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2208
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Vtg US Naval Academy VA Navy Metal Beer Tray Bill the Goat Mascot
Nifty find out of a home. A vintage large metal beer tray with interior decor "Navy" with the United States Naval Academy mascot, Bill the Goat.
Round with a diameter of a tad over 13 inches and a height/depth of 1 1/2 inches. Unsure of metal used, likely steel, a magnet does stick to this old beer tray. This vintage tray weighs slightly over 14 ounces unpacked and will be shipped in a box.
Basic white color front and backside, with the word Navy in navy blue. The goat is done in outline form in navy blue with him carrying an anchor and wearing a Navy shirt or jacket having a large yellow "N" and a yellow star.
When we look at this, we imagine it having been used during many viewings of Army Navy Football games, but it could have been used to help celebrate any naval academy or general US Navy event.
The overall white color made this hard to photograph given how the camera light bounced back off the white smooth metal surface. We tried to shoot the 8 images in differing lighting and at differing angles, front and backsides, with two close-ups of the interior decor. Please use the zoom feature to examine closely.
This item exhibits wear and is not mint, it came out of a home and was used. There are no dents, bends or chips, but you can see in the images that there is much wear to the white coloring on the metal along the underside base edges and the topside rim/side rim, some of this showing as thin lines of wear, but also worn spots. The bulk of this wear occurs along the underside, but you will see the wear topside, too. There are scratches on the interior decor, particularly on the goat's Navy jacket, but also scratch spots in the word "Navy" and scrapes/lines/spots along the interior white bottom side rim and on the interior sides. We see dots of rust on the interior scraped bottom side spots and a similar touch of rust on the underside within the backside curled rim in a few spots, but rust really isn't a problem here. The outer sides also show wear including some light brown staining in two places. Other wear includes a light circular brown stain on the interior near the side, many light interior circular scratches from cleaning (seen only when held at an angle in bright light), other scratch/mar dots/spots with long scratch lines and scraped spots on the backside, etc. Not unexpected wear for something that was used and enjoyed a good bit, rather than just displayed.
Still a fun, hard to find beer tray and Navy collectible that would look terrific on display hanging on a wall.
We are also listing a different United States Naval Academy tray which came out of the same home.
Manufacturer: U S Naval Academy
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2115
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USN US Navy Mother-of-Pearl Shell Belt Buckle Shield Shape Hand Carve
Nifty find out of a home. This is a vintage belt buckle, which could be used for a man or woman. It is made of one piece of real, carved, Mother-of-Pearl (MOP) shell with a metal piece attached for the portion that goes through the belt hole (this is a single piece of metal that has been curved around a notched area of the shell and hangs loose for use). The shell has been carved with the initials "U.S.N." for US Navy (United States Navy). You can feel the carved lines with a fingernail so this is not painted onto the shell. The interior of the carved lines has been blackened to stand out, as made.
The Mother of Pearl shell has been carved in a shield shape like that used with some US government and US Navy emblems. The buckle measures about 2 1/8 x 1 3/4 inches. Due to the curve of the shell this was made from, this piece does not sit flat but has a curved upwards, outwards or convex shape, sitting about 1/2 inch in height at its highest point. The top surface of the shell buckle is smooth and shiny with a nice iridescent look, it is possible that this side was treated with a top clear gloss or coating of some sort, we don't know. The edges of the carved buckle are smooth, as is the backside, but the back has the rougher finish as is commonly seen with the backside or inside of shells. We don't know what metal was used here (a magnet does not stick to this).
There is no manufacturer or country of origin marking. We believe this to be a handmade (hand made) piece, whether made for individual sale or by someone making this for a company to sell. The USN carving looks hand done from the style. You can see that the person who engraved this did the vertical line at the bottom end of the "S" a bit below the "S" itself, so it kind of looks like a comma here but we think this was meant to be the bottom line to this letter like appears on the other carved letters. We don't know when this was made but it does not appear new to us, so it is minimally vintage. This older belt buckle weighs about .4 ounce unpacked.
We've provided 8 images to show from varied angles and close-ups. Due to the smooth top surface this piece reflects room light and the camera light, so just sitting on a table in a room there is a highlighted light effect on this piece. Please use the zoom feature to examine closely.
