World War I Uniform Collecting 

I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting much from this talk, but it was like Santa brought me an early present, if you follow. Super-duper.

This is pure gold! As a WW1 collector myself its amazing to listen to Mr Ford. I owe him and other early collectors an unpayable debt. They kept the story`s of these amazing veterans alive. They kept these items from disappearing along with the storys that go with them. Meeting men like Mr Ford are truly the highlights of WW1 collectors lives. Many thanks for sharing this video.

bob ford is what every collector/ historian should strive to be.

This guy is wonderful. Fascinating stuff. RIP Stewart Esplin Black Watch Canadian 2nd Battle of Ypres 1915.

FYI the rolled collar is post Great War..That said this uniform is the same worn today and hangs in my closet. 13:01

Cloth militaria is a difficult thing to collect as far as conservation goes. Moths, and fading from sunlight are two things which doom the uniforms.

The big trick with 'uniform collecting' is this: **You don't get wear it casually on the street** I'm an American combat veteran, a lifelong military historian, and a US Civil War reenactor. All of my reenacting gear are reproductions. I have some artifacts for table display when I'm teaching, but they are solely for display. This is a key feature in my 'ethics of ownership and reenacting' philosophy. - When you collect the uniform of someone, you take into your care a certain part of their legacy. YOU did NOT earn those colored bits of cloth and metal adorning the uniform. YOU did NOT perform the actions that entitled the owner to them. YOU did NOT put the sweat and dirt and [sometimes] blood into those items. You are a caretaker, not an owner. - Your own uniform [if any] bears the insignia you're entitled to. And that's ALL that you're entitled to, nothing else and nothing more. If you 'respect the sacrifice' that these people made by their service, then you will care for these uniforms while they're in your care and donate them to a museum or back to the family [if possible] when your time with them are done. Ask any reenactor or collector and they know 'that guy' who likes to walk around wearing bits of uniforms he barely fits into, in ensembles that don't match [I once saw a girl wearing an authentic Panzerjacke with tights and stripper boots -- yeah, she got a talking to], and acting for all the world like he was in uniform. You know the guy I'm talking about... the kind of guy who buys a riding crop so he can return salutes with it at gun or memorabilia shows...

Is there a way to get in touch with Bob? I’m a beginner uniform collector and would like to ask him a few things!

We donated to a local some of my wife's grandfather's items who served in the German Wehrmacht during WWII. Most of the items were stolen by a person or people who worked there. Never again.

"Wrap leggings..." those are called puttees

The collecttor is only a temporary keeper of the goods!😳 Jman

Not all uniforms are identified, in fact most are not because the grand kids or great gran kids sold them and didn't pass the identification with them. We need to preserve all of these uniforms whether they are identified or not.

Does he still have olding uniforms are they donated to a WW1 museum

Rank insignia were in short supply, so it's not uncommon to find uniforms with no rank insignia

Nobody really knows the history of the uniforms that exist,most people just wore them out or threw them away, if i would have been smarter in the 80s i wouldn't have died one of my old uncles uniforms black with studs being a metal head, and losing all the metals Canadian German all gone now 😒