Were I a better photographer, it would be easier. The early caps 'til about 1936 or were of generally much better quality than the contract caps made thereafter and which are most often encountered. The cap of Vondrack is an example of the later contract cap, made by the tens or more of thousands and at a time when the incipient war effort made things less luxurious, as well as the finances of the Allgemeine SS were on the ropes because of the general build up of paramilitary formations, &c. The latter fact is essentially unknown. The finish of buttons is well illustrated in the Assmann catalog, in fact. See pp.53-54 of the Reddick reprint. These contrast with the finish of the Wehrmacht and really most other styles of buttons in use in the III. Reich. The matter of the woolens, however, can only be determined by having the thing in front of you and a comparison with many pieces, in fact.
