Great War (1914-1918): The Society and Culture of the First World War discussion
World War One Collectibles
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Sean
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Feb 21, 2016 12:15PM
Let's start a thread on WWI items we have collected. I have a small collection, mostly of postcards and some period books, and I bet there are some others on this group who have some interesting things too. My latest purchase is a Croix de Guerre I picked up in Tangier. Perhaps it was earned by one of the many Moroccan troops on the Western Front? I blogged about it here.
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I also have a small collection -- a small collection (about 100) of WW1 books (history books from the era, 1914-1920, ephemera or pamphlets like war-time cook books). Approximately 1,000 original WWI-era (and WWI related postcards) with an emphasis on Austro-Hungarian and German and also the Habsburgs/K.u.K. Monarchie.) I have maybe 2 dozen medals or medallions and 2 bayonets. 1 is a 1907 Belgian, the other is I think a WW1 era, but I think it might have been cut down later because it's only about 12 inches...but I could be wrong. (The person who sold it to me said it was WW1, but I start to doubt...) Plus hundreds (?) of post 1980s history books on WW1. A Christmas 1914 Princess Mary tin box.
So much on my wish list! No time to do serious hunting and...worse...no money!
I love vintage postcards. I have some from WWI, maybe two dozen. Sometime I'll get around the scanning and sharing them. Do you have any pics of your collection?
Hey SeanI too have been collecting items of WW1 but have tried to focus on my grandfather’s machine gun battalion. Love finding post cards and photos from their days in France. I have his battalion photo taken after the Armistice. I found a post card taken outside the hotel they stood in front of for the picture.
Andrew
My great-grandmother was on a Cook's tour of Europe in 1914. She was told that war was imminent, left the tour in Paris, and came home early. I treasure her post cards from that trip. I also have post cards of the British royals of the time in uniform and (the women) Red Cross outfits.
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Great idea for discussion. I believe I have a WWI infantryman's rifle bullet (casing) which has been formed into a watch fob or watch clasp or something like that. Its on one of my older pieces I don't have cause to wear very often.But I do choose the WWI officer's style wristwatch as my typical timepiece. Its still one of the best looking styles of military watch, out there.
Ah---I forgot that I collect early zeppelin and dirigible memorabilia. I have postcards and photos of these amazing craft.On an unrelated note: here's an online exhibit of WWI 'lantern slides'. Showing the landscapes of occupied France.
https://www.abebooks.com/photography/...
Eugene Atget is another fabulous documentary photographer from the turn of the centuryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%...
Nice idea, I have some things in my collection, actually most of it was my granddad's stuff, he was a lieutenant in the Italian army and he fought on the Italian front during WW1. But these are two medals I bought in a flea market near my hometown in South Italy. The first one is the Italian version of the Inter-Allied Victory medal and the second one is a "Medaglia commemorativa della guerra italo-austriaca 1915-1918" (Commemorative Italian-Austrian war medal)
I'm a big fan of trench watches. I've been wearing an approx. 1916 Lancet for the past couple of days.
Sep wrote: "What does a trench watch look like?"I can't figure out how to post photos. If you do an image search for trench watch, you'll see a variety of what were, essentially, women's pocket watch movements placed in new cases with fixed lugs. Wristwatches weren't worn by men in 1914; and pocket watches were inconvenient.
