by R Leonard on 15 Oct 2004 15:16
Well, since everyone is hitting around the mark …
Your Ruptured duck pins are very common … think about how many served in the US armed forces during WWII. The three you show are all lapel pins for civilian suit coats. Of the three, only the “plain” one on the left is issue. The other two are “aftermarket”. Issue lapel pins also came in bright brass, like your “Navy” example, but without the banner (I’ve got a couple around here someplace). There were, as noted in Will’s post, early in the discharge program metal ducks and later plastic. These were 2.5 times the size of your lapel examples and are somewhat more rare. The most common duck was a sew-on yellow thread patch worn centered over the right breast. Truth be known, the duck worn on the uniform served the purpose of identifying a returning veteran not just for the public, but for all those nasty MP’s and SP’s who had a habit of stopping the unwary and asking for their transit orders. They generally skipped over those sporting the duck. Soldiers and sailors returning to civilian life were entitled to, and indeed most did, wear their uniforms from point of discharge to home of record – after all who had civilian clothes at the ready at time of discharge. The lapel pins were for later, sort of a hail-fellow-well-met identifier. It was not uncommon to see them on lapels into the 1960’s (I certainly remember seeing them . . . usually in church).
Your US pins are what’s known as “quarter brass”. Part of the army uniform in WWII and today found in various and updated forms on US Army and US Air Force Class A uniforms. Yours are standard enlisted army types worn on the lapels of the Class A blouse and the “Ike” jacket, above the collar indent (US on right, branch insignia - superimposed on a metal disk as with your US, on left). Officer’s quarter brass were just the letters US without the solid backing (US worn on both sides, branch insignia on lower lapel). All were worn beginning in about 1925 when the uniform changed from high collars to open collars. Again, still worn today, but with some differences in style (flatter) and color (nowadays more golden-yellow brass), and slightly different placement.
Your other “railroad tracks” pins are, on the right, standard USA/USAAF captain (O-3) bars. You could put these on the shoulder straps of a modern USA or USAF Class A blouse and only a very few would notice a difference. The one on the left is an over-sized USN or USCG lieutenant, or USMC captain, (both also O-3) bar. Oversized rank devices such as these, in WWII were worn only on the shoulder straps of officer’s raincoats. Today they are also worn on shoulder straps of the lightweight short windbreaker/jacket.
Rich
