Crush Cap Auction Lost

[carter]

Well, I didn't win this auction but it sure was fun.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200171843786

I hope it found a good home.

Was it someone from the Lounge?

 

[The Wingnut]

SHEESH...hope they're happy with it! That's one of the higher prices I've seen for one.

 

[Hondo]

Don't worry, you can still get a new or fairly new crusher cap at or around $200 (maybe even less), that one on ebay on would have been cool but it belongs in museum not for every day use, considering its condition. Just my opinion.

 

[carter]

Not to be worn.

Don't worry, you can still get a new or fairly new crusher cap at or around $200 (maybe even less), that one on ebay on would have been cool but it belongs in museum not for every day use, considering its condition. Just my opinion.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Mike Hammer]

A highly suspect item, IMNSHO.
This is NOT a flight specific "crusher" cap. It is a standard issue officers cap (the leather strap across the back was the giveaway) that has had the wire grommet removed. The leather looks artificially aged. The leather used was of the highest quality and most looks nice even today. There may be some slight cracking, but this leather looks AWFUL. The lining has been removed, too, which also makes me suspicious.
If I was the buyer I'd be giving this one the old hairy eyeball good and hard.

 

[carter]

Never Ever Bid on a Hat You Are Not Familiar With. NEVER!

A highly suspect item, IMNSHO.
This is NOT a flight specific "crusher" cap. It is a standard issue officers cap (the leather strap across the back was the giveaway) that has had the wire grommet removed. The leather looks artificially aged. The leather used was of the highest quality and most looks nice even today. There may be some slight cracking, but this leather looks AWFUL. The lining has been removed, too, which also makes me suspicious.
If I was the buyer I'd be giving this one the old hairy eyeball good and hard.

I knew there was a good reason to lose this one. :eusa_doh:

 

[The Wingnut]

Mike, I'm inclined to disagree. The leather bill on a crusher was thin and flexible so it could be crushed, and most had the welt on the edge that you see on this one. Most standard officer caps had a two-ply leather bill, stitched together at the edge, making the bill very stiff. That's not what the auction crusher looks like.

Both of my crushers have a one-ply leather bill with a welt on the edge, and a rough underside. They're different brands, the no-name is chocolate elastique and the Flighter is worsted wool summer tan. The Flighter's brim looks similar but not as well used as the cap in the auction. The no-name's high-gloss lacquer finish on the topside of the leather has crazed over the years and doesn't look too hot up close.

There are exceptions to any rule(and what I've described so far isn't really a rule, anyway, just a very common thing); I've also got a Lewis Fly-Weighter that needs a little work, it's got a two-ply bill (with no welt but stitching) that's actually very thin and flexible.

The strap across the back is called a 'cavalry strap', and it was a common thing for pilots to remove them. Their function was to cinch down the cap so it wouldn't come off while on horseback. I'm not 100% sure that all offcer caps came with them, but I know it wasn't a requirement that crushers come without them.

To the best of my knowledge(if someone could please confirm this), there wasn't a specification for a flight officer's cap, simply the recognition by manufacturers that flight officers required caps that could be worn with headphones or stuffed in a pocket, hence they produced them with lightweight(sometimes even removable, like my Fly-Weighter) covers and bills.

A few manufacturers took it one step further and produced enlisted crushers!

You can still get them for less than $150...I paid less than that for mine.

 

[carter]

Wingnut, Where does one find these other than on OFAS?

 

[Mike Hammer]

Well, strap me. I'm 100% wrong on this one. Flight crushers did indeed come with the cavalry strap! I'd never seen one before (but then, I don't really do a lot with AAF, I'm more of an infantry guy, especially helmets and EM uniforms), but now that I went back and did some basic research, yeah, it's certainly a genuine crusher.
It's also the absolute highest priced/worst condition flight crusher to go across ebay in the last 90 days.
I'm still questioning the condition and provenance, though. I've seen so very many "age and story enhanced" items I've almost completely stopped shopping ebay for militaria other than utilitarian use. It's nearly impossible to say yes/no (I ran "William Henry Stewart and his ASN through the NARA site but got no hits, when proves nothing except they don't have his records, fairly common) but it makes my nose twitch.