This is a place dedicated to the history, collection and preservation of militaria from World War II. While I may often use irreverent humor, I do acknowledge the ultimate cost of war, and take respect seriously. These items were owned and used by real, living people. Regardless of which country they originated, they are what is left behind of a time that is becoming increasingly forgotten and discarded.
I am an avid collector, primarily of American and German militaria (yes, stereotypical), spanning all branches. While there are some areas I do have more of an interest in (like Army Air Force), I'll pretty much collect whatever I can get my hands on, whether it be small things like insignia and photographs to uniforms and helmets. I am by no means a high roller, and everything I have found has either been through luck or scrounging around dirty flea markets, antique stores, thrift stores, everywhere. Really amazing things are out there if you take the time to look closely.
I don't know when or why I got into it, it just happened, so it's no use trying to psychoanalyze. Although there is a theory bouncing around that I'm some reincarnated pilot or soldier, I doubt that's the case (however, if someone wants to pay for a boardwalk fortune teller or whoever to see my past in a glass paperweight or whatever, feel free). I've been collecting for several years and have accumulated many things, but I don't really get to show anyone. So I decided to create this blog to share what I've found, and publicly revel in some of my greatest victories. Obviously there is always some monetary value attached to items, but I use it mainly as a barometer for how other collectors view them, or how difficult something is to find. I've never sold anything, and I have no intention to. I don't like to place the value of something strictly by how much it is worth in cash. A 50 cent photograph of a soldier is worth just as much as a helmet to me. I'm not claiming to be an expert or know everything there is to know about something, and if you have something to add, or have a constructive comment, please share. However, I am tired of going onto collecting sites and everyone is just being a dick to everyone else because they think they're the only authority. I have no patience for that.
Idealistically, my hope is that you'll see these pieces and get a little education out of it, and be reminded that, while these are just things, they are what's left behind of individual people whose lives have ultimately been forgotten. They're just names in record books now, if even that, but we can celebrate their lives by remembering they were actually once here and wore these same uniforms, carried this same gear, and were the ones who posed in these 50 cent photographs.
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