How to cover your ears?

[Uncle Pig]

I was asked this question and could not answer it.

In the winter in the colder areas did the people have cold weather hats with earflaps or did they just use a scarf. I know the Elmer Fudd hunter hat is post war but did they have a mechanics hat or some other kind with ear covers?

[PvtShot]

Mark,

Try a Balaclava? I purchased one before Outpost and it really helped in keeping me warm, especially when trying to get some sleep! It is basically a "head sock " or period "ski mask", for lack of better decriptions. They are worth their weight in gold druning a cold night and will usually fit under a Hardee or forage cap for late night or early morning picket duty! Good luck;)

[PieBoy96]

Maybe a furry hat like the one worn in the below photograph! It looks like the sides fold down to cover the ears at least a little bit. I think there is some sort of clasp in the front that holds them up and out of the way when not in use.

Taken from the LoC photo, "Washington, D.C. Workmen in front of the Trimming Shop. April 1865" LC-B817

[Uncle Pig]

That might be appropriate for a person sleeping in the cold outdoors but if you were a merchant or professional walking around town what would you use?

[Hank Trent]

I have a hat like in the photograph except it's all fur, not just the flap part. The problem's the same as the guy in the picture. Look how far above the ears it is! When you fold the flap down, it just barely touches the tops of ears even after tugging the hat down. Is that just the way those hats are meant to be, or are they supposed to cover the whole ear?

For the Elmer Fudd / Sherlock Holmes style hunting cap with the flip up ear flaps and visor and the little loops on top, see The Workwoman's Guide, London 1838, plate 19. Don't know how common it was in America in the period.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Johnny Lloyd]

Hello-

If your unit/mess/impression uniform regulations allow a "Forage Cap" (aka wheel hat) from the Mexican War era, some of those had ear flaps that could come-down over the ears.
Of course, I have heard of discussions that MOST Mex War stuff (being 20 years old by the time of the Am Civ) wasn't issued to Civil War units and that this has been overrepresented in our hobby.
This issue can be debated either way using the proper source materials. I'd suggest before you choose to go this route with your impression, check your research extra-hard since this is such an open-ended debate.

Personally, I have an old wool scarf for my ears under my forage or slouch hat. ;)

Thanks- Johnny Lloyd

[Prodical Reb]

In this picture below several of the guards (Invalid Corps or Veteran Reserve) at Camp Douglas, Chicago, IL who are wearing fur hats that look like a trappers hat or mountian man's hat. It is definetly not an issue hat. Seems appropriate for some civilian impressions.

There is a High Def scan of this picture in either the LOC or Nat'l Archives. I can't find it right now. Maybe some help would be in order to find the HD scan.

[ohpkirk]

The hat that I made for myself from looking at examples in the LOC collodian collection is constructed of a dark brown very fulled satinette with nutria lined 'ear flaps'. The 'flaps' were one continuous rectangle running from the fore of one ear around the back of the head to the fore of the opposite ear. They fold up exactly as the flap on the aforementioned m1839 forage cap and have a brown 1/4 inch tabby woven cotton tape that buckles at the middle front with a small two prong buckle that Joe Hoffmann used to sell on his site. The pattern is basically a circle or oval for the top of the cap, a large rectangle for the body, and a smaller rectangle for the flap. The visor I used was an enamelled leather visor such as used on other civilian wheel caps of the period. I lined the body of the cap with quilted polished cotton. If you need any dimensions for the rectangles, let me know and I will let you know some basic dimensions (probably next week as I am about to go out of town this weekend).


Hope this helps,

[MissouriStateGuard]

Hello All,

From a cdv backmarked Muscatine, Iowa, with tax stamp cancelled January 1865. Several varieties of fur hats here!

Kip

[Prodical Reb]

I found the particular high def scan of the above mentioned photo at Camp Douglas. It wasn't in the N.N. or LOC. I found it here:

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/10434.html

look in the fore ground of the guards. You will see the hats there.

[sepoy1857]

Thanks Michael

What a great link. It's amazing how much detail you can see when you zoom in! You can see shell jackets, frocks, sack coats, and count the buttons; make out different types of hats, and all that. Great stuff!