THE BANK REPORT

The _~ibbon Batik is now in the position to offer OMSA members the hard-to-get of the of Honor. The followi .~ types are available.

Five-star army service ribbon 20~ 13-star navy service ribbon 30~ 13-star suspension ribbon $1.00 A complete one-piece neck-ribbon with the large 15-star group woven in the center $1o25

Among the other U. S. ribbons available is the original Army Civi! ~¢ar Medal ribbon. It is still av- ailable at five cents per inch. Due to the scarcity of the above ribbon, no orders for over six inches will be honored.

A minimu~oZ five cents m~mst accompalv each for ribbons, to cover postal costs, and a 20 percent charge must be included ~th all orders. All inquiries must have a stsm~p_e~ envelope enclosed.

No one except O~A members in good standing is eligible to purchase ribbons from the Ribbon Bsmk.

FRANCIS J01~S Ribbon Bank Ms~ger

MEMBER’S EXHIBIT

Brightly-colored photographs of some beautiful b~z’an& crosses of orders attracted attention of the readers of The Milwaukee Jot~m~l on S~tud~y, August 23, 1953, when they saw page ll of this edition. One phot- ograph, t~cingup almost two-tltirds of the entire page, depicted in brillisat colors the chain and of the Order of the Swori of Sweden, Order of St. Constantine of Parma, the Order of Million Eleph- a~uts of I~os, and ~ o~her highest classes of various orders of the world. The lower part of the~pa~e shows three colorful chain sets of the Afghsmistani Order of the Sun,~ Italian Order of the A~_uunciation, originally belonging.,~to King Victor Emaauel III, and the British Order of St. l~chael and St. George.

THE MEDAL COLLECTOR - Page Eleven The above photos were t~cen of a part of the exh- ibit which is now being sho~,m in different cities of the United States. 5~is e~-b,~bit consists of a collect- ion on one of the Members of ON~SA, who prefers to remain anonymous, but whose outstanding collection of sash and colle~r badges of orders is probably the best in the world. It includes orders literally from A to Z, containing some rare Abyssinian gTa~qd cordons and the exo%ic sash-pieces from Zanzibar.

F~Jaibitin~q is one ~V to ~et the most out of collecting. By showing o~ar collections we offer visual instrl~ction to others, we share the artistic beo~uty of the medals with others, and we incite in- terest in o~ar hobby. Many people would like to see a collection of orders e,nd medals, but fe~ musetmls have any kind of representation of this art; thus, we urge every collector to exhibit his medals to the public at every opportunity, and we commend those collectors" who have been doing this already.

THAT MYSTERIOUS FIELD SERVICE MEDAL

An interesting medal came to light re- cently when a real Field Service Medal was seen by us in a local store. This particular medal was always believed to be non-existent, as are many other unofficial which are usually represented by service ribbons alone. Finding this unusual medal clears up many questions asked by the medal and ribbon enth- uslasts. Ribbon collectors have long been puzzled by what appeared to be an unofficial American ribbon differently labeled by various manuf- acturers and dealers as "American Field Service," "Field Service," "Volunteer Service~" or "Ambulance Service.~’ None of these titles have ever indicated whether or not a medal came with the rlbbon, what country or organization actually gave this ribbon~ or for what war, campaign, or incid- ent thls ribbon was awarded. The ribbon it-

THE MEDAL COLLECTOR - Pa~e Twelve self seems a bit odd, since its main color (depending on the manufacturer) ranges from buff to reddlsh-brown, and its edges are red, white, and blue, the colors of many nations. The discovery of the meda! itself leads us to believe that this was made up un- officially for the Amerlcan volunteer ambul- ance drivers who went to France to serve in World War I~ before the United States had actually entered the hostilities. This assump ~ion is based partly on the meaning of the design of the medal: an American eagle and a French rooster, side by side°

The medal is of dark bronze, 3V mm. in diameter, depicting a flaming bomb in the center° The bomb is inscribed with letter "A" which so far has not been deciphered by the experts. On the left the bomb is flanked by a side-view of an upright ~erican eagle facing left. On the right is a French rooster crow ing, facing right. Both birds have their wings folded, and both of them are perched a- top a tablet inscribed "FIELD SERVICE." The reverse side of the medal is absolutely plain. The whole is suspended from a watered silk ribbon, 1-3/8-inch wide with a sand-col- ored field and ~-inch edges of equal parts of red, white, and blue, the latter being out ward. The ribbon passes thru a suspension which in turn goes thru a ball-shaped nob atop the medal.

Anyone knowing more partloulars about this curious medal is asked to write the Editor.

The newest U.S. appurtenance for the service ribbons is the U.S. Marine Corps emblem in miniature~ given to the Navy pers- onnel who participated in combat with Marine units. This device is worn in the center of the ribbon.

THE MEDAL COLLECTOR - Page Thirteen