Excellent condition with no chips, cracks or major flaws. The black interior to the carved USN letters is not a solid black, but this could be how this piece was made or some age wear to the black, we don't know, but you can see the initials well. As this was hand carved, there is a tiny touch of unevenness to the outer edge in one spot and on the backside there is a bit more carved out of two of the four corners of the interior open rectangle to the buckle (the maker may have chipped these corners a bit on the backside when carving, but there is nothing bad here and nothing that shows on the top side). There is some aging/wear/dotted wear on the metal hook piece but nothing unexpected and this helps support the age of the vintage buckle. There is a bit of other expected age/use/storage wear, such as some black dots/wear on the backside of the shell and perhaps other minor wear on the topside, but nothing to worry about here at all.
A great addition to any collection of US Navy memorabilia or a collection related to unusual belt buckles in general. Could also make a great gift for someone serving in or retired from the Navy.
Manufacturer: US Navy Belt Buckles
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2236
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1940s WW2 2 Decks Playing Cards USA Military Navy WACS Army Music
Nifty find out of a home. A pair of decks of original vintage playing cards (both decks came out of the same home) which look to date to the World War 2 (WW2, WW II) time frame. Design shows members of 3 branches of the U.S. Armed Forces: Navy, WACS and Army. They may represent military entertainers and are set against the backdrop of a drum with drum sticks to one side. The two decks are matching or identical except that the coloring for the drum and drum sticks reverses, with one having a largely red drum with blue trim and blue drum sticks, while the other has a largely blue drum with red trim and red sticks.
In front of the drum is what may be a singing male sailor for the US Navy, a female dressed in a blue uniform with a hat who we think is meant to represent the WACS (Women's Army Corps), and a male United States Army soldier playing a harmonica. There is no specific Air Force individual shown, but the Air Force was not designated as its own military branch until 1947 per some internet research. We believe this also helps date these collectible playing card decks to be from the 1940's prior to 1947.
Each deck has 52 cards, complete in having all four suits in the right denominations, but neither deck has any Jokers. We do not know if these originally came with Jokers or not, or if the prior owner misplaced them, but you need to know they are not here. On the Ace of Spades in each deck it shows Western as the manufacturer, stating "A Western Product" in the center of the large Ace symbol, with below this "Made in U.S.A. (7082A-30A)", which we believe to be the item or manufacturing product number designation. From some internet research, the Western Playing Card Company was formed in 1927 within the Western Printing & Lithographing Company later called Western Publishing Company, which also owned the Whitman Playing Card Company, and was based in Racine, Wisconsin.
The cards measure 3 1/2 inches tall x 2 1/4 inches wide. We are not experts in playing cards, but they feel to be made of a printed or coated paper stock, with a smooth surface and gold colored edging on all sides. They will be shipped in a small box for safety.
There are 8 images showing both packs of vintage cards, in group and single images, including the manufacturer markings on the two Aces of Spades. Please note that the camera light often blanded out some detail and at other times wouldn't light fully on the face sides due to the high amount of "white space", so we used varied lighting conditions. Looking across all the images and using the zoom feature should provide a good idea.
The camera light causes white "hot spot" reflections on the smooth card surfaces which you can see are in differing spots across the images. However, please note that the backside card designs as made on each card in each deck have a largely vertical whiter area towards the right side of the card. We believe the designer did this intentionally for interest as a light reflection or sheen on the drum. This appears in the same spot on every card in each deck in a similar fashion, so we don't believe this is some sort of fading or spill on the cards, but an intended design element (this was also visible on some single cards in this same design which we found on the internet, to support our thoughts here).
While a terrific find, these vintage cards are old and were used, showing appropriate age, use and loose storage wear.....they are not mint or new looking, but nothing unexpected nor overly bad. We did not see any cards bent, torn, folded, or having similar flaws, but the white face sides have an old, used look. They are not "bright white" but an aged white in color, with some light staining, wear, etc. as expected (amount varying by card). The backsides are bright and colorful, showing the intended designs, but also have expected light use/handling wear, etc. No major visible staining on the backsides, just a slightly worn look, some occasional light scuffing, etc. There is slight edge chipping/edge wear seen on the face sides, a worn/aged edging look when a deck is viewed from the edges themselves (with gold wear), and other expected use wear.
A neat addition to any collection of vintage playing cards or a military collection in general. While we are selling these as two full decks, together with 104 cards as received (with no Jokers as mentioned prior), there are certainly plenty of cards here for those who wish to sell or swap them in pairs or as single cards.
