The story is that I was in Ukraine looking for crash relics and other junk as usual (that's what i tend to spend my spare time doing!). The Ukrainian countryside is still one of those places where you can find alot of stuff from the war, deep out in the sticks where nothing changed for 40 or 50 yrs there are still old people with attics/basements/sheds full of all sorts of stuff, so its worth my while going. This time I found an authentic late-war domestic radio set, with all original tubes etc and in mint condition, bought from one such local's attic, as well as some other junk, a nice fragment of flak 88mm shell (almost half of it in fact, split down the middle longitudinally), a badly corroded iron cross, etc.
Anyway, now for the item.
There are various examples floating around of what is supposedly a matchbox case commemorating the launch of the KDF-wagen, what of course later became the Volkswagen beetle. They are usually pressed, with the usual KDF-wagen with rising naughty symbol cog wheel behind it, using low quality crap stamping techniques, like alot of fake belt buckles etc, using the same technique. You know what i mean, im sure, big low-quality stamp, bad quality metal, no manufacturer's stamp at all, or ''RZM" in completely the wrong font if you are lucky.
As far as i know, these are all fake, and, like a few 'WWII German' things, were in fact invented by some imaginative person after the war, to inspire future generations to spend money at car boot stalls (like those knives for example..). I always thought it was a well known fact that there was no such items celebrating the birth of the people's car.
When i was in some village deep out in the sticks, beyond the reach of the internet or much of the modern world, asking about a local bomber crash site, some typical grandfather type showed me this item that the 'fascist pigs' left behind or something (usual story). I thought, it looked a little strange, so i gave him his miserable 2.50 or 3 bucks or whatever he was asking for it, just as a curiosity.
Iv attached a photo of it as well as scans of the RZM stamp and the actual logo.
- KDF 3.JPG (54.85 KiB) Viewed 3931 times
- kdf 1.JPG (99.68 KiB) Viewed 3931 times
- kdf 2.JPG (32.76 KiB) Viewed 3931 times
It looks like quiet a high-quality piece. It is made of brass, has a nice RZM stamp with the correct Germanic Z and everything. This means that its not a cheap repro, but at least a medium or expensive repro. But why would somebody go to all this effort to make this match box case? Its definitely NOT like the usual badly cast zinc alloy, or cheaply pressed steel repros and fakes.
If you look at the KDF wagen logo, it is almost like its hand engraved. All the lines are kind of funny, the wheels are not very round, it just looks like this was done by hand, and not stamped or done by machine. However, to make something like this by hand would require a lot of skill and time. Also, authentic KDF literature of the period is often kind of 'funny looking' too, with the car looking like it was drawn quickly by hand.
Looking at this match box case, it does appear to look quiet like the original as found on KDF posters etc, only lacking the sun-rays coming out of the sun/cog wheel behind it.
Also, what about the RZM mark? I dont know much about the finer details of these, as I usually dig stuff out of the ground and most of it is in not good enough condition to have an RZM mark. Could someone who knows about these comment on what this one looks like?
The other thing is its location. For a cheap modern fake to make its way to a small village far in the Ukrainian countryside would be a bit strange.
So, anyway, I though i would post about this to see what people think. What is this, and where the hell does it come from? Perhaps its made in Poland or Czech Republic in the in one of the better quality workshops that make fake WWII stuff? Or perhaps it genuinely is a war-time match box case, and the RZM stamp is legit, and just the engraving was later added?
I guess it could also be a genuine item, or, say, a one-off commissioned during the war by someone who wanted one, but i dont think that's very likely. My gut instinct is that it is 100% fake. Only who the hell made it and why? And how did it end up in Ukraine with some local guy who swears it was left behind by the 'fascist pigs'?
Bizarre...
