch Blanket Find! -- WWII Squadron Patches Forum and Bulletin Board

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, [8] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 11:37:07 04/23/03 Wed
Author: Ron Card
Subject:

Patch Blanket Find!

Brian,
Last summer I stopped at a small, nearby neighborhood yard sale one Saturday, just to look around...I can't seem to pass one up. There was nothing that struck my fancy and I was getting ready to leave, when I asked the retired husband my usual innocent question, "By the way, do you have anything military-related that you'd like to sell?". He quickly said no, but his wife piped up and said, wait...maybe we do, I saw something in an old chest in the basement that may be military related, and I'll go and dig it out". While she was gone, he told me that they just bought this house-coming from MD-and there was a bunch of stuff abandoned in the basement, and they were cleaning it all out-hence the yard sale. She returned and had this funny-looking orange-colored blanket. She thought it was hideous-looking and was thrilled to get rid of it for $20.00 cash. My wife was with me, and as we drove off, she chided me for not offering $10.00 and getting it just as fast for less. Needless to say, the instant the blanket began being unraveled, bells and whistles began blasting my ears out from the "inside" and I immediately knew that if I went ahead and offered $20.00 up-front, it would be a quick done deal-no haggling and second thoughts. I know I could have gotten it for $10.00, but who cases? The older couple who bought the house did not know anything about the blanket.

This blanket was custom-made from a store-bought piece of fabric that was chosen to best reflect the patches, it is not a pre-made blanket. A woman, most likely military-related, most likely again, Army, spent literally 100s of hours artistically sewing these patches on in a willy-nilly fashion, sometimes applying the patches upside down, sideways and tilted...she had no idea as to how they "sat". These patches were done by her as a gift, perhaps, from the collection of patches that her husband, son, relative, ??? had and had given her, or she inherited them??? They are all mostly WW 2 and a few Korea. One jacket patch says US 2nd Army rifle team small arms championship 1958. So, I guess that the very earliest this blanket could have been made was 1959, but most likely, it was made sometimes in the 60s, and then just packed away. It, and the patches are in mint or near-mint condition, it looks like it was never displayed. There are 131 different patches and the rest being dupes, triplicates, etc.

I believe that whatever the individual value of the patches is, all tolled-if they were loose in a box-is much less than the whole "artifact". The blanket aspect, in other words, adds a great deal to it's overall worth. I believe the blanket should remain just as it was made. What do you think? Thanks for your time, and any suggestions. I do not collect mil patches, but I have been collecting militaria long enough to know something when I see it and to grab it as quickly as possible. My hopes are to have a pix of it published on a mil collector magazine, and maybe in a collector book. When I determine, through more detailed research, what the "collector" value is, I will probably offer it up for sale. So far, there seems to be about 20 unique and interesting variations, like bullions, leather, stencils, wool, felt, etc.

Pix #10 is a small patch of a toothed-gear. The yellow stitching around it the thread holding it on, and not part of the patch. I haven't ID'd #10 as yet. #9 is the famous 13th Bomb Squadron featuring their mascot, Oscar. I guess this particular depiction of Oscar is circa 1950??? Perhaps people at the 13th site can help me further on nailing this Oscar down. #8 is not ID'd as yet, I'm still looking. It must be a bomb squadron. #7 is the Tuskegee shield, and #6 is the 319th F.S.

Here's an overall pix of my patch blanket. I am a professional photographer-now retired from business-who is always on the lookout for militaria and military firearms-dob, 11/07/44)

There were 3 of the 225 patches I had not ID'd, but, last night, while surfing your squadron patch site, I found a similarity, a skeleton grim reaper, and BINGO...I've got, "Oscar", the 13th Bomb Squadron's mascot, jacket shield. I guess that this one is the most valuable patch on the blanket, which I feel is a rather unique militaria "artifact". The other ID's squadron shields are the 332nd Tuskegee Fighter Group shield(the one that reps the 4 wings)and the 319th Fighter Squadron. The other shield with the snake-encircled bomb with a ring of roses is still unID'd.

I'll e-you close-up pix of these in my next e-mail, and the story of my coming into this "FIND!" Thanks for your interest!

Ron Card

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]