HG-8b  Named Army Officer’s “Extramütze” (Private Purchase Visor Cap) Piped in Grass Green for Gebirgsjäger Branch Personnel; by EREL, with  Distributor Mark
A really sharp EREL cap with a nice high front peak, fairly pointed peak, and somewhat rounded – but nicely swept downward sweep angles. The fabric is a tightly napped, fine grade doeskin in a handsome, pale shade that contrasts quite well against the deep green Mountain Troop branch piping.   There is some minor nap wear to the fabric (table wear!), but no sign of any mothing – the only holes are from an insignia previously applied to the cap front – incorrectly, it would seem (the current eagle is correctly positioned). The bird is a nice crisp example with the lightly frosted aluminum finish at 100% (nice gleam to the polished edges). The wreath is fairly thin, also with 100% of the finish. The cockade has a nickel/silver plated ring, which has toned quite dark. The red center of the cockade is actually EREL’s air-vent type with red mesh screen. The deep green Mountain Troop piping is excellent, as is the dark blue/green wool/felt cap band. The Officer chin cords are the extra thick type. The visor has very fine crazing, but a light gloss is still present. The tan underside is soiled and shows wear areas. The approximate size 57 cap interior has a wide tan sweatband, with the added EREL patented “air cushion insert” segment added along the lower front forehead edge. The bottom edge of the band shows a lot of wear, with portions of the rounded bottom rim worn off. I suspect that the band came loose around a portion of the forehead, and a previous owner carefully glued it permanently into place (you can barely see the glue). The left side of the band is marked in silver ink “Erel Stirnschutz D.R.G.M.  D.R.P. angem.”. It is intact other than for the wear. The gold rayon lining also shows soiling and a few small stains. There is a full-sized celluloid moisture shield in place (fine shape, other than for a few small pink colored marks). The lining bears a really neat distributor name for “Paul Preuss”, who was located in the town of Stettin, at Friedrichstr. 8. Below this appears the EREL-Sonderklasse diamond logo, and the cap grade: “Standard” – interesting, since Standard models rarely included the air vent set up.  Real interesting piece – nice branch color, with a clear EREL distributor’s mark.
$1,750.00

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Item HG-8b