And speaking of lightning bolts of dubious origin, I also saw a skinhead walking around there wearing a “Heil Odin” shirt.

Now I just need a post about shitty corndogs for the trifecta…

anyway… should be fun trying to get that back into the US and through any TSA checks involved in transit to his home destination…

And good lord – are we that overly sensitive that something that looks like the Sig rune (even if there is only one) is automatically related to the SS?

“No, no…the ’88′ on my other arm is because I’m a fan of old artillery!”

As it is, assuming that the queen is the one shell with the bullet still in it and that the blue bottom indicates black pieces, it is only the black pieces that are set up correctly.

The usual divisions, in order of value to collectors, are: stuff made by military personnel during wartime; stuff made by POWs; stuff made by convalescents; stuff made by local civilians to sell as souvenirs; and commercially produced souvenir items made from postwar scrap.

Some links:

More trench art from Afghanistan.
The Wikipedia entry.
There’ve been various books published on the subject.
A site about WWI trench art.
Another site about WWI trench art.
It’s a regular category for antique militaria dealers.
It’s all over eBay.
And it turns up on Dinosaurs and Robots.

Interesting quote:

“Prisoners of war on both sides of the conflict produced an amazing variety of artifacts made for sale to soldiers or civilians in areas near the camps in which they were interned. Some camps held artistic exhibitions in which these handicrafts were offered for sale to the public. British civilians in Ruhleben, a camp outside Berlin, produced a number of objects made by melting down silver coins. They also made inventive use of available materials such as rat skins to make leather wallets. Many of these items were sent home as souvenirs to their families in Britain. German prisoners in Britain created flower vases and napkin rings using mutton and beef bones from their rations, while Turkish prisoners made realistic snakes and other objects from beads. Russian prisoners made use of their woodworking skills to produce carved cigarette boxes and other items. Members of the Royal Naval Division interned in Holland crafted a variety of wooden boxes and picture frames. …”

I’ll add that British WWI convalescents did a lot of embroidery, and I recall reading somewhere that knitting was a great consolation to British POWs during WWII. Makers make; that’s all there is to it.

Bishop: 7.62 Nato unfired cartridge

King: .50 BMG unfired cartridge (the one with the silver tip in the background is probably armor-piercing incendiary, while the one in the foreground appears to be the infamous Raufoss Mk 211)

Queen: .50 BMG spent shell casing

Knight: No idea.

Rook: spent 40mm grenade casings

I’ve only met one or two soldiers who were interested in making subtle statements on the malleability of symbolic language. At least, till their CO asks why they’re drawing Swastikas on their stuff.