Please Help! Can Anyone Help Me With The Dating of This Army Engineers Mass. Rgt. Shako?

[TWSmith]

Greetings,

 

I bought an old US Army Corps of Engineers Dress Shako and was wondering if anyone could help me date it. Pre-Civil War? Civil War? Indian Wars? The shako has Mass. State Buttons and a D. Klein Bros. Philadelphia PA Paper tag with owners name.  Any information concerning this shako would be greatly appreciated.

[AustinO]

20th century/turn of century. Most likely a marching band/school/academy uniform piece.   Would start by looking at what academies were operating in MA before WWI. 

[TWSmith]

Thank you for your comments. Pre-WW1/turn of the century does sound right. However, would a Mass. military school or academy shako be specific enough as to have a corps of engineer insignia on it? I don't know? Not even West Point or Annapolis is so specific to have arm of service insignia with their dress headgear. Also, the buttons have the Mass. state seal on them. Could that not refer to a earlier state militia or other state related group? It could be a military school dress hat. I don't know? I guess I'll have to do some more digging. Thanks again.

[TWSmith]

I just found a site about a Mass. NG/Militia Unit of the 101st Engineer Battalion. The unit has been around since the Am. Revolution and is regarded as one of the oldest militia units in the US. I wonder if this shako could be a related piece? 

[US Victory Museum]

Address in your shako reads:

 

D. Klein & Bro.
715-717-719 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA

 

The company existed from 1854 thru 1927; however, not at the same
location.  To better date your item, you need to determine during
which years the company was at this particular location.  I've
seen at least two other street addresses for them.

Based on the buttons, I'd make an educated guess that this shako
is post 1900 (i.e  Relatively modern.)

The company produced uniforms and equipment for bands and

military organizations as advertised in their No. 36 catalogue (1923). 

They also produced and sold coat buttons for musicians uniforms.  

 

Your shako looks like a band type item, as it differs significantly
from other known Massachusetts militia shakos.  All over New England one
can still find high schools with drum and fife corps that have uniforms
like those worn during the American revolutionary war.   Traditional

appearance doesn't necessarily mean antique.

 

 

 

 

 

[TWSmith]

I do believe that the hat is from the turn of the century. The militia engineer unit itself has been around since the Rev. War (sorry for the confusion). I'll try to find out more about the maker and their address. Great idea, thanks.

[TWSmith]

From what I can piece together, D. Klein Bros. were at Walnut St. Philidelphia in 1924, Market St. Phili in the 1880's. No such luck with the Arch St. address. I have found some other hats made by D. Klien online made around the turn of the century. These hats all seem to have a printed company stamp maker mark on them. The shako I have has a paper label. Puzzling??