Faked & Fantasy ribbon bars (Fruit salad)

[Nota Bene]

Esteban,

We are here to help you. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Alexei

[kabanchik]

I'm sure I'm not alone, but I've seen so many different variations of ribbon bars over the years, but after visiting Russia several times, I've come to the conclusion that, as often as not, Soviet officers (and veterans) constructed their own ribbon bars, utilizing whatever techniques were available. Just this last month my father-in-law, a former colonel of engineers of the Soviet Army, and retired instructor at Kuybishev Military Engineering Academy, showed me one he had just completed for wear on Victory Day. He used, of all things, a piece of thin, white styrofoam from a package of meat, covered it with black silk cloth as a base, and padded, cloth-covered mounting bars from the same materials, all hand-sewn together, and then stiched to his tunic. The final effect was quite professional and striking, despite what he had to work with, and the crudity of the handwork was only evident from the back side.
By the way, I noticed that he was missing several jubilee medals that logically should've been his. In 1996 (!!), because of some defense work he performed while a boy at a Suvorov Military School during the war years, he had been awarded the Medal for Assiduous Labor during the Great Patriotic War, which made him a Veteran of the Labor Front, yet he was never awarded medals for the 30th and 40th Anniversary Medals, even though he did receive the Zhukov and 50th Anniversary Medals recently. When I asked him why he was not awarded the two Anniversary Medals (For a Veteran of the Labor Front), he replied that many people, such as he, never received medals for which they were entitled, that quite often, sometimes among serving officers, award of this medal or that was overlooked, that the issuing authority simply forgot or neglected to issue the necessary order awarding the medal to a specific individual. This may explain why, occasionally, a ribbon bar will be found omitting some logical jubillee medal here and there, despite hjaving the one before and after the year in question.
Does anyone else have any thoughts on this point?

[Tal Inbar]

You are correct in your observations. Moroever, some veterans don't consider the jubilee medals as "real" medals, and they don't include them on the ribbon bars. I saw a lot of cases like this in Israel. (about 50,000 veterans of GPW live in Israel today).

Tal

[kabanchik]

When I asked my father-in-law why he didn't apply somewhere for his missing medals, to which he was entitled, he asked me, "Why??", and I could only reply, "For your children, and their children".

[Christophe]

In the same spirit, I know a French Air Force General (cr) who was in Algeria (1962) as a "Sous-Lieutenant" during the French military operations, and has just been awarded in 2003 (!) the "Combattant Cross" (Croix du Combattant). In fact, he never asked for it, even if he was entitled to, and never has been proposed for (!). As he got other awards later, he did not really care about it.
In fact, when his medals will be studied (as we all do) in let's say 40-50 years, it will be surprising enough to see this Cross and not the French North African Campaign Medal (of course not awarded), as he later did not take part in other military operations abroad...

Ch.

[Esteban_cool]

Thanks Nota Bene, I said that when I saw all that fakes...
And now the questions: How much would cost a normal set of ribbon bars(the common orders and medals set)?
And also, how to know when plastic ribbon bars are original or fake?

[Nota Bene]

Esteban,

First of all, !Feliz cumpleanos! :)

As for the bars, I guess the only reliable test would be honest and genuine wear, which unfortunately excludes a lot of genuine bars in mint condition. Pricewise, I don't really know - some dealers sell them real cheap, others have higher prices.

Alexei

[Esteban_cool]

Nota:
I am so happy that you had remembered my birthday. I thought only in this far southern country would remeber it.
Another question: How do you speak spanish so well? You speak better than us chileans!
Thanks for the information and for the beautiful greeting...:cry:

Esteban

[Christophe]

For sale today on the french e-Bay...
New and Upside Down !!!!

Ch.

[Christophe]

Of course, the bar is new... From the same seller (Do it Yourself !!):