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
