What else do you collect beside toy soldiers (2 Viewers)

[Louis Badolato]

Louis - do you have any idea how many soldiers Steiff made?

Zach,

According to my Steiff Reference Books, well in excess of 100, in sizes ranging from as small as 21 cm (8 inches) to as large as 55 cm (22 inches). I have 27 Steiff Soldiers in my collection.

Please don't tell me you are thinking of starting to collect them!{sm2}

 

[zblang]

Nope - all yours

 

[Louis Badolato]

I found another pretty cool item for my collection: an antique Scottish "Jig Doll" of a Jacobite Highlander. Ken Osen has offered to make a broadsword, cartridge box and musket for him:

 

[Terp152]

Been eyeing this Robert Taylor print "The Road To The Rhine" for some time. Saw it listed for 50% off and pulled the trigger. My first operational USAF assignment was 32nd Tactical Airlift Sqdn (TAS) in C-130s. THe sqdn lineage goes back to 32nd Troop Carrier Sqdn which airdropped in Normandy and Holland. My oldest son is in his second tour at the 101st as a platoon sgt. The print is signed by 3 members of Co E, 506th PIR and the artist. Chris

 

[Louis Badolato]

Great looking print, Chris, and I would like to thank you, and your son, for your service.:salute::

 

[Larry Allen]

What a great find, Chris. It makes it all the better when there is a "connection" to the picture, model or whatever.

My dad served in Navy, on board Net Tenders & Net Layers during WWII PTO.
USS Gumtree (AN-18) and USS Hoptree (AN-62)

While I was in New Mexico one day for a Microsoft Educational Conference, I took an afternoon off.
I happened to walk into an offbeat Antique shop, more out of curiosity rather than looking for anything.

On the table as I walked in, I noticed a photo album resting on a pile of various books and such.

When I picked it up, I nearly fainted. There was the ORIGINAL Navy photo and about 160 photos of the ship, her crew and action shots taken when she was under attack. Best of all were 9 pictures of my dad .... {eek3}

Needless to say I didn't quibble about the price since it was worth a fortune .. TO ME.

One of the pictures showed him sitting at a 20mm AA Gun. I asked him, "Dad, you were in the Engine room. How did you get into this picture?"
He hesitated a bit and slowly answered, "Ya' my friend was manning the gun when he was killed. They threw me into his seat and said shoot at anything that was towards us." later he added, "I never did hit a Mother BLASTED thing."

NOTE: He actually did't use the word BLASTED but I don't want to be banned...

Good Find, Chris.

--- LaRRy

 

[Terp152]

Great looking print, Chris, and I would like to thank you, and your son, for your service.:salute::

Many thanks Louis. Chris

 

[Terp152]

What a great find, Chris. It makes it all the better when there is a "connection" to the picture, model or whatever.

My dad served in Navy, on board Net Tenders & Net Layers during WWII PTO.
USS Gumtree (AN-18) and USS Hoptree (AN-62)

On the table as I walked in, I noticed a photo album resting on a pile of various books and such.

When I picked it up, I nearly fainted. There was the ORIGINAL Navy photo and about 160 photos of the ship, her crew and action shots taken when she was under attack. Best of all were 9 pictures of my dad .... {eek3}

One of the pictures showed him sitting at a 20mm AA Gun. I asked him, "Dad, you were in the Engine room. How did you get into this picture?"
He hesitated a bit and slowly answered, "Ya' my friend was manning the gun when he was killed. They threw me into his seat and said shoot at anything that was towards us." later he added, "I never did hit a Mother BLASTED thing."

--- LaRRy

Larry, how cool that your dad was a member of our "greatest generation." He has my thanks and admiration for his service.

Couple of questions, for which ship was the photo book? Can't imagine finding something like that by chance. Did you make a model of one of his ships? WOuld be the prize of the collection I think. Where was his ship when attacked? Eniwetok Atoll? Going to look up those ships now.

Chris

 

[OzDigger]

What a great find, Chris. It makes it all the better when there is a "connection" to the picture, model or whatever.

My dad served in Navy, on board Net Tenders & Net Layers during WWII PTO.
USS Gumtree (AN-18) and USS Hoptree (AN-62)

While I was in New Mexico one day for a Microsoft Educational Conference, I took an afternoon off.
I happened to walk into an offbeat Antique shop, more out of curiosity rather than looking for anything.

On the table as I walked in, I noticed a photo album resting on a pile of various books and such.

When I picked it up, I nearly fainted. There was the ORIGINAL Navy photo and about 160 photos of the ship, her crew and action shots taken when she was under attack. Best of all were 9 pictures of my dad .... {eek3}

Needless to say I didn't quibble about the price since it was worth a fortune .. TO ME.

One of the pictures showed him sitting at a 20mm AA Gun. I asked him, "Dad, you were in the Engine room. How did you get into this picture?"
He hesitated a bit and slowly answered, "Ya' my friend was manning the gun when he was killed. They threw me into his seat and said shoot at anything that was towards us." later he added, "I never did hit a Mother BLASTED thing."

