What is this? Hello. I was wondering if anyone knows what this could be.

PWALDPQ

Cadet
Joined
May 23, 2020
cbb.jpg


Does anyone know what this insignia stands for? It's a kepi insignia.
 
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Hello @PWALDPQ and welcome to CivilWarTalk - the best place on the internet for Civil War discussion. Unfortunately, I can't help with IDing the insignia, but I can page some folks who might know. @ucvrelics @major bill @Package4 In the meantime, can you post some pictures of the back of the insignia? I know they are going to want to see the back too.
 
Welcome from THE Heart of Dixie. It is not per say a GAR badge as these wreath type badges where used by not only GAR but UCV, police, fire depts, bands etc.
 
This item is available on eBay for $94.00. It was listed May 14, 2020 at O8:24:44 PDT by Dixie Relics. It is described as "Original Civil War CBB Wreath Brass Hat Kepi Insignia Badge." <dixierelicsonline.com> is the website of the store. Dixie Relics claims this is a C.W. cap insignia but says that they don't know what unit the insignia stands for, which means they don't have a clue were it came from.

My favorite citation from a C.B.B. google search is the Center for Biocatalysis & Bioprocessing. It is about as likely as the Civil War origin.

There were Civil War batteries that went by initials. CBTB was the Chicago Board of Trade Battery, for example. Perhaps there is someone who has dived into hat badges far deeper than I have (which wouldn't take much effort) who has seen such a badge, but I haven't seen individual batteries such as the CBTB having hat badges made up.
 
It may not even be military or Civil War era at all as such emblems were used well into the late 1800's. It could stand for _______ Brass Band or _______ Boys Band. I had one with WCB at one time that was identified to Worcester Cornet Band.
 
It may not even be military or Civil War era at all as such emblems were used well into the late 1800's. It could stand for _______ Brass Band or _______ Boys Band. I had one with WCB at one time that was identified to Worcester Cornet Band.
Could it be Co. B Band?
 
Companies were too small to have a band. Typically they may have one or two drummers and maybe a fifer. Could hardly qualify as a band. Prior to 1862 many regiments had bands, but most were abolished when the government ceased providing for them, putting the focus on fighting forces. Some did continue throughout the war. Some larger cities had bands with some military connections. For example, the Boston Brigade Band (their belts had the initials BBB) performed at many of the militia displays in pre-Civil War Boston. As for this piece in question, I feel there is really no way to prove it has actual military connection unless someone comes up with an identified hat or photo showing it. But if you like it as an old interesting piece worthy of further research and it is worth the purchase price to you, have at it. But just hoping it has a military, especially a Civil War connection, will not make it so.
 
I am no expert but it does kind of appear to be post Civil War. The "B.B." part is of interest. Who knows, but brass band is a possibility. Cadets from military academies wore cap insignia but "BB" does not ring a bell for me.
 
Just because a seller is claiming something to be Civil War, does not mean that it is. Some are deceitful on purpose, but even the best intentioned ones make honest mistakes. No one knows everything in this field. Even on this forum we correct and augment each other's information all the time. I have made a number of good buys from well known dealers who may have misidentified or missed a detail on an item. I've also made some mistakes too, but they get fewer over the years. As for this particular seller offering this piece, please see my earlier post in November "Help Identifying Military Shako". I bought it from this same seller on ebay. He identified it as an identified Model 1864 Light Artillery shako but I knew I had seen it somewhere else. After some quick reference work I believed it to be a pre-Civil War New York 7th Regt Militia shako and jumped on it as pre-war militia items are scarce. Further research confirmed my belief and I eventually found the original owner listed on the 1858 Roll of the NY 7th Regiment.
 
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