06-18-2003, 05:32 PM
I don't think the Rusdsians are/ were as paranoid about cloth as they are about medals. Not to say they want the nicer stuff leaving, they are just not as aware to look for it.
The best story I had about this was with a nice M1945 VP Generals tunic for a major general of naval construction. Needless to to say its a rare uniform worth a few thousand $ over here. It was in a small museum in the Leningrad area. I imagine the genral worked in the shipyards of Leningrad. Anyway, one of our "guys" went to the museum , saw it, and offered to buy it from the older man who ran the museum. The man politly said no. My friend went back; the guy still said no. Then my guy found out that the guys son was getting married, went back to the museum with $$$ in hand and said to the guy"don't you want to get your son something nice for his wedding?" That made the guy break and he sold the uniform. His holding out did let him get about double what he normally would have gotten.
SC is right about the smaller museums. I was in the Prokorovka Museum back in 1998. It looked like 10 people visited it per year and yet inside it had 4 different VP generals uniforms. Museums like this provide us cloth collectors / dealers with 80% of our good stuff.
DD
The best story I had about this was with a nice M1945 VP Generals tunic for a major general of naval construction. Needless to to say its a rare uniform worth a few thousand $ over here. It was in a small museum in the Leningrad area. I imagine the genral worked in the shipyards of Leningrad. Anyway, one of our "guys" went to the museum , saw it, and offered to buy it from the older man who ran the museum. The man politly said no. My friend went back; the guy still said no. Then my guy found out that the guys son was getting married, went back to the museum with $$$ in hand and said to the guy"don't you want to get your son something nice for his wedding?" That made the guy break and he sold the uniform. His holding out did let him get about double what he normally would have gotten.
SC is right about the smaller museums. I was in the Prokorovka Museum back in 1998. It looked like 10 people visited it per year and yet inside it had 4 different VP generals uniforms. Museums like this provide us cloth collectors / dealers with 80% of our good stuff.
DD
