How To Store And Display Awards.

[Bogdan]

Thanks Eryk,

I think that I will now apply these techniques to my riker mounts. As much as I would like to take the credit, I have only posted on this website after joining just a few months ago. I do frequent other forums but only to read.

[Eryk]

Had a brainstorm the other day. Orders are a pain to display - both the obverse and reverse should be visible. But the way to do that generally involves picking it up. Which can involve dropping it. Which can involve howls, tears or violence.

An answer: Plexiglas. (Helps to have been a true plant rat prole in my younger years and having worked with the stuff.) Drill a hole big enough to accommodate the screwpost and Bob's your uncle. Suspended in mid air, both faces visible.

Some details. This is a four dollar 8x10 “picture frame”, the kind with the Plexiglas ‘folded’ and the picture slipped in between. It has a 2 ½ in. ‘foot’ at the bottom that allows it to stand at an angle, back. All screwposts are not created equal - and that doesn't mean that a portion of my meager collection is fake either... thank god... as those in this longer than I have been kind enough to point out that indeed size varies. Anyway, that means you'll have to work with the holes – for this both a 5/36 and 11/64 bit were used, depending on the screwpost size. (They’re mounted low s/n to high, left to right. Always have a plan…) Sketch out a grid, or whatever works for spacing, on a piece of paper. Mark where you want the holes. Tape the paper to the Plexiglas, drill though the paper and plexiglas, remove paper and protective plastic wrap and it’s ready. In order to keep the orders from falling out if you tip it (or having to use the screw plates… would rather defeat the purpose!), use 1/8 in. ID o-rings over the post (they're the black circle on each post in pic 2). They’re small enough to hold but big enough to not slip through, cheap and easy to put on and off.

And that’s it. Easy to store, not bad to look at when out, and best of all you can see both sides without having to pick them up. Just don’t drop the whole display!

[latinmajorac]

now that is a sharp display!

[Lapa]

Eryk,

Great display

Given the weight on the display, wouldn't it be worthwhile to weigh down the base to prevent it from tipping over?

Marc

[EricFG]

Brilliant! ! ! !
That is thinking outside the box. Well done Eryk.

[Eryk]

Originally Posted by Lapa

Eryk,

Great display

Given the weight on the display, wouldn't it be worthwhile to weigh down the base to prevent it from tipping over?

Marc

It couldn't hurt, but believe it or not it's not necessary just sitting on my desk. It’s much more stable than it looks. If it was going to be someplace high traffic it should probably be affixed/weighted to the table, shelf, etc somehow to keep it from being bumped over.

But it surprised me how stable it is.

[Bogdan]

This is really great Eryk. These picture frames come in a variety of sizes so if one wanted to just display 1 or 2 awards, then the small size is handy for that. I am going to buy a couple of these and try myself.

I just thought of this; if you have a single special screwback that you want to display then buy the smallest size frame and cut off the back side of the frame. Just cut near the top on the front side where the plexiglass is folded and you have a single layer for the screwpost to go through. Just an idea..........

[ibaya]

A very innovative idea, indeed.

I would imagine that the center-of-mass would be fairly centered on the base of the display, so shouldn't tip very easily.

The only drawbacks would be exposure to humidity, dust, fingerprints, accidental tipping. Taking a look around my place, it would be the dusting!

[Ruiz]

WONDERFULL Eryk. I have no words, I like your collection.

[Eryk]

Just got the NAZI stuff in the mail, and could finally put this together. Not a typical display, but together these four awards tell their own story. Two campaign medals for the same campaign, two medals for "merit," but from the opponents. The display consists of:

Soviet Medal for the Defense of Moscow
Soviet Medal for Combat Service, s/n 99.671
German War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords
German Medal for the Winter Campaign in Russia, 1941-42

Only the CSM can be researched, of course, and it has been. The blurb I put on the back of the display (besides listing what's there) says:

V.A. Ivanov was awarded this Medal for Combat Service in 1942, for an accumulation of work started on November 15, 1941. That day Ivanov went on duty as deputy chief of 4th section (Personnel Section) with the 239th Rifle Division southeast of Tula. It was also the date 2nd Panzer Army launched its final offensive to take Tula and encircle Moscow from the south. From the citation Ivanov "was situated in the ranks, especially during vicious fighting, rendering them practical assistance in assigning the best personnel." The 239th retreated 50 km east in the last two weeks of November, and fought its way over 100km west by the end of December in the counteroffensive that destroyed the threat to Moscow.

At the end of March, 1942, Ivanov was promoted to chief of 4th section, and in May the division was placed in reserve, probably to rest and refit. The end of his citation states that Ivanov capably dealt with incoming personnel from May 5th through the 20th. A normal enough task, and hardly the stuff medals are given for. In this case, however, the numbers tell the story of the 239th in the winter of 1941, and give a hint to the scope of Ivanov's duties and what the demands were on an officer in his position. On November 15, 1941, the authorized strength of a rifle division was 9,400 men. Ivanov processed 7,000 new soldiers and NCOs into the division in those two weeks in May, 1942. The division literally bled itself white helping deliver a decisive defeat to the Wehrmacht at the gates of Moscow. It seems obvious that Ivanov had more than a desk job that winter.

Yeah, probably overly dramatic for a CSM. But hey, it's history! And it helps all those non-history types appreciate it. The background is a print of the pretty well known war time poster "Defend Moscow!", glued to foamboard. The awards are affixed with wire to the foamboard, or in the case of the CSM just 'screwed' into a hole punched through the pic and foamboard. The foamboard was cut to be snug enough to 'wedge' into the box, so it doesn't slide around. The German awards are on their version of a medal bar... don't collect third reich stuff but this grabbed me as I was looking for a concept to display the early war, Moscow Campaign, CSM. The medal bar is pretty cool, very different from Soviet style. The box is just a shadow box with a hinged glass cover.