Glenn Curtis (1888-1967) was, among other things, the last owner of a Chariton institution, the Curtis Broom Co., which was founded in 1884 and closed its doors in 1966; first commander of Carl L. Caviness American Legion Post No. 102; and a charter member of the Lake View Golf and Country Club.
But he also was a corporal in Battery D, 139th Field Artillery, during World War I and saw service in France.
This is his military belt buckle, although I'm not sure under what conditions it would have been worn. Every day? Or just on dress occasions. It was given to the Lucas County Historical Society with other military and family memorabilia just after his death and is a crisp and heavy casting, not stamped; and the leather belt it's attached to, although obviously worn, remains soft and pliable.
I've been rearranging, interpreting and reinterpreting contents of the museum's military cases recently, which means taking a close look at every artifact and in most cases backtracking through the catalog to the deed of gift, exploring context. And there were enough oddities about the catalog entry for this item to raise (briefly) questions about its provenance.
So I headed for the online world of belt buckle collectors, looking for clarity --- and that turned out to be a mine field. As it turns out, this is a very old pattern, dating as far back as the 1850s, that has been reused many times in various buckle configurations. Mr. Curtis's buckle has enough distinguishing features, including the nature of the clasp bonded to the back of the plate, to identify it as early 20th century.
But I found identical buckles advertised as everything from Civil War-era, though Indian Wars, to Spanish American War, a wide array of alleged values and a good deal of snippiness among collectors interacting with each other about their treasures.
I'm just happy to know that everything points to the accuracy of that contextual link between a Lucas County World War I veteran and his belt buckle.
No comments:
Post a Comment