Telo Tenda. Do's and Don'ts.

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supermario
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Telo Tenda. Do's and Don'ts.

Post by supermario »

Ok, after all the debates and so on that rage regarding thiese items, myself and some comrades got all our originals and compared them to post war ones. I'll post up the pics as follows.

WARTIME TELO TENDAS

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Of the all these wartime versions, one common denominator was found. The back of the telo was undyed.

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Like thus. All of them had the classic 'Mackeral' marking (The brown edging stripe on the seams and edges) Stitiched on buttons of either Tan or Brown bakelite or the aluiminum (Brown painted or plain). They all had stitched grommet holes in thick black/grey cotton. All of them suffer from the overall drabness of the colour. It has a grey hue over all the colours, especially the green section. 50% of these telo's had dates, one from 1933, one from 1941 and three from 1942. Although the brown on some might look un-chocolate, they are definate wartime. They are a little faded. For some reason, the brown fades quicker than the rest of the colours. Many examples show this.
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supermario
Posts: 209
Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2005 1:47 am

Re: Telo Tenda. Do's and Don'ts.

Post by supermario »

Ok, second part of the post, post war telo's.

EARLY POST WAR

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This type is really early, possibly late fories to early fifties. It still has the mackeral pattern, but the colours are brighter. It is constructed the same way, but it has a different back. It is dyed with an orange brown colour, and has no makers marks, except a print applied to the strip, all around the edges. It reads CHROMO COTTONE.

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Orange-brown backing dye

Here are other examples of post war ones

60'S ONWARDS TELO TENDA'S

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And here is the back of one of them..

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An orangy brown hue to the back.

Along with the backing colour, the post war telo's do ont have the classic mackeral pattern, and the vast majority have metal fittings and rivetted buttons. Construction is similar to wartime, but with those elements.

So, as Pointers, here are four general rules to follow.

1 - Pattern. Look for the mackeral pattern on the centre seam and edges.
2 - Colour- The wartime telo's are drab/dull in colour. The green element is a good indicator. It must be a grey green in colour, closer to grey.
3 - Fittings. All wartime have woven grommet holes and sewn on buttons.
4 - Backing colour. Wartime versions do not have the orange brown colour applied. They are left bare.

If you follow these four rules, then you shouldn't go wrong. There are anomilies in this. One wartime version we had has a backing colour, but it is chocolate brown, not orangy, and as it was made in 1933, it was made a little more carefully. It featured 'proper' button holes, not the regular rectangle ones you usually see and was constructed far more carefully than the wartime production ones. However, if you're in doubt, don't buy it.

I hope this helps.

Neil
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A.Weiss
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Re: Telo Tenda. Do's and Don'ts.

Post by A.Weiss »

Hi Neil,

Excellent explanation, :P now I have more questions about it telo italian camo. :wink:

A.Weiß
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Sturmschar
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Location: Reigate Mozambique

Re: Telo Tenda. Do's and Don'ts.

Post by Sturmschar »

Nice one Neil old chap - this means that my 12 section tent is late 40's early 50's :P
Here's a shot with Kitkat modeling it (and the panther).
Andy

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Always keep the boot of destiny aimed at the arse of anticipation!
Stigroadie

Re: Telo Tenda. Do's and Don'ts.

Post by Stigroadie »

Top work Neil.
There should be a 'stickie' section for quality research like this. Perhaps a post on the panzergrenadier.net front page?
supermario
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Re: Telo Tenda. Do's and Don'ts.

Post by supermario »

Further to this topic, here is what the date stamp should like like, in its proper WW2 Format.

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Ok, it is usually printed in waterproof black ink, and can be found on the back of the Telo Tenda. Position varies, but usually near one of the edging strips. The N is the factory code. The date is self explainatory. The lower number is probably an order code. Note the 4 and the 8's. The four is squat in appearance, the 8's reversed.

Factory codes vary, but most commonly seen ones are 'N' , 'M' and 'A'.

Unlike the weapons the Italians used, i have never seen the 'Fascist' year date stamp applied to Telo Tenda's. (That being in the form of Roman Numerals, starting from the year 1922 - Eg :- 1940 is 18 years from the beginning of fascist rule, so weapons made that year were stamped '940 - XVIII' (Further note is the ommitance of the number '1' form '1940' on weapons. It only occurs with firearms))

Neil
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supermario
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Re: Telo Tenda. Do's and Don'ts.

Post by supermario »

Next Addition. Buttons.

All the buttons below are used on WW2 Telo Tenda's.

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All the buttons above are metal. Note the differences in shape and size. All appear on WW2 period Telo's. The top one has been painted brown. These often feature on the Tropical Telo Tenda.The other buttons are left bare metal.

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Three hole Tan Bakelite button. Common in use upto mid war.

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Aluminium three hole button. Common usage mid to late war.

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Dark Brown four hole Bakelite button. Common usage. This pattern was also made in plastic for post war Telo Tenda's, and even features on some of the post war Rivetted button version, being uilised at the neck hole.

All these button types can be found on Telo Tenda Mimetico's. Use for reference in your ' I want an original Telo Tenda, but not to cut up to make a pair of Panzer unterhosen' escapades. :wink:

Neil
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mauser98
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Re: Telo Tenda. Do's and Don'ts.

Post by mauser98 »

Neil,
Great stuff as always. Excellent block of instruction.

Cheers,
Jim
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