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Making a forrage cap top fall forward

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  • Making a forrage cap top fall forward

    Does anybody know a way to make a forage cap (federal) slouch forward like you see in the period pictures? Maby steaming the front of the body of the hat will help. Any ideas are welcome! or look at how The Circle top almost touches the brim, as apposed to

    Caleb Courtney
    Soon to be with the 30th Indiana Co. F
    Caleb Courtney
    30th Indiana Co. F
    "judge not by what people say, but how they say it, and what they mean by what it."

  • #2
    Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

    I don't know if it is documented...I put a stitch in it to hole it in place. plm
    Save me a place at the fire,

    Paul L Muller

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    • #3
      Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

      Wear it and let it do it naturally...these guys in the pics wore their caps day in and day out, in all weather...
      Tom "Mingo" Machingo
      Independent Rifles, Weevil's Mess

      Vixi Et Didici

      "I think and highly hope that this war will end this year, and Oh then what a happy time we will have. No need of writing then but we can talk and talk again, and my boy can talk to me and I will never tire of listening to him and he will want to go with me everywhere I go, and I will be certain to let him go if there is any possible chance."
      Marion Hill Fitzpatrick
      Company K, 45th Georgia Infantry
      KIA Petersburg, Virginia

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      • #4
        Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

        Yes, let it do its thing. Over time, the stiffener will lose some of its ability to "stand" on its own. And, remember that the originals varied, too.

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        Marc A. Hermann
        Liberty Rifles.
        MOLLUS, New York Commandery.
        Oliver Tilden Camp No 26, SUVCW.


        In honor of Sgt. William H. Forrest, Co. K, 114th PA Vol. Infantry. Pvt. Emanuel Hermann, 45th PA Militia. Lt. George W. Hopkins & Capt. William K. Hopkins, Co. E, 7th PA Reserves. Pvt. Joseph A. Weckerly, 72nd PA Vol. Infantry (WIA June 29, 1862, d. March 23, 1866.) Pvt. Thomas Will, 21st PA Vol. Cavalry (WIA June 18, 1864, d. July 31, 1864.)

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        • #5
          Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

          Wear it in the shower.
          Robert Johnson

          "Them fellers out thar you ar goin up against, ain't none of the blue-bellied, white-livered Yanks and sassidge-eatin'forrin' hirelin's you have in Virginny that run atthe snap of a cap - they're Western fellers, an' they'll mighty quick give you a bellyful o' fightin."



          In memory of: William Garry Co.H 5th USCC KIA 10/2/64 Saltville VA.

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          • #6
            Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

            Time, steaming or wetting will do the job for the look you want. The last forage cap that I had I shaped by wetting. We used to shape our berets by soaking them in hot water placing them on our heads and getting the accepted look, then letting them dry while wearing them.
            Be careful as this is wool and may shrink the entire hat or cause a seam to split.
            The originals had rain to get there.

            Erik Simundson
            Erik Simundson

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            • #7
              Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

              I bought a size 3/8"or one size too large for just this reason.
              Lewis M Robinson Jr
              Armory Guards
              Snake Nation Disciples

              "They were the dirtiest men I ever saw. A most ragged lean and hungry set of wolves. Yet there was a dash about them that the northern men lacked." Maryland Resident upon seeing the Confederate Army

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              • #8
                Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

                Hallo!

                Tis complicated....

                The material used for Federal forage caps was listed in the QM specs as "facing cloth," and was a fair thin and light weight wool NUG woven very tightly so that the weave cannot NUG be seen.
                Some reproductions of forage caps are made of uniform wool, and some of that heavier weight than original uniform material as well.
                Depending upon the maker, one's forage cap may be heavier wool as well as wool woven using the nap rather than the tight weave for its overall appearancee, and is not subject to being "limp."

                Second, one's head size and shape also plays a factor in how the forage cap sits on one's head. Lads with smaller heads end up with more "cap" above their heads to "sag" down. QM specs were set for crown heights which varied a bit by sizes.

                And last, steaming wool causes it to shrink and full. It becomes thicker and denser. It would not make a floppier cap. Wetting and "crushing" to shape will help.

                I suppose one could wash some of the sizing that might be in the wool. And I have know lads who, in a modern way, have tacked the front of the crown disk down with a loop of thread to the chin strap.
                One alternative is to go "private purchase" and have a hat made with excess crown height so that it will fall forward.

                Curt
                Curt Schmidt
                In gleichem Schritt und Tritt, Curt Schmidt

                -Hard and sharp as flint...secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.
                -Haplogroup R1b M343 (Subclade R1b1a2 M269)
                -Pointless Folksy Wisdom Mess, Oblio Lodge #1
                -Vastly Ignorant
                -Often incorrect, technically, historically, factually.

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                • #9
                  Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

                  Hey Caleb - even if you wet it to wash out the sizing you have to wear it.... Wear it every chance you get, in whatever weather. Wear it while you do yard work, garden, work on your car, whatever you're doing outside. If you wet it and let it dry outside on your head the fit will be that much better.

