Now Forming! the Campaign Hat Corps

[deanglen]

How is a campaign hat defined? I see the one you always think of, the BSA, Mountie style peaked, but also the more fedora-like hat. Would this hat include the Aussie military bush hat? Certainly, the New Zealander style was the peaked style. I have always wanted the Aussie style and a genuine RCMP.

20CT

Aussie and Canadian hats definitely qualify, they have the same lineage.

dean

 

[deanglen]

My humble contribution to this thread..

Your avatar hat looks like a qualifier, too, but I imagine the crown isn't one of the tighter crimped ones. I realize a lot of folks can't stomach the taper of the fore and aft crease and don't like the the "smokie" "montana peak" either. This is definitely a "niche" style. Check out this shot of Merian Cooper, the director of "King Kong", taken later in his career:

There's the fore and aft on a fedora, Span-Am War style!

dean

 

[Feraud]

The pinched crown was also a 20s look I believe..

There are a few pinched crown in this nifty thrift store find.

 

[Pat_H]

Aussie and Canadian hats definitely qualify, they have the same lineage.

dean

The Canadian ones particularly do, as they have a Stetson origin, and were used by the Canadian volunteers for the Boer War prior to the American Army adopting the same style fo hat.

The NZ "Lemon Squeezer" is an interesting hat, in that its of the same general style and crease, although the crown height seems pretty big in the older ones.

I'd define a "campaign hat" as any brimmed felt or straw hat intended originally for military use while in the field.

 

[deanglen]

I'd define a "campaign hat" as any brimmed felt or straw hat intended originally for military use while in the field.

Well put, as usual, Pat. Good definition! Thanks!

dean

 

[deanglen]

The pinched crown was also a 20s look I believe..

There are a few pinched crown in this nifty thrift store find.
[

Yes. 1920's styles have always appealed to me. Great photo!

dean

 

[DOUGLAS]

Nice find Feraud, I 'd take any in that photo.

 

[dhermann1]

I believe this style originated in the British army during the Boer War, 1900.
When I was at Parris Island our Drill Instructor told us that if any of us broke the range record at the shooting range, he'd give us his "Smokey the Bear" hat. Unfortunately on the off hand position (my best) I put 5 clicks LEFT windage on my rifle instead of 5 clicks RIGHT windage. Sigh. It probably wouldn't have fit me, anyway.

 

[Wolfmanjack]

You want campaign hats?

I'll give you campaign hats...aka Montana peaks. This is Wolfmanjack and my Wolf Rangers (my grandchildren) on our return from a field survey last week.

The big smiles are because we were able to make a visual identification of a whole wolf pack that day. By the way, that is not a wolf sitting in the Jeep. That is my grandson's dog, that we've trained to follow wolf scent trails.

Now a proud member of the Campaign Hat Corps,

 

[Pat_H]

I believe this style originated in the British army during the Boer War, 1900.
When I was at Parris Island our Drill Instructor told us that if any of us broke the range record at the shooting range, he'd give us his "Smokey the Bear" hat. Unfortunately on the off hand position (my best) I put 5 clicks LEFT windage on my rifle instead of 5 clicks RIGHT windage. Sigh. It probably wouldn't have fit me, anyway.

The origin of the style was actually in the Montana Peak cowboy hat, which was a very popular style in the American and Canadian west in the 1880s and 1890s. Use of private purchase hats was quite common in the US Army, and they started to show up in the American Army as a private purchase item about that time.

When the Canadian raised units to serve in South Africa, they recruited mounted units from Western Canada. Western Canada and the Western U.S. had very similiar range cultures, with a lot of cowhands crossing back and forth across the border. Indeed, a few of the Canadian troops raised for the Boer War were Americans who joined up for the adventure.

Canadian units that served in South Africa were highly notable for the use of items associated with the range cattle industry. Amongst these were