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Hats Off to the Veteran


frederick
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Before WWII, most veteran organizations had a uniform of jacket, trousers and hat to identify them to the non-member public. The casual dress attitude of today does not have time for such things. Most veteran society uniforms are difficult to find today. Many are rare and seldom found complete with all insignia. However, one item has survived--the service style cap. Adopted by groups formed mostly after WWI, this fairly economical head gear is used by many societies today as its only uniform item.

The following illustrations show some of the current service style caps. Some groups have name changes (e.g., Amvets) which will cause several versions of their cap to exist. Some hats are shown made from different colors of materials hand having different shapes, but all illustrated caps are believed to be regular member's local unit caps. Societies large enough to have different color caps for officers beyond the local unit are caps more difficult to acquire and not shown at present.

Illustration One: American Legion caps. The most common and easiest to acquire, these caps show the two most common styles--Regular Cut and Fort Knox Style. The Sons of the American Legion cap with the R-W-B piping identifies it as a local members cap.

Illustration Two: Three currently active veteran groups. The Jewish War Veterans is of recent issue. The Fleet Reserve Assoc. and American Ex-Prisoners of War caps appear correct.

Illustration Three: here should be several version of the patch on Amvets caps since this groups changed its name several times (American Veterans of World War II; American Veterans of World War II and Korea: American Veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam; American Veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Persian Gulf). The Regular Veterans Association, formed in 1934 from previous veteran groups is open to all Honorably Discharged veterans regardless of when and where served. The Military Order of the Purple Heart cap is quite striking and a colorful addition to any collection.

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Illustration Four: Currently active, Catholic War Veterans items are surprisingly hard to find. More surprising is the number of Catholics who never heard of this group. Cam only assume the CBI cap is primarily WWII veterans and nearing the end of its existence. The French War Veterans is technically not American, but is located in America. Have a patch from the Free French War Veterans, but not sure the two item are form the same organization.

 

Illustration Five: Polish Legion of American Veterans, U.S.A. was formed in 1931 from several other Polish veteran groups. In 1946 they modified their insignia with the addition of the "ruptured duck".

 

Illustration Six: The Navy Club, U.S.A. is a small, but active, society for Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard veterans. The Disabled American Veterans caps show two variations in name embroidery.

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Illustration Seven: The Veterans of World War I, U.S.A. is a jackpot of variations. The first cap (top) and forth cap (bottom) have cloth patches with embroidered initials. The second cap has a cloth patch with painted or inked name and initials in additions to all items being on the opposite side. The third cap has all printed or inked patch and initials.

 

Illustration Eight: Almost as common as American Legion in my area, the Veterans of Foreign Wars caps are available in Regular Cut and Fort Knox Style as well as summer khaki and winter brown.

 

Illustration Nine: The Military Order of the Cootie cap requires a shift in thing about caps. Worn with points going ear to ear, the green tassels indicate a full cootie (1st Degree). Different color tassel and knot combinations indicate officers through the national level. The tassel-less cap may be an unused cap or one belonging to a "nit" or "grayback" (3rd and 2nd Degree).

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Illustration Ten: La Societe des 40 Hommes et 8 Chevaux--better know as the 40 & 8--has a WWI French Army style cap. The Blue lettering and piping indicate a post level member, Red, White and Gold lettering and piping combinations on blue caps indicate past officers from the district level to the national level.

 

Illustration Eleven: Just in case you were thinking the service style cap is the only type in existence, I have added this photo of two other veteran hats. The GAR hat is well known, but not cheap to acquire today. The National Order of Trench Rats is a fez style with the red rat on purple fez and nine inch tassel indicating a local unit member.

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General Apathy

Hi frederick, that's a very impressive array of caps you have shown, it's an history of identification in one go.

 

Very pleased to have seen it, and will be book marking for future reference.

 

Cheers ( Lewis )

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Frederick,

 

A great topic and great hats! thumbsup.gif

 

Please show us some more. I have never seen the Trench Rats fez and I did not realize how the Order of Cootie caps were worn. Very neat examples. How about a closeup of the Veterans of WWI painted patches?

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Thought I'd post one from a Vets org you didn't have.

The Polish Legion of American Veterans. The P.L.A.V. was formed in 1920 after World War I. It used to be a requirement to have been Polish to join but that was dropped in the 1990's. Here are two 1960's or 1970's examples. the top is the regular issue cap and the bottom belonged to a member of the drum and bugle corps.

