Hello All,   Recently acquired this CDV, identified and dated 1873 on the reverse, depicting a young French Vivandiere/Cantiniere.   Absolutely thrilled to have an example in my image collection!   

BUMP

Wow never heard of Peter Hlinka, did he have a store?, heard and went to a few times The Soldier Shop on Madison Avenue in the 60s and 90s.

WWI M16 German Helmet. sans liner and chinstrap. Same as in the photo of the man, who happens to be an Austro-Hungarian Soldier, Austria ordered a load of the type from Germany. The photo looks doctored, making for the odd shape of the helmet.

Just curious if it's real or fake

I don't know what it is but I know what it isn't and that is a US Navy knot. Assuming I am seeing it right on my monitor it has both silver and gold thread in it, US knots are all gold.  

In addition to the wearing of re-issued Model 1916 steel helmets notice the wear of rank stripes on the arm of the greatcoat.  

Probably not the "rarest" item but two very scarce Bavarian Landespolizei (LAPO) uniforms.  This NCO uniform was worn by a transitional police soldier during the time of the Weimar Republic into the NS Zeit circa 1935.  The militarized LAPO was absorbed into the Wehrmacht (HEER) and they continued to wear their Police uniforms with military accouterments until they could be fully absorbed into the German Army structure.  Notice the Army breast eagle worn over the right chest pocket.  These transitional uniforms are hard to find and the other uniform is that of a Weimar Republic LAPO Major at a time when the Bavarian Chief of Police was a Colonel.  Also notice the headgear worn by each.  The NCO cap is dated 1935 and has the Model 1934 Police eagle while the Major's Tschako has the transitional red/white/black cockade instead of the Bavarian blue/white version.   See Angolia & Taylor, "Uniforms, Organization & History of the German Police" (Vol.1) ISBN No. 0-912138-97-1    

I am no expert on the '57's. But the use of the "L/21" maker mark seems odd to me, and overall it seems a little "soft" in the details, and with what looks to me to be artificial aging.   L/21 would be Foerster & Barth  Pforzheim Tunnelstr. 71  maybe see if they continued to exist after the war.   The LDO, (Leistungs Gemeinschaft der Deutscher Ordenshersteller, Administration of German orders Manufacturers), was a self-governing organization formed in 1941 which regulated the manufacturing of all German awards. This organization and its members, through decrees which came directly from the Fuhrer’s office, tightly supervised the dimensions, materials and construction methods used to create the medals that would decorate Germany’s soldiers. It was also an information source, and construction methods were discussed and shared among firms. All members of this organization were issued a number, an “LDO number” or Prasidialkanzlei (Arabic) number , which was supposed to be stamped on all awards produced by these firms. In reality this particular regulation was not tightly enforced, and a great number of awards were produced with no mark all. It has been stated that the numbers that identified the firms changed on a regular basis, when, in reality, this was not the case. Some firms do have two numbers, one which is prefixed by an “L” and a Prasidialkanzlei one, but these did not change during the war. One explanation put forth for this is that the “L” prefixed to a number was used for privately purchased pieces, where the Prasidialkanzlei number was used for award pieces. (from WAF)

At least WPG was nice enough to put their name on the label in the older cap.  It used to be just German stuff you had to question, because US and UK stuff was so common. Not anymore!

Seller has this '57 German Cross in Gold for $400. I read that, like EVERY German award, has been heavily faked. Just wanted to know if it's good or should be left on the shelf.   

Thank you..... It's definitely not the quality as the German ones are and it does feel rather light compared to some of the German ones that I have..... Probably is a not very old US one... Thanks again