Berets, Anyone?

[Moca]

Got my Basco Popolare Operaio Uomo today, one in black and one in navy, via http://www.cappelleriamelegari.com
€ 15,00 each and € 10,00 postage, aint it sweet to order within the EU

Had a look, sounded good, but sweetness only within the EU I guess. prices are quite different for outside eu customers

 

[Kreissaege]

Oh yes, and its the first time I could buy a basque beret "locally".

 

[Heinrich]

@Kreissaege:
Does this beret have any kind of lining?

Gruß nach Darmstadt
Heinrich

 

[biox62]

Just thinking I'm French, and I have no beret... It's a shame....

 

[Daan]

Just thinking I'm French, and I have no beret... It's a shame....

...but easily solved

 

[biox62]

...but easily solved

Thank you, just hesitate between a Bakkara and a Niebla one.... [huh]

 

[Kreissaege]

@Kreissaege:
Does this beret have any kind of lining?

Gruß nach Darmstadt
Heinrich

No pre-defined size, no headband, no lining.
http://www.cappelleriamelegari.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=2072

These are with lining, headband and come in sizes. Otherwise they seem to be the same
http://www.cappelleriamelegari.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=1350

The inside of mine

 

[Daan]

Got my Basco Popolare Operaio Uomo today, one in black and one in navy, via http://www.cappelleriamelegari.com
€ 15,00 each and € 10,00 postage, aint it sweet to order within the EU

Funny. Doing the maths, I found that for any non-EU customer it is cheaper to buy this Italian made Basco Roma from South Pacific Berets (at the other side of the world, literally) than directly from Italy:
€ 15.00 for the basco and € 19.00 for postage (outside EU) makes € 34.00 or US$ 44.86 at today's exchange rate.
From South Pacific Berets you'd pay $ 32.50 plus $ 11.10 on postage (to anywhere in the world) equals $ 43.60.
No denying I'm happy the comparison shows that I do charge minimum prices, but at the same time, it's sad to see how ridiculously cheap it is to send goods backwards and forwards across the globe... But then, how many beret retailers would you find in your local community?

 

[Italian-wiseguy]

It seems that what Melegari calls the "berretto basco popolare operaio Pino" (popular worker basque beret Pino...) is obviously and evidently the "Basco Roma" purchased by Baschificio Setti, with another name

(for some reason that eludes me... "Roma" being way easier to remember and more evocative than "berretto basco popolare operaio Pino" ) and, again, without giving credit to the real producer
(which is unfair, as the same website sells Borsalinos and Stetsons with their own brand!)

I mentioned before that I have two Romas in slightly different diameters, apparently; well the smaller Roma had the internal headband "wrinkled" somehow (I purcheased them both in a market!)... now I straightened it up, and difference in diameter seems almost completely gone, given the fact that I used the smaller one a lot more than the other...

Anyway, I'm enjoying both my Romas, alternating them with a larger french beret in rainy days...

 

[Heinrich]

No denying I'm happy the comparison shows that I do charge minimum prices, but at the same time, it's sad to see how ridiculously cheap it is to send goods backwards and forwards across the globe... But then, how many beret retailers would you find in your local community?

That's what I always think when putting on one of my favorite berets:
My Boina Espinosa Algodon went from Argentina to New Zealand and from there half around the world to Germany. And my Elosegui Superlujo first went from Spain to Seattle, before it finally arrived at my home. Sounds silly, but there was no cheaper way to get these berets.

 

[Kreissaege]

But then, how many beret retailers would you find in your local community?[/SIZE][/FONT]

None!
The only good thing in ordering within the EU is the lack of the customs-procedure.
I order photographic equipment from China and get it within a week. A beret from NZ takes 3 weeks with invoice and six weeks without. Of course, not your fault, Dan, but this is ridiculous.

 

[Daan]

None!
The only good thing in ordering within the EU is the lack of the customs-procedure.
I order photographic equipment from China and get it within a week. A beret from NZ takes 3 weeks with invoice and six weeks without. Of course, not your fault, Dan, but this is ridiculous.

Ridiculous, indeed. But it would be fair to state that this only happens to customers in Germany. The German authorities started a campaign against it's citizens buying overseas (quite understandable, many countries loose enormous amounts of revenue due to international internet sales), but somehow the Germans lack efficiency(!) in doing so - delaying parcels up to 8 weeks! And in the end, I have only heard from two German customers that they had to pay additional duties/taxes (of a few dollars only).
These days I warn German customers about this and had a few posts on The Beret Project (here and here). Unfortunately, German Customs completely ignored these...

The good side of this matter is that parcels always do arrive; some within a week, most between 2 and 3 weeks and yes, some up to 8 weeks after sending.

