German Medical wound tags, etc.

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

I recently came across a booklet containing 25 medical tags for wounds, illness and gas victims. Each had a different color border, full details on the patient, condition, medical treatment, doctor, etc. with details on both sides of the tag.

It did not have a date on it but looked the part. I was wondering if any members have a copy of these tags (small grommet at the top and string to attach to a uniform). I have copies on old photos but the details are not as clear as I would like and they are of course in black and white.

Hopefully a collector on the forum has one in their collection and would be willing to share a scanned copy. I appreciate any replies or information.

Ralph

[Mike_H]

Ralph,

Here are scans of front & back of a wound label, and equivalent sick label,

Mike

[SiegeGunner]

If these labels are indeed from the Great War era, and not later, it's interesting that they are printed in Latin type rather than in Fraktur. The 'Wounded' label uses a sans serif face that I think is Accidenz-Grotesk (now spelt as Akzidenz-Grotesk), the ancestor of Helvetica and Univers. A-G is/was the official typeface of several national Red Cross societies, which may explain its use on the 'Wounded' label — especially if the label was designed to cover the possibility of the wounded man falling into enemy hands and the label needing to be read by a medic who was unfamiliar with Fraktur.

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Many thanks Mike, these were quite helpful. I did find examples on the internet that were slightly different. THe ones I saw were also a bit different but contained the same information and the same format. The booklet has 25 slips, most for wounds, some for illness, some for gas poisoning.

I too suspect the font used was designed for ease of reading and possibly for enemy use if that occurred. I had no idea how difficult it was to locate examples of these slips as they were made in the millions and it seems so few have survived.

Thanks again.

Ralph

[squirrel]

Just wondering why the coloured edges seem to be perforated - perhaps for tearing off as the casulaty passed through the medical "chain"?

[Mike_H]

Squirrel

The edges are perforated so that they could removed to denote the category of wounded or sick - this is explained at the top of the labels eg

"Marschfahig: kein roter streifen" translates as "Fit to walk/march, no red stripes".

M

[squirrel]

Thanks M.

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

I did a bit more checking on these tags. It came from a collection of souvenirs brought home by a soldier in the AEF and was part of a larger paper group of similar items.

I looked for the versions from WWII and the ones I found did not match these so I took the plunge and picked them up. They are difficult to scan as most are still attached to the card and cannot be laid flat fully. I managed to scan two fairly well, they are similar to the ones posted above but slightly different. I am still hopeful they fit into the Great War period and from all that I could find out it appears they might.

Ralph

1

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

2

[Mike_H]

Ralph

I'm afraid I can't confirm a date for the labels you show. Perhaps our friend Siege Gunner can give us a date based on the typeface?

Mike

[SiegeGunner]

Ralph's labels use the same typeface (which I am pretty sure is Accidenz-Grotesk) as one of the earlier ones, but are visibly better designed and laid out, and therefore evidently later. A-G was created in about 1908 and is still in use today, so the typeface in itself doesn't really help.

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

I suspect it could either be a late war item or possibly a variation of the form used by one of the German states possibly. I was able to locate some 1930-1945 versions and there is enough difference to support the information I obtained from the seller. Either way they are a great addition to the collection of odd and unusual items.

Ralph