In early December, I visited a collector friend in Texas. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel and has collected military stuff longer than I have. We are the same age, and when he was a kid, he would write to US Army units in Vietnam to ask them for patches. He sold me a large group of patches he collected over many years.
Patch collecting was a popular hobby in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of my friends collected them, and it seemed that patches were everywhere. Many kids got a start from their fathers, as many were WWII veterans. Additionally, several companies sold patches. These companies manufactured patches for the government and had thousands left over when the war ended. They sold patch kits where one could send them a Postal Money Order and they would send you a hundred different patches for a couple of Dollars. Some kids also had patch jackets that their mothers sewed up for them. One could even get patches from cereal boxes.
Over the last sixty years, the hobby has changed. Now, only a few beginning collectors are seeking common patches, as most focus on specific areas. Two of the most collected areas are the US WWII Airborne and Vietnam Theater made examples. Rare examples can sell for hundreds and even thousands of Dollars. These prices also drive unscrupulous people to create a cottage industry of fakes and forgeries.
When I looked through the patch collection my friend was offering, there were several collectible Vietnamese-made patches. It was not until after I bought the collection and was actively offering them for sale that I found this little gem.
Above Image: This patch is for the 1st Chemical Demonstration Battalion. A unit that I did not know existed. This patch once resided in a scrapbook and still has glue and paper residue.
It was a patch that I had never seen before in any reference book. I was fortunate that a previous owner had written the unit on the back of the patch. This patch was for a small unit of fewer than 800 Soldiers. It brought over $500 on eBay. I tried to think up a moral for this story, but the only thing I can come up with is: Nothing stays the same, and everything changes – including the hobby of military patch collecting.