A wise person once said: "You can't become your own best customer and expect to be in business for long." A collector's interest in and passion for the artifacts is something that makes working here at AGM exciting, but it can be frustrating as well. Though business necessity has limited my personal collecting to just a very specific and narrow area, temptation to expand into other areas of interest is always lurking in the background., and so normally there are a half dozen things on any one catalog that I would much rather keep than sell. On Catalog 98, though.. the vast majority of items seem to fall into that dangerous category! This will make it tough to see them go, but at the same time it also assures me that you - my fellow collectors - will find it to be a particularly enjoyable catalog.
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In a departure from the norm, our cover features an original period photo, which we decided was just too cool to cover up.
In this case, the intended star of the show is a WWI Lanz trench mortar, used extensively by both Germany and Austria-Hungary after 1915. The example available on Catalog 98 retains a considerable portion of it's original field gray painted finish, and has been made complete for display with a visually accurate (yet non-functional) reproduction breech block.
The Lanz was the Austrian replacement for the Minenwerfer M14. |
Approximately 500 were ordered by the Austrians themselves, with many more going to Imperial German forces. Pour-le-Merit recipient and iconic WWI author Ernst Jünger mentions the Lanz several times in "Storm of Steel", as the German counter-battery fire answer to the English 'Toffee Apple' Mortar.
Catalog 98 also features a number of uniforms of American Aviators and Observers, including the uniform of Balloon Company #10's commanding officer:
You will also find a nice selection of WWII AAF A2 flight jackets, both as individual items and as part of larger uniform groups:
In addition to aviation, headgear is one of the primary themes of Catalog 98, which includes several of the nicest Hawley liners that I have seen in quite some time, as well as a Paratrooper M1C, several airborne liners, early rayon web transitional liners, St. Clair, Hood Rubber, and other special M1 helmet variations.
Catalog 98 includes a number of nice items from Imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary, including an excellent example of the 1915 Army Group Gaede helmet.
The Axis powers are represented with nice items from Imperial Japan, the Third Reich, and Italy - with a nice collection of Italian visor hats, helmets, and uniforms.
The Catalog 98 headgear parade includes premium items from a number of nationalities.
We picked headgear for the highlights because it was easy to get a number of interesting items in one image, but rest assured there are plenty of interesting artifacts and uniforms on Catalog 98. For example, this issue also features a nice collection of US WWI 82nd Division uniforms:
And.. a collection of WWI material that was obtained by an Army Ordnance officer while serving in the AEF. He boxed it up in artillery ammunition boxes and sent it back to his family in the US, where it remained until we purchased it a few months ago.
Other highlights include:
- US WWI No. 8 Experimental Helmet
- WWII French Resistance Fighter's Reused 4th Division M1 Helmet
- US Civil War CDV Album
- Italian WWII MSVN 'Blackshirt' General's Tunic
- Imperial German M1910/15 Summer Tunic
- WWI Indian Army Lancer's Kurta
- US WWII 513th Parachute Infantry NCO's M42 Jump Jacket
- Austrian WWI Ulan Tschapkas
- WWI Western Front German Trench Dugout Stove
- WWI Quaker Society of Friends War Relief Overseas Service Uniform
- MG34 (dummy receiver) and nice original Lafette mount
- Imperial Russian Cavalry officer's tunic
- WWI US Naval Aviator's Uniform & Visor Cap
- Prussian Model 1860 Grenadier Enlisted Spiked Helmet
- British WWI Rifle-Mounted Wire Cutters
- WWI US Observer's Uniform with Eisenstadt Half-Wing
- AAF 342nd Fighter Squadron P-47 pilot's Australian-Made A2
- Luftwaffe camo M42 helmet - US 3rd Division officer's souvenir
- Kriegsmarine NCO and Officer visor caps
- US WWI No. 2 Experimental Helmet
- Soviet Model 1910 Maxim Machine Gun with Sokolov Mount & Shield
- Italian WWII RSI Decima MAS Camouflaged M33 Helmet
- Kriegsmarine Minesweeper Kanalflottille Badge Ship's Badge
- Spanish American War 50th Iowa Autograph Book and Two Souvenir Swords
- Soviet WWII Model 1938 Leningrad Civil Defense Helmet
- WWI 2nd Division 2nd Engineers Uniform and Purple Heart Group
- Polish WWII Wz. 31 Border Guard and Gendarmerie Helmet
- Romanian WWI Adrian Helmet (two, actually)
- French WWI Early War Issue Overcoat
- Kriegsmarine 'U-Boat' Scheinwerfer ESw 20
- Italian WWI Model 1909 Enlisted Infantry Summer Issue Kepi
- Minenwerfer 7.6cm Message Round
- WWI Navy Lieutenant's Presentation Sword
- Collection of WWII AAF wings
- WWII P-38 Lightning Pilot's A2 Jacket, Soldier's Medal, & Uniform Group
- Dutch WWII Fascist N.S.B. Jeugdstorm Officer's Astrakhan Cap
- a selection of US WWI M1917 trench knives
- WWII Army Paratrooper Boots: Unissued With 1942 Date
- Imperial German spiked helmet frontplates
- French and Belgian 'Tanker' Adrian helmets
- WWII 8th Air Force B-24 Navigator's Painted A2 Flight Jacket & Goldfish Badge
- Bavarian Model 1850 Burgerwehr Cavalry Enlisted Helmet