                  The first forage cap I bought was in 1986 and that's the first thing I noticed - it stood up on my head just like a shako. I wore it everywhere (to events and just around the yard), sweated it up, kept pushing that disc down, and over time it became a good old, perfectly fitted and shaped friend. I still have that hat. It's faded now to a very cool indigo and is more than serviceable.

                  The best way to do it? Go to a lot of events, sleep outside, sweat and dirty it up and expose it to campaigning weather!

                  Good luck!
                  Rich Libicer
                  Fugi's Brown Water Mess

                  6th North Carolina - 150th First Manassas, July 2011
                  4th Texas Dismounted, Co. C - 150th Valverde, February 2012
                  6th Mississippi Adjunct - 150th Shiloh, April 2012
                  4th Texas Dismounted, Co. C - 150th Glorieta Pass, May 2012
                  21st Arkansas Adjunct - 150th Prairie Grove, December 2012
                  5th Confederate, Co. C - 150th Chickamauga, September 2013
                  Haitus...... Until Now

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                  • #10
                    Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

                    Caleb,

                    I'm going to answer your question from another angle:
                    Why do you want it to fall forward?

                    I have always been an advocate of weathering/aging gear by using it. When you do this, you can learn things that you might not learn otherwise. On the flip side, if you artificially age your gear, in my book that's a bit of a farbism.

                    (So: To the folks advising adding non-documented stitches and such... please remember that you're in the Camp of Instruction folder and that "No Farbism" is one of our big three rules)

                    Consider this gent:
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                    Notice how his jacket is 'ribbed' with horizontal lines. The question to ask isn't "How do I get my jacket to do that?", but, "what's different about his jacket, compared to mine?" The answer is that his jacket batting in the chest and has been quilted in the lining to hold the batting in-place. With heat, humidity, and wear, the wool on the outside is conforming to contours of the quilting.

                    So, as with the jacket example, consider "why" those hats in your pics look different from the reproduction you own. It may be an aging process. It may be that the pics are simply different styles of hats, or it could be the materials or how the hat was made.
                    John Wickett
                    Former Carpetbagger
                    Administrator (We got rules here! Be Nice - Sign Your Name - No Farbisms)

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                    • #11
                      Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

                      I agree to the former fellows, let it do it by usage. It also depends on the pattern the cap is made after. there are seme early war patterns that will not really fall forward because the crown is not that tall. If you want to wear it with the crown forward pull it that way each time you put it on your head. I remember doing a similar thing every time I put on my beret in the Army. Sweat and time will do it.
                      Jan H.Berger
                      Hornist

                      German Mess
                      http://germanmess.de/

                      www.lederarsenal.com


                      "Und setzet ihr nicht das Leben ein, nie wird euch das Leben gewonnen sein."( Friedrich Schiller)

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                      • #12
                        Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

                        I agree with the let it happen from wear. To look like a veteran, one must become one. If you must rush to look the part and not be the fresh fish then wear it all the time and let it happen naturally.
                        Wetting and steaming while not wearing it to dry will cost you 2 new hats, the one you own already and the one you buy to replace your shrunken hat.
                        Last edited by Chris Fisher; 02-08-2012, 08:38 AM.
                        Chris Fisher
                        Hospital Steward
                        Tinct Opii Mess

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                        • #13
                          Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

                          ...and also, there is no "right" way to wear a forage cap. A casual search through original images will show that many/most of these guys barely considered how they looked wearing their caps. While the flipped brim, falling crown and 22 degree jaunty angle did occur, more often than not forage caps seem to have been worn as an after thought. I say, wear that thing however it fits your head, and don't spend too much time in front of a mirror shaping it. After all, how much time would you spend manicuring something that would be thrown away in a few months?

                          -Randall Pierson

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                          • #14
                            Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

                            I made a painted cloth cover just to keep it from getting wet. At a hundred bucks a pop, I want mine looking nice for as long as possible.
                            Frank Perkin

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                            • #15
                              Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

                              Pg. 133/34 US Army Headgear 1812-1872 - Langellier & Loane. A forage cap from Loane's collection w/ the following caption - "A now unknown member of the 63rd Pa. Vols. gave this cap worn at the battle of Gettysburg to a young boy there at a reunion in the early 20th Century. The crown has a brass company letter affixed over an early III Corps badge....along with 5/8" brass regimental numbers. He also sewed a cord of thread from the crown to the base of the cap [basically welt-to-welt]so the top would always sit at a 'jaunty' angle and proudly display his unit identification. "

                              So at least one example of an original Federal forage cap with the crown sewn down (sorta). Of coarse who did it and when over the ca. 40+/- years of original ownership is anyone's guess.

                              Have fun....
                              Bob Roeder

                              "I stood for a time and cried as freely as boys do when things hurt most; alone among the dead, then covered his face with an old coat I ran away, for I was alone passing dead men all about as I went". Pvt. Nathaniel C. Deane (age 16, Co D 21st Mass. Inf.) on the death of his friend Pvt. John D. Reynolds, May 31, 1864.

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