Dig Dis Funky Hat!

[rebyank]

Pards, came across this on Ebay, what's everyones oppinion?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=36035&item=2232612375

Looks kinda cool to me :tounge_sm

[KentuckyReb]

One of the 'swords' looks almost like...a shepherd's crook, or something like that. Was a sword and a crook or ? an emblem used by the GAR? If not, I almost get the impression that this is a piece of regalia from one of the fraternal organizations so popular in the 19th Century. Is a kinda cool-lookin' chapeau.

[hardtack61]

hi,

I might be wrong but this hat looks like to me a 1839 Mexican war forage cap. There's a few patterns to this forage cap so it could be anyone of them. Looks to me like its a officer type. Like i said i might be wrong !

[hireddutchcutthroat]

I think it may be a late 19th early 20th century PA national guard chaplins cap.

[sask]

I think it may be a late 19th early 20th century PA national guard chaplins cap.

Looks like an old band hat to me.

[sask]

I for got to sign my name
Sue Anne Knowlton

[KentuckyReb]

Chaplain's cap. Sword and crook... I hadn't thought of that.

[ScottCross]

The bell-crown style hat was adopted by the US Military as part of the new uniform regs of 1902. Fraternal organizations and bands usually followed suit a few years later. This is definately NOT a GAR emblem on the front. The crossed swords don't match US regulations either. It is probably a lodge hat, but I don't recognize which one. The early 1900s were a boom time for lodges in the US, most no longer exist.

[John of the Skulkers Mess]

If you're soliciting wild guesses, mine would be K of C And I ain't talking about where you get fried chicken, unless its on church nights...


:confused_

John Pillers

[hireddutchcutthroat]

The bell-crown style hat was adopted by the US Military as part of the new uniform regs of 1902. Fraternal organizations and bands usually followed suit a few years later. This is definately NOT a GAR emblem on the front. The crossed swords don't match US regulations either. It is probably a lodge hat, but I don't recognize which one. The early 1900s were a boom time for lodges in the US, most no longer exist.

Scott

I think you are right on this. Half the buildings in Oakland and the town of Alameda (near Oakland) were built as some sort of fraternal lodge. Every one of them had its own goofball getup to wear on lodgenight.

[Matt Caldwell]

The metal eyelets on the sides should have given it away as clearly being post war.

[tomarch]

I belive this is an I.O.O.F. hat. The Odd Fellows had a sort of military-style regalia and the crossed crook and sword is one of their devises. Is there any indiciation of who made it? M.C.Lilley & Co., Columbus Ohio, made quite a lot of Fraternal gear in the 19th C.

Tom Smith Redshirt Mess
Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus :D

[Canton Zouave]

This would be one of the types of dress hats of the Patriarch Militants of the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows. The Patriarch Militants was formed along the lines of the Masonic Knights Templar, and became part of the order in 1886. Their official emblem was the Crossed Crook & Sword with Crown, and their official motto was "Justitia Universalis" (Universal Justice) and "Paux aut Bellum" (Peace or War)

A little more reserach would have to be done to determine the proper ID for the PA (Pennsylvania...maybe) & the number 31

An article on the brief history of the Odd Fellows was featured in "The North Light" the quarterly publication of Supreme Council 33rd degree, Ancient & Accepted Scottish Right, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, USA. Volume 35, No. 1, Pages 9-11. The authur was Mark A. Tarbert, 32 Degree, who is the curator of the Masonic National Heritage Museum. The Musuem has one of the largest collection of IOOF artifacts in the nation, as per the article.

Yes, they are working to preserve more than just our Masonic Heritage.

[tomarch]

Todd: Thanks for the more informative info! I knew it was I.O.O.F., I just
couldn't recall the particulars.

Tom Smith , E.C.V.