German Customs with their green berets

 

[Heinrich]

Nice Photos, but wrong Topic!

Dear Daan,

your photos of the Bundesgrenzschutz's berets and uniforms are really nice, but these guys have nothing to do with our custom issues! The name "Bundesgrenzschutz" contains the german word "Grenze" (which means "border" in english), but they do not collect any customs. In fact they are Gemany's federal police. Due to our federal constitution, every federal state has it's own police, and in addition there is the Bundesgrenzschutz with special comprehensive duties and responsibilities.

The "evil custom collectors" are called "Zollbeamte" in Germany, but they also wear berets.

 

[Kreissaege]

My Boina Espinosa Algodon went from Argentina to New Zealand and from there half around the world to Germany. And my Elosegui Superlujo first went from Spain to Seattle, before it finally arrived at my home.

On a smaller scale, its the same with Joghurt and Shrimps. 5000km until everything lands on the table is quite common

 

[alsendk]

I stumbled over this flickr-group. Lots of pictures, old and new, from people wearing a basque beret
http://www.flickr.com/groups/txapela/pool/

It truly is a fine site you have found on Flickr Kreissaege...very interesting, and lots of berets :O)

 

[Daan]

Dear Daan,
your photos of the Bundesgrenzschutz's berets and uniforms are really nice, but these guys have nothing to do with our custom issues! The name "Bundesgrenzschutz" contains the german word "Grenze" (which means "border" in english), but they do not collect any customs. In fact they are Gemany's federal police. Due to our federal constitution, every federal state has it's own police, and in addition there is the Bundesgrenzschutz with special comprehensive duties and responsibilities.

The "evil custom collectors" are called "Zollbeamte" in Germany, but they also wear berets.

Thanks, Heinrich. I should have known, really. As a 16 year old, I remember being stopped by these fellows with green berets while "illegally" crossing the Dutch-German border on my moped (the petrol was some 40 cents cheaper in Germany, but usually not carrying a passport on me, I learned about the back-roads through the forest...).
Unlike in Germany, the difference between Customs and Border Guards is not always so clearly defined, but many of these units seem to take to green berets: the Germans, the Israeli Border Police

,
the Russian Federal Border Guards

the Finnish being the exception with brown berets

and the Swiss with maroon berets

 

[Daan]

An interesting group of beret-wearers are the Wally Byam Caravanners.

In 1929, Wally Byam purchased a Model T Ford chassis, built a platform on it, towed it with his car to a campsite, and painstakingly erected a tent on it. The effort was tiresome and unpleasant, especially when it rained. Spurred on by his first wife Marion, Wally built a tear-drop-shaped permanent shelter on the platform that enclosed a small ice chest and kerosene stove. He then published an article that ran under the headline, "How to Build a Trailer for One Hundred Dollars." Readers wrote Wally for more detailed instruction plans, which he sold at a cost of one dollar each. The response was extraordinary, earning him more than $15,000. After building several trailers for friends in his backyard, "the neighbors started complaining that I was making too much noise," Wally observed, "so I went out and rented a building." Airstream Trailer Company went into full production in 1932, when fewer than 48 trailer manufacturers were registered for business. Five years later, nearly 400 companies squared off against each other. Today, of those 400, only Airstream remains.

Wally liked to wear Wellington boots and plaid shirts with them. His choice of headgear was a blue beret, which he had spied in France. He wore the beret on his first Central American caravan, and it was quickly adopted by fellow caravanners as a means to identify each other in a crowd. The blue beret became a caravan essential. While Wally's fashion taste was offbeat casual, his office at Airstream was a "nightmare of disorder," recalled Stella Hall Byam, Wally's second wife.

I found that the navy berets are only worn by the male W.B. followers; the women seem to wear a white or pink variety. I have two in my collection, cheap affairs from China, that regularly appear on Ebay. I don't think W.B. himself would have settled for less than French...

 

[Heinrich]

Thanks, Heinrich. I should have known, really. As a 16 year old, I remember being stopped by these fellows with green berets while "illegally" crossing the Dutch-German border on my moped (the petrol was some 40 cents cheaper in Germany, but usually not carrying a passport on me, I learned about the back-roads through the forest...).

Ah, yes - at the Dutch-German border they have always been very observant! Not because of the moped petrol being smuggled from Germany to the Netherlands, but rather because of the special herbs being transported the other direction...

;-)

 

[Kreissaege]

Maybe Daan paid for his petrol with these "herbs"?

 

[Daan]

Maybe Daan paid for his petrol with these "herbs"?

No need for a courier on a moped. I certainly would have, but my German 'neighbours' were all too keen to come themselves across the border, enjoy Dutch hospitality and get their quota.