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P1912 USMC Officers khaki bell crown


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This is a very recent acquisition and thought I would post this for a couple reasons. First, until this cap came up for sale, despite studying Marine uniforms for the last decade, I didn't realize there was a difference between this hat (P1912) and the P1917 hat. I learned quickly, that this P1912 cap was introduced with the black visor and chin strap. In 1917, the Officer khaki cap changed to a russet brown visor and chin strap. Additionally, these earlier 1912 models are usually found as a stand alone cap without the ability to change out various covers. So early on, these officers had one hat with a green cover, one hat with a khaki cover, one with blue cover, etc. By 1917 or so, the military figured out that by producing a frame where covers could be removed, officers (and EM';s) could purchased several covers and interchange them. In some cases, a blue cap would be purchased and the covers slipped on top of the blue wool cap (these hats can be seen with the blue wool trim along the bottom just above the bill).

 

Anyway back to this hat here, once again it was manufactured as a khaki cap and the cover is not removable. It must be a rare cap as the officer corps in the Marine Corps between 1912 and 1917 was still pretty small. With the 1917 uniform regulation change, this cap here was regulation for only 5 years.

 

This hat has a light black colored stamp in block numerals denoting the size- 7 3/8 inside the cover. It is wicker frame construction with a nice patent label behind the leather sweat band to the rear. The patent label is dated January 7, 1913 with the patent number. EF appears in the center of the label. I suspected this was the maker. Officers caps were typically private purchase. On the advice of a very smart forum member, I searched the patent and found Elie Forman applied for and received this patent for weaving the wicker to produce this cap. He is not listed in a reference book I have on military manufacturers of this time period. A google search reveals a couple of train conductor hats he produced in 1913 that recently sold. I think he must have been a pretty small manufacturer perhaps not operating very long, although my book probably concentrates on those manufacturers who had contracted with the Government for military materials, and that was probably never the case with Forman and he likely just sold his hats retailIMG_0822.JPG.415deb995bc4d4859fee203e429419a8.JPG.

 

Anyway, I thought some of this information might be important to others and decided to post the hat. When acquired, it had a WWII period H-H Imperial ega (I knew this at time of purchase) but I had an appropriate unmarked P1912 Officers service cap ega in my stocks and quickly swapped it out. Kevin

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US Victory Museum

Fantastic addition to your collection, Kevin.    Are you able to read the markings inside the hat next

to the size?   They appear to the right of the 7⅜ stamp.   Possibly the owners initials, or name.

 

Your friend and fellow collector,

Msn

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Thank you! Yeah I saw that as well. I believe it may be the name Howard....first, last I don’t know and suspect it may be hard to nail down. I haven’t played with the name to see if there are officers with last name Howard in this time frame. Thanks again. 

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Excellent Kevin you got the manufacturer!!!! Again another top shelf item for that fantastic collection of yours!! Hope you are able to crack the name  

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Thank you Dirk! Assuming what is written in the hat is the name Howard, and assuming that is a last name and not first, a quick check has two possibilities. First is 1st Lt. William A. Howard is the most likely as he did considerable time in the Corps, was in during 1913, including a stint in a recruiting station on the East coast (perhaps close to this Boston hat maker?). The second is a 1st  Lt. Archie F. Howard who has some muster rolls for a two year period around 1916. 

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