Printed RWF titles with unusual backings

[JerryBB]

Picked these up today but the backings are not the same as the other printed titles I own. I like the fronts and they appear to have age to them and have been used, so any thoughts or comments are welcome.

[badjez]

Apart from the Ordnance issue printed titles, and the more recent re-enactment types there are a few printed titles unofficially made in Hong Kong in the early 1950's. Amongst those are Royal Leicestershire, Middlesex, and Royal Engineers. The HK ones look more paper like, and the print font is awful. If I hadn't obtained some with provenance I would have thought them to also be reproduction. The main feature is that the HK ones are on white backing cloth, not black.

I like the look of these RWF titles, but cannot place them into any of the above categories.

Stephen.

[JerryBB]

Thanks for commenting Stephen.

I looked at as many other RWF titles that I could find online for sale or that have been sold and the fronts appear identical to these, with the same font and the cloth appears the same. A friend on another forum has some with the same backings and all the same traits, though they are for East Lancashire and he is happy that they are original and circa WWII.

If they are repro's, they don't match any I have seen and the quality of them is very good, so until it can be shown otherwise, I am happy that these are original examples from that period.

[Frank Kelley]

Good afternoon Jerry,
They look okay to me, incidentally, you sometimes find them with the backing deliberately removed, but, since when have these things commanded an awful price of £25, I was paying £0.50 a time as a small boy in the late 1970's, I am both surprised and shocked!
Kind regards Frank Kelley

[JerryBB]

Originally Posted by Frank Kelley

Good afternoon Jerry,
They look okay to me, incidentally, you sometimes find them with the backing deliberately removed, but, since when have these things commanded an awful price of £25, I was paying £0.50 a time as a small boy in the late 1970's, I am both surprised and shocked!
Kind regards Frank Kelley

Hi Frank, thanks for commenting. I have refrained from buying any of these previously because as you mention they seem to sell at £25 per title, though these were not anywhere near that price, which is partly why I bought them, but also because I wanted them.

If you have any you want to sell for 50p don't hesitate to contact me.

[Frank Kelley]

Hello Jerry,
They are what they are, I don't like them very much, I think the most that I paid back then was about £3-5 for the AAC/GPR/Para, I had to get a pocket money advance from my long suffering father for those particular ones, but, I am shocked by the prices asked today, but again, you look at the photos and these things were worn, so a collector should have some, even if he does not like them.
Kind regards Frank

Originally Posted by JBBOND

Hi Frank, thanks for commenting. I have refrained from buying any of these previously because as you mention they seem to sell at £25 per title, though these were not anywhere near that price, which is partly why I bought them, but also because I wanted them.

If you have any you want to sell for 50p don't hesitate to contact me.

[JerryBB]

Hi Frank,

The printed SWB and Welch regiment examples are also on my wanted list, when I can find some for a sensible price, ie considerably less than £25 each.

[Frank Kelley]

Hello Jerry,
I really don't think they are worth £25 a time, it is madness!
You can have a good shop in a supermarket for that, but, it's like plastic badges, look at the numbers made and then look at the price of those these days!
Regards Frank

[JerryBB]

Originally Posted by Frank Kelley

Hello Jerry,
I really don't think they are worth £25 a time, it is madness!
You can have a good shop in a supermarket for that, but, it's like plastic badges, look at the numbers made and then look at the price of those these days!
Regards Frank

Thankfully I got the two pairs for the RWF for a fraction of the going rate, but such luck only happens once in a while.

As regards the plastics, I agree again on the prices some of them seem to go for, though with them at least the survival rate can be quite low on some of them and that partly explains it. My other best buy in recent years was the Royal Malta Artillery plastic version, which I got for a very low price without knowing it was so uncommon and so expensive to buy elsewhere.

[Luc]

They are fine original titles Jerry; I believe they sometimes used whatever was available for backing material so you will find some variation.

[JerryBB]

Originally Posted by Luc

They are fine original titles Jerry; I believe they sometimes used whatever was available for backing material so you will find some variation.

Thanks Luc.

I was sure they would good, just not owned any with this type of backing previously.

[Frank Kelley]

Hello Jerry,
I realized after Luc's post that I had not mentioned the backs, they look fine, I certainly have many similar.
Getting them as cheap as possible is the key here I think!
Regards again Frank

[JerryBB]

Picked up a pair of embroidered titles,the seller also had a pair of the printed type that I started this thread with, which sold for a bit more than I was willing to pay, but these others were very cheap so worth the risk I thought.

I like them but again they are not what I am used to seeing and different from any others I own.

They are silk embroidery on a fine silk background and have very dark green silk backing and as they are quite stiff I think they have card stiffeners inside them. I wondered if they might be far east made from the use of fine silk.

Any thoughts or comments are welcome and as always are much appreciated.

[JerryBB]

Adding a close up of the embroidery and background fabric.

[Luc]

I like these a lot Jerry!
They are quite similar to one of mine from the Dutch REME workshops made around late 1944 in either Belgium or the Netherlands.