Ah yes - the Ever-Popular crass depictions of skulls and other biker imagery in informal/unauthorized insignia and patches. Reminds me of the rather famous navy fighter squadron that used the Jolly Roger on their tail fins - 'Yankee Air Pirates' and all...
I may well be wrong, but I don't think that's a genuine military article from anyone's Army. It certainly doesn't look Polish to me, and I have a hard time imagining Poland adopting the German Maltese Cross, given its long association with the Teutonic Knights. And this doesn't look like any variant of the German death's head, so I don't think it's a German device either.
Without knowing for sure, what I wonder is if this is one of the many devices like this that have been sold in the US for eons, for bikers gear. As odd as it probably seems, the use of Iron Cross devices was pretty common at one time by bikers. Todd brought that up in the 7th Cavalry item above, and his drawing attention to that phenomenon is pretty apt here. Had he not noted the biker connection, I might have drawn a back page of Rolling Stone magazine connection, but the biker gear is much more on the mark.
In the category of an odd use of this item, I recently read that Walmart was in some trouble for selling t-shirts with the SS variant of it on them. It seems they didn't pick up on the SS association with the device, until it was pointed out to them. They thought it was a rock music symbol or something.
Lance Corporal Alexis Venegas Cuitiño, late keettledrummer of the Regiment of Armored cavalry Ner. 3 "Husares" from the city of Angol, in southern Chile, the last horse mounted regiment in the chilean army. The lining of the drums shows the regimental patch.
From the army site.
Unfortunatelly Lance Corporal Venegas was killed in a hunting accident on july, 3, 2006.
Came across these while looking for something else. The above are examples of what is known as "notgeld", literally "emergency money" which was issued in fractional denominations by German and Austrian towns and factories. The practice started sparingly in August, 1914 but greatly expanded late in WWI. Starting around 1921, it became more of a fundraising racket, sort of like commemorative coins.
Where wartime issues more likely had a perfunctory design, the postwar issues were designed with artistic renderings of local themes to attract collectors. That is what you see above, two examples, circa 1921-1922, showing front and back of a series sold by the Savings Bank of Stolp, Pommerania which was near Danzig and thus part of Prussia. It is now within the boundaries of Poland.
The reason for posting is that it furnishes a nice illustration of the 1700s complete skeleton hussar badge I mentioned early in this string. The caption under the skeleton reads: The total death (insignia) worn by the Belling Hussars on the fur caps. Couldn't find rourde in my dictionary so interpolated that it means badge or insignia. The back of the sereies' 50 pfennig note shows this badge being worn during the time of Frederick the Great. From the series, it seems the Belling Hussars got renamed later as the Blucher Hussars.
Nothing on the notes states such but given the always local themes of notgeld, I presume they must have been based somewhere between Stolp and Danzig and really stretch the supposition by guessing that they ultimately became the 1st Life Hussars, aka, Danzig Hussars, a Guard regiment, which had all grey mounts. That is the regt thru which Mackensen and the Crown Prince passed producing all the photos with the large skull fur busby badge.
I was thumbing through a book the other day that featured depictions of the Mexican Revolution and it mentioned the use of the death's head by revolutionary Mexican units. A few depictions were included.
Oddest of the uses was one that was apparently common amongst Zapataistas. It was the use on a flag, in which the death's head was placed immediately below the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. I've seen images of the Virgin of Guadalupe used by Zapataistas before, but not with the death's head so included. Sort of a peculiar use of it.
Interesting but suspicious. Of course not a pickelhaube which is a spiked helmet. Looked at seller's other items and he/she does not appear to be a militaria dealer. Item listed in wrong category and pickelhaube spelled wrong, so it is a sleeper BUT.... Cockade is for officer and skull badge might also be officer as opposed to EM. Can't tell about chin straps without digging out a deeply buried reference book.
What is suspicious is the interior, definitely not officer quality and the bag on top of the hat is missing as are the cords. Officer and EM caps had different quality fur. Looks like a put-together and maybe an orphan from an old stage/movie costume house. Cockade and metal parts have value but don't know what they'd bring in Germany.
In a surprising (bizarre?) use of the Death's Head, I happened to see a highly eccentrically dressed older fellow today wearing one of the huge, jawless, Death's Heads depicted earlier in this thread, such as that worn by Princess Victoria Louisa, on a winter felt baseball cap type hat.
No joke. Just like that.
Again, this fellow was eccentrically dressed. But I wouldn't have expected to see such a thing around here.