Publisher: Western Playing Card Company
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2207
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Vtg US Naval Academy Annapolis VA Navy Metal Beer Tray Seal Trident
Nifty find out of a home. A vintage large metal beer tray with interior decor stating "U.S. Naval Academy" and "Annapolis" (where this is located in Virginia) surrounding the seal or coat-of-arms of this Military Academy.
Round with a diameter of about 13 inches and a height/depth of 1 1/2 inches. Unsure of metal used, likely steel, a magnet does stick to this old beer tray. This vintage tray weighs slightly over 14 ounces unpacked and will be shipped in a box.
Basic deep rich dark navy blue color front and backside, with the words and Academy seal in gold. The coat-of-arms includes a hand holding up a trident at the top, a drawing of part of a galley ship on water at the center, a drawing of an open book to symbolize education, the words "Naval" and "Academy" on the sides, and the Latin words "Ex Tridens Scientia" which from some internet research translates to "From Knowledge, Seapower".
We shot 8 images in differing lighting and at differing angles, front and backsides, with close-ups of the interior decor. The true rich dark navy blue overall background and the bright gold design colors to this piece were hard to show accurately, given how the camera light bounced back off the smooth metal surface from differing angles. In the images the navy color sometimes looks too light and the gold color too yellow. The first image closest shows the colors you will see in person, but the other images will help you to understand the condition. Please use the zoom feature to examine closely.
This item exhibits wear and is not mint, it came out of a home and was used. There are no dents, bends or chips, but you can see in the images that there is much wear to the blue coloring on the metal along the underside base edges and the topside rim, with this showing as scratches and worn spots. There are also many scratches on the center underside portion and along the outer sides. There are visible scratches to white on the interior decor, mainly or most noticeably on the seal itself, but there are some scratches in the center words and in the flat blue interior areas. We do not see any rust on this piece. The interior sides have some scratches and an elongated green spot in one place. There is other general wear, scratch/mar dots/spots/pin dots, etc., and on the underside base there are light circular cleaning scratch lines (but not on the top side) that are seen when looking at an angle in bright light. Not unexpected wear for something that was used and enjoyed a good bit, rather than just displayed.
Still a fun, hard to find beer tray and Navy collectible that would look terrific on display hanging on a wall.
We have also listed separately a different United States Naval Academy Mascot tray which came out of the same home.
Manufacturer: U S Naval Academy
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2288
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1936 British Royal Navy HMS York Sailboat Ship Dish Tray UK Military
A unique find out of a home. This what we would call a small tray or trinket tray one would put on a desk or dresser, but it could also be a small ashtray, we're not certain. It is designed in the shape of a standing sailing sailboat with the oval tray at the base and keeping the sailboat upright or afloat.
We are not military experts, but we think this was made to be used on the British Royal Navy Military Ship, the H. M. S. York, as the labelled insignia or badge for the ship adorns the topside center of the tray portion. This raised insignia is metal with white enameling for its central flower, the White Rose of York, England, which in more recent times we read is also used as the symbol of Yorkshire. There is also a deep blue or navy enameling for the background of H. M. S. York at the bottom of the insignia and for the word York near the top.
On the underside base is the English Registry Number, 813811, which indicates that the design for this piece was registered in 1936. This makes sense from some internet research on this vessel, since it was launched in 1928 and commissioned in 1930. The HMS York was a York-class heavy cruiser that prior to World War II served the British military's North America and West Indies Station. During the war it escorted convoys in the Atlantic, was a part of the Norwegian Campaign in 1940, and later escorted convoys and ships of the Mediterranean Fleet. The cruiser was wrecked in an attack in Crete in March 1941 and sunk that May.
This vintage piece is of a one piece metal construction which we believe to be chrome (a magnet does not stick to this), to which the separately made ship emblem/badge is firmly attached. It sits about 4 5/8 inches in height, about 3 9/16 inches in width and about 2 3/8 inches in depth. A nice touch is that the standing sailboat portion is curved, as if being blown by the wind. This piece weighs 2.2 ounces unpacked and will be shipped in a box for safely. There is no manufacturer or country of origin marking on this old piece.
We've provided 8 images to show varied angles, with closeups, and in varied lighting. The camera light created white hot spots on the smooth metal surfaces, blanding out some of the detail, so images have also been included without the camera light (these appear yellower but can help you to see condition and detail better in many instances). Please use the zoom feature to examine closely.