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Frederick,

 

A great topic and great hats! thumbsup.gif

 

Please show us some more. I have never seen the Trench Rats fez and I did not realize how the Order of Cootie caps were worn. Very neat examples. How about a closeup of the Veterans of WWI painted patches?

 

Sarge,

 

Hope these images tell you what you need. The first photo is from the cap with embroidered patch and letters.

The second photo is the cap with embroidered patch and printed letters. This patch is a little larger than the first, but lacks the quality. It may also cover the printed version of the patch. It appears to be hand sewn.

Photo three is the printed version of patch and letters. The words VETERANS OF are missing, but trace evidence exists indicating they were on the patch at one time.

Photo four and five are close ups of the individual parts of photo three.

 

Not totally evident from all photos of this group's caps is the fully embroidered cap is typical cut cloth with red piping. The caps with printed lettering are wool felt--even the piping (see photo two) is a thin strip of red felt sewn to edge of cap. I would assume the first cap is from the earlier days of the society with a greater membership and more capital. The latter caps (all felt) are from the later days of the group and are an economic choice for a dwindling membership.

 

Frederick

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Frederick,

 

Thanks for the closeups. I see what you mean about the printed wording on the overseas cap.

 

Here is another form of GAR hat for the list. This one is an early GAR kepi that is identified to a Vermont Infantry officer.

 

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The GAR buttons on the chinstrap are rather unique. I have never seen these lined GAR buttons before. The buttons on his uniform are the standard intertwined GAR cyphers rather than this style button.

 

GAR_kepi_button.JPG

 

Notice that this kepi has a bound visor while some have an unbound leather visor.

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  • 4 months later...

Here's a hat from the Italian American War Veterans, current as of about 2005 (it's my own hat, never worn at a meeting). I used to have an old IA War Veterans hat, dating from about the 1930s, but I donated it to the Italian American Veterans museum near Chicago.

Pete

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...And here's the other side of the hat. The color is roughly navy blue. The logo is current, changed slightly when they went from Italian American World War Veterans to just Italian American War Veterans. Filippo Mazzei is the name of Illinois Post #1.

Pete

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  • 1 year later...

I have to bring this old thread to the top here.

 

I have a question for Frederick.

 

Did the American Legion ever use a cap piping similar to that of the FIRST SPECIAL SERVICE FORCE? (white w/ RED and BLUE flecks)

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  • 3 weeks later...
I have to bring this old thread to the top here.

 

I have a question for Frederick.

 

Did the American Legion ever use a cap piping similar to that of the FIRST SPECIAL SERVICE FORCE? (white w/ RED and BLUE flecks)

 

 

Holzi,

 

Sorry for the delay, December has been a busy month for me.

 

Wish I could give you a definite answer about the hat, but I have seen too many variations in hats that do not fit a standard pattern. As a general rule, the official hat supplied by the American Legion does not vary from official patters and colors. A white trim w'red and blue flakes is not part of the official pattern. Believe the Sons hat has a similar trim, but their hat is French blue. Sometimes a veteran who is cautious with his money may modify another hat. I have a Legion hat with an Italian-American veteran society patch neatly sewn over the Legion logo with only the gold rays visible beyond the edge of the new insignia.

 

Most Legion hats I have seen also have the Legion logo embroidered directly into the hat. Believe their earliest hats had a patch sewn on the side, but cannot confirm this variation.

 

From my batch of old Legion catalogs, I have learned that in the 1920s and 1930s the Legion only supplied the membership hat--not the uniform jacket and trousers. These items had to be purchased from uniform suppliers. Uniforms were a popular item at that time and worn by milkmen, hotel clerks, gas station attendants, delivery men, etc. Such companies also supplied uniforms to veteran societies following some official pattern. However, veteran groups that had a band or marching unit often wanted a distinctive uniform. And this desire created many variations in hats and jackets worn by veterans. This could be one source of your hat.

 

Another possibility stems from the many uniformed civilian groups during World War II. Blue and brown (or tan) seemed the most popular colors. Your hat may be a modification of one of these hats after the war.

 

A simple explanation would be that someone changed the trim edge, but this is a difficuly taks requiring soneone with great sewing skill even with a sewing machine.

 

It you get the chance, please post a picture of you hat. I would like to see it.

 

Francis R Frederick

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  • 3 years later...

The hat cord you are asking about Red/White/Blue is the current piping on the Lt.Blue Sons of the American Legion caps. The solid Dk Blue caps with gold piping are for Post level members and Officers. The White tops with Blue fold are for County Officers, solid white for state officers, and if I remember correctly, National Officers wear a red cap.

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  • 3 years later...

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