Tiki Central / Tiki Marketplace / eBay: Rare Vintage Hawaiian Surfer medal,Duke Kahanamoku NM
Post #370167 by bigbrotiki on Sat, Mar 29, 2008 8:52 PM
You are viewing a single post.
Click here to view the post in context.
|
B
bigbrotiki
Posted
posted
on
Sat, Mar 29, 2008 8:52 PM
That is the German Iron Cross medal, given out in WWI and WWII: http://www.theaerodrome.com/medals/germany/prussia_ic.php I can only fathom that it was used as an icon of cool among surfers just as it was popular among bikers. American G.I.s brought these back in droves as WWII victory souvenirs from Germany, and some of these disenfranchised WWII veterans who could not find a way back into normalcy actually formed the first biker gangs a la "The Wild Bunch". |