So here we have an excellent study of the Musicians of, 7. Badisches Infanterie-Regt. Nr.142'' from the Mülhausen and Mühlheim areas of the Grand Duchy of Baden. Their home in the south of the state (and the south of the German Empire) borders with Switzerland, and is a very attractive area full of "chocolate box" housing. These men are shown with a Tuba in the background, and in all but 4 cases, are dressed in the Dunkelblau-Rock which sports Golden Yellow shoulder boards with 142 in Red chain stitch. The outer 2 men, are both "Jnfatererists" or Privates, lacking any insignia of Rank. The central 4 figures are NCOs. 2nd from the left at the front, and 3rd from the left on the rear are both Unteroffizieren (Corporals) sporting gold "Treße" (Rank Lace) around the collar and cuffs, and the persons to the right of them are both Sergeants (Lance-Sergeant), as shown by the collar/cuff Treße, and large button to the rear of the red patch. We can also see here that the highlighted men are wearing the Reservist Style "Kleine-Rock" which is a lighter blue concealed button jacket. You will note that each has Red Patches to the front, which denotes the Branch of service to be Infantry. No.1 is a Sergeant (treße and button) No. 2, lacks the button, showing him to be an Unteroffizier. No.4 appears to be an "Jnfatererist" or Private, No.3 appears to be also an "Jnfanterist" but it is possible he is a Gefreiter, as it is difficult to make out whether he has the button to the collar, owing to the light glare. All persons here are wearing the regulation Bandsman's Swallow Nests, "Schwalbennester" which consist of Gold Tresse in vertical bands, finished with a horizontal band to the lower position of the "nest" and this is grounded on a Red base, matching the turn backs of the tunic. Whilst it is true that the Ranks of Sergeant and Vizefeldwebel are usually hard to determine between, in this case, we can be sure, as "Warrant Officers" such as Vizefeldwebel, Feldwebel, etc, had a further decoration of golden fringes on their Bandsman's Swallow Nests, hanging from the lower line of Treße. You can clearly see this is Christmas time with the decorated spruce in the rear. The sender of this card "Richard" appears to be one of the Sergeants in the centre, with a cross above him.
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