Admittedly part of this post is due to my negligence in not bookmarking a critical post that (I believe) came from this forum. Granted I peruse several US militaria forums this one has proven the most friendly and lively so far so I suspect I found them here (and it didn't help that I caught Pneumonia shortly after finding them and didn't touch my computer for almost 2 weeks while I was struggling just to breathe!) The stands that I'm looking for/had found are similar to the ones I've seen in Mr.S's postings, though the stands were wider so that one could put a ribbon group or (UK) medal group on them and the fit was just perfect. I recall that the person that actually made the stands was a member of the forum and have been searching through here to try and re-trace my steps but to no luck. If someone knows which stands I'm referring to I'd very much like to get that information back so I could purchase some. I know a majority of items will fit nicely into Riker cases, though large medal group where there is something like a DSO just won't fit properly into one unless you carve out a hole for the reverse side, same with insignia snowflake insignia's. Sure they fit well into a Riker case though you can't display the part of it that's really pretty! I've always gone by the philsophy that militaria and historical items are meant to be displayed, not put into boxes and kept in the closet where no one ever sees them. Having a nice "collection" is great, but if you never get to see your own collection it sort of begs the question, why have one in the first place?
Pretty sure it wasn't there, looked through my email archive of confirmation pages and that wasn't one of them. Joined that particular forum several years ago and (at least at the time, it could be 180 now) found it to be very hostile, not helpful and some people just down right rude. Like I said, at the time at least I saw a pattern that seemed to emerge that it you weren't a long time forum member and were asking for verification on authenticity of an item it was a fake 100% of the time. I never felt comfortable there so have never gone back; that's not to say though that the person in question is the one you listed and I just found him elsewhere. I know I haven't logged on or perused that forum for at least a year or more. Edit: Think I found something comprable: http://www.jpscorner.com/Easels_Display_Stands.htm The Medium Easel is the kind of stand I was looking for. Although I'm 100% sure that the stands I'm refering to in my post were made by a member of the forum.
I cant offer anything for awards but, if you have paper documents that you also want to preserve and display? I hate giving a plug to Wal Mart but, in their section for frames, they have clear plastic stands that work great for award documents and such. I think they cost about $3 each??? Its been a couple years since I last bought any but, they still sell them as I purposely looked for them a few days ago.