Very nice overall condition with no major chips, cracks, crazing or pieces missing, but this does show evidence of age, wear and use. The HMS York emblem is firmly attached and in great shape with no enamel missing. The oval tray portion shows many line scratches and general wear from use/cleaning, particularly on the underside base but also on the topside. On this tray there are also pin dot raised bumps in somewhat two lines to the left side of the emblem (these don't immediately jump out at you but once looking in brighter light you will see these). It appears that something with a fine needle type point pressed upward on this tray from the underside in a number of spots here, creating the topside bumps and underside impressed dots (there appears to be 8 of these dots). The standing sailboat portion shows less wear but does have line scratches, rubbed spots, general wear. The top rim edge of the tray portion shows some slight unevenness to the rim, with some very tiny surface top edge chips and some very slight denting, but nothing bad. None of this is unexpected for an older piece that was used, and this does support it as being an original vintage piece of military history.
Could be a great addition to a collection related to military history for England, Great Britain or the United Kingdom (UK).. Would also make a fun addition to any collection related to sailboats in general, or an interesting gift for someone who like sailing.
Circa: 1936
Manufacturer: British Royal Navy
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1918
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Pair WWI US Military Infantry Officer Pins, Crossed Rifles & H.D.R.
These are two antique military pins from WWI which came out of the same home and therefore were likely worn together by the original owner (we guarantee that these came out of the same home and were not "paired" by us for sale; these were the only military pins this home had, they had belonged to a relative of the home owner). The original owner apparently served in the Army Infantry since one is a crossed rifles pin. We have read that this pin was worn by Infantry Officers, but we are not military experts and don't know that for certain. The second pin just shows 3 capital letters, "H.D.R." These pins would have been worn on a military uniform, collar or hat. Supporting the age of these pins is the fact that these came out of a home along with other items from the World War I era (The World War or first World War).
We tried to research on the internet what the H.D.R. abbreviation stood for and could not find an exact reference. The "R." could stand for "Regiment". We found references for "HD" to mean "Harbor Defense" and "H-Dr" to mean "Horse-drawn". So we don't know if the H.D.R. was short for Harbor Defense Regiment or Horse-drawn Regiment or something else, but certainly it stood for something relative to the U.S. Infantry (U.S.A. Infantry). Perhaps the H.D.R. was some sort of marksman pin in the Infantry? Since these two pins date to WWI (which occurred from 1914-1918), they are historical pieces over 75 years old, and actually probably 98-102 years old, so definitely antique pins.
These two military insignia pins are made of metal, most likely bronze or brass, but we don't know for certain. A magnet does not stick to either vintage pin (which would be the case with brass or bronze). The crossed rifles pin measures about 2 1/8 inches greatest width x about 1 inch in height. The H.D.R. pin measures about 1 1/2 inches in width x 1/2 inch in height. Both old pins have the old "C" clasp open-ended closure on the backside. For each the straight bar piece on the backside can be unhooked from the C clasp and rehooked. This is very easily done on the H.D.R. pin (almost too easily done). On the rifle pin the bar fits very tightly into the C clasp but can be unhooked with a bit of a push/pull. We have not attempted to clean or polish these pins and are selling as is/as found. We do not see any manufacturer or country markings on these pins.
We've provided 8 images to show these two pins together, separately, with a quarter for size comparison, front and backsides, and from differing angles. The camera lighting causes some white "hot spot" reflections on the metal surfaces. Please use the zoom feature to examine closely.
Good vintage used condition but not mint, with evidence of age/use/wear/storage wear. On both pins you can see the topside surface wear in the images, which includes discoloration, darkened spots/areas or tarnishing, and what seems like the topside surface has worn away or flaked off in spots, particularly on the H.D.R. pin. Both pins show some bending or curving (the rifles are not straight and flat, and the letters, particularly the "R." are curved/slightly bent), probably from much attaching and taking these off from uniforms, as expected for used older pins. There are some scratches/handling wear on both sides, as well as discoloration/tarnishing on the backsides of both pins. But all of this supports the age of these pieces and their vintage/antique look/appeal.
Neat to find a set or pair of WWI military pins coming out of the same home, which can make them an interesting addition to any collection of military pins or one related to World War I or the U.S. Infantry in general.
Circa: WWI
Manufacturer: Military Pins
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