NOTE: He actually did't use the word BLASTED but I don't want to be banned...

Good Find, Chris.

--- LaRRy

How lucky to find those photos of your father. Also interesting to note he served on USS Gumtree and when I researched the ship I discovered there's a Sister ship named USS Eucalyptus. Wow, two Aussie tree names in the same class of ship, cheating a bit imo as they're the same tree really. Over 80% of Australian forests are Eucalypts, but sometimes forgotten they were introduced to the US and many other countries.

 

[Louis Badolato]

I just bought this WWII doll of a Highlander, wearing glengarry, battledress and kilt, from a militaria dealer in Scotland. It was on consignment, made by the seller's grandfather in a P.O.W. camp, hand carved and hand-sewn from materials in the camp.

 

[Terp152]

I just bought this WWII doll of a Highlander, wearing glengarry, battledress and kilt, from a militaria dealer in Scotland. It was on consignment, made by the seller's grandfather in a P.O.W. camp, hand carved and hand-sewn from materials in the camp.

Great addition. Nice you were able to get the history of the piece. Sad the family no longer wanted it. Chris

 

[Louis Badolato]

Great addition. Nice you were able to get the history of the piece. Sad the family no longer wanted it. Chris

Chris,

it has no family connection to me, but I will never sell it. Anytime I get a piece of POW or Trench Art, I feel like the soldier that made it is speaking to me from 100 years ago. Once I have obtained something unique like this, it will stay in my family collection, and be passed down to my son, who, thankfully, also appreciates military history.

Louis

 

[Louis Badolato]

A couple of the new acquisitions arrived . . . some photos taken by my son where he set them up on display (since this corona virus mess, they cancelled my physical therapy and I can't see my surgeon, so I am back on the walker and can't go up stairs myself):

 

[Louis Badolato]

As you may recall, I managed to obtain a WWI Steiff 1914 Infantryman doll, which is displayed with the real 1914 French double breasted navy blue tunic and red kepi from the uniform the doll is wearing. The doll also comes with an ammunition bag, which I just obtained, and will soon be displaying with the doll and unform:

 

[Larry Allen]

Afternoon Folks,
Sorry it took a bit of time, but I have been out looking for Toilet Paper .... :tongue:

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Anyway, as I mentioned (BELOW) I found a wonderful set of photos of my dad's ship on a trip to NM year ago.

The following pictures show the "Wall of Honor" that I made to honor him and his WWII service using the photos and other items that I gathered from family members. Sorry for the fair quality of the shots. They are in a rather dark area of my WAR ROOM, to avoid the sun's bleaching effects.

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The first two photos are the 100's of pictures that I found sitting in a store in New Mexico.



In the below photo you can see the USS Hoptree AN-62 (A Net Tender)



--- LaRRy

 

[Larry Allen]

-- continued

The next few are of the "Wall" where I made display boxes.
I have close up of some of these.





--- LaRRy

 

[Larry Allen]

--- continued

Close ups of some of the items.

This is the photo of the "Original" photo taken of the USS Hoptree as she departed for the Pacific. She was built in Snow's Shipyard only 20 min away from where I lived. How the "original photo" got lost and turned up in NM is still a mystery.




US NAVY Training Certificate. Dad chose to be a Machinist Mate (Boiler Room) since he felt it was safer down below. He said he ... couldn't swim ... as was afraid he would fall overboard .... {eek3}

So he joins the US NAVY in war time and can't swim????



DOG Tags


Dad's "LITTLE BLACK BOOK" :tongue: Funny thing is that mom was not among his conquests. She thought he had tossed it out when the got married.
Guess Not. The Brush wasn't his, it was the Captain's. Dad got caught storing fruit in his locker, so the Capt. punished him by making Dad his personal attendant. Well one day the brush went missing. The Capt suspected him but could never find it. I guess Dad knew the secret hiding places in the engine room ..:wink2:



--- LaRRy

 

[Larry Allen]

---- continued

Mom and Dad.

The picture of him was when he was in the Merchant Marines.

When WWII broke out he applied for and was transferred to the US Navy.

He thought that a war ship was safer than a Merchant ship. He was right, his merchant ship was sunk in a convoy on the way to England. Dad was going the other way, to the Pacific at the time.




Discharge from the US NAVY.

Yes it was an Honorable Discharge.

He always said he never thought he would get and Honorable Discharge, but he guessed they were desperate for sailors during the war. He did get himself a decent amount of "BRIG" time, which to he and his 2 brothers was really the "Honor"they competed for. Yep 3 wild boys from Medford, Mass.



--- LaRRy


--- LaRRy

 

[Larry Allen]

Graduation Day from the Maritime Merchant Marines
(Arrow points to dad)





Graduation Day for the United States Navy
(Arrow points to dad, down one row)




--- LaRRy

 

[Larry Allen]

A few close ups of the display case









--- LaRRy