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Blades by the Hundreds: Jim Atwood, by Kenneth Alford


gwb123
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Normally a book review should appear in our section on Book Reports. But this biography is so tied to the collection of TR Daggers that I thought I would place it here.

 

Our member Irish and administrator Vintageproductions first mentioned the book "Jim Atwood" on this thread: http://www.worldmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/313410-james-jim-atwood/

 

It's not often that you see a full book about prominent or influential members of our hobby, which makes this one all the more interesting.

 

It's even more so just due to the scale at which Atwood has impacted the collection of TR daggers, helmets and other memorabilia for decades to come.

 

As noted by Irish, Atwood was a US Army Intelligence Officer stationed in Berlin during the Cold War. Prior to that, he had managed at times to also enlist in the US Navy, USMC and USAF in that order, and somehow manage to walk away from those service commitments. That should give you an idea of how unconventional this individual was. Eventually he figured out he would have a better deal as an officer, and he signed on with the US Army. To his credit, he served in and was wounded in Korea. He was also in Berlin for some very tense moments during the "Berlin Crisis", during which US and Soviet tanks faced off with each other separated by only a few yards within the city.

 

At some point he developed a taste for collecting German edged weapons, especially the swords and ceremonial daggers of the Third Reich. His duties on the Berlin Intelligence Staff gave him free access to roam all over Germany, both East and West.

 

Although considered a mediocre student, Jim Atwood apparently had some hidden talents as a researcher and investigator. Like many before him, he figured out that the guild town of Solingen had been the primary source of ceremonial daggers for the Third Reich, as well as a long line of high quality German swords and blades for prior decades. And like many before him, he went to the town and inquired with what remained of the craftsmen and manufacturers if there was any remaining stock, of any kind. As others had been told, no, everything was gone, with the remaining stock having been crushed under the treads of American tanks.

 

But unlike those who had gone before....

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...Atwood persisted. He was convinced that in the attics, cellars and outer buildings of these establishments there had to be something left behind.

 

Through charm, persuasion and dare, he finally got the survivors and heirs of these firms to open up these forgotten spaces. He even went so far as to bet a bottle of bourbon with the owners that something was there. If he was wrong, they got the booze. If he was right, he won the rights to buy whatever he found.

 

And find he did... blades by the hundreds, as well as other parts and scabbards that allowed him to eventually assemble thousands of decorative daggers.

 

I will stop the narrative here, for fear of providing too many spoilers. Suffice to say he later had similar success with German helmets, and with raiding the costume departments of both East German and former Soviet movie production companies for their treasures as well.

 

Jim developed his own distribution network, wisely selling in lots to dealers. In many ways he came to dominate the import of Third Reich era war memorabilia, even publishing one of the early reference books on the subject. And in the 1960's and 1970's, that is exactly what got him into trouble.

Atwood book.jpg

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If for no other reason to read this book, just the sheer scale and scope of this enterprise is staggering considering the material that was being handled.

 

Most of our members who will be reading this collect individual items one at a time, or if lucky perhaps acquire first pick of a collection up for sale. Others of our members earn their livings as dealers, but again with a given amount of inventory.

 

Jim Atwood and his associates were dealing with prized collectibles by the hundreds and thousands. In fact, he had to break his shipments to the States down into smaller lots to avoid intrusive questions from Customs.

 

This would be a fascinating story if that were the end of it. But entrepreneur and risk taker that Jim Atwood was, he went on to grander ambitions such as real estate, wholesale salvage, semi-sanctioned gun running, and some dubious transactions apparently for the CIA during the Iran-Contra era.

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vintageproductions

Now Gil, you saying things like it's all bad...........

 

I personally loved the stories esp when some of the names mentioned are friends.

 

Those that read it will also see a chapter about an ex-member on the USMF who tried to play he was a saint, but when you read the book you will for sure know better.....

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Patience, Bob. I was getting to that. LOL!

 

 

As Bob Chatt mentioned in his comments on the original thread, it's interesting to read a book that includes the names of people that you recognize or have even met and dealt with. A number of German militaria dealers from the 60's through the 80's are mentioned, as well as Manny Scoulas and a number of people from the Ohio Valley Military Society. Tom Johnson is very prominent in the book and his dealings with Atwood. Less than honorable mention is made of Jack Angolia, who was not only a competitor in the market of German daggers, but was also a professional rival in the Army that helped trigger an investigation into Atwood's actvities.

 

Most notable is George Petersen, whom as a young enlisted man in the Army, had his early career in military antiques fostered by Atwood. Per the book, George was ordering stock from Atwood and then storing it within wall lockers in his barracks! George stuck with Atwood for many years and eventually grew his own highly successful business now known as National Capitol Historic Sales. It is George's reminisces that fill in the gaps about Atwood's business and personal ventures from the 1960's to the 1980's, along with many photos that he supplied of the treasure troves they uncovered. You will still run into George today at many of the national level militaria shows when he is not touring Asia or Eastern Europe searching out more antiquities.

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I overwhelmingly recommend this book. You may have heard rumors of the dealers who have found "the big score" overseas in Germany or Russia, but this is one of the few times you will find it researched and documented. Folks who work at this level (and it is work requiring research, persistence, and the ability to make connections) operate on a whole different level than the average collector.

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Having said that, the editing and grammar of the book will drive you crazy.

 

I have not read any of Kenneth Alford's works, but it is clear that this one suffers from a lack of professional editing.

 

The first gaff that I noticed was right after mentioning Atwood's attending his Officer's Basic Course, in the same paragraph he referred to it as Officer's Basis Course (which could be argued to be the same concept, but is incorrect). There are more of these as the book goes on with either auto corrected words, wrong verb or noun tense, or contorted sentence structure.

 

Also annoying is the author has a tendency to repeat the same information, or to state events out of sequence and then doubling back to an event he had previously explained. The book in some sections appears to be a copy and paste of different document files that again are repetitive.

 

One other thing that will disappoint readers is that the photographs are not as clear as they could be. That will be a disappointment, especially considering there are some really exceptional items shown in the story.

 

For all those issues, the story carries the day. I stand by my recommendation, and if TR Daggers and edged weapons are your interest, this is a must read.

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OK, I just ordered a copy of the book from Amazon. Thanks for the recommendation.

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I knew Jim Atwood. I met him at the Baltimore Gun Show at the Armory in the sixties. At the time I was working for the Franklin Mint making miniature prototypes. He commissioned me to make him a miniature SS dagger. Here is a photograph of the dagger and a coin to show the scale. The dagger was 7 1/2" long. All fittings were sterling, the grip ebony and the blade was steel. I think I delivered it to him at the Baltimore show in 1969.

Dick

post-185184-0-60860500-1563289805.jpg

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Neat story Dick. I knew Atwood as well from the same time period of the mid-1960s. I still have some correspondence from him touting the authenticity of his "parts" daggers. Interestingly one of the circa 1960s certifications from several old Solingen firms had the return address of "Adolf Hitler Strasse". He had used old letterhead with a current date to cobble together some provenance for his parts.

 

I look forward to reading the book.

 

George

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I also made him a miniature Feldherrnhalle Dagger to go into an original miniature scabbard. He had a lot of bits and pieces.

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Gil when the book was first mentioned I raced out and bought a copy...your review is spot on...a most enjoyable book...particularly to see so many dealers I either know of, dealt with, or seen at shows. I remember seeing the large stock of Imperial hats at NCHS and within a short time they were almost all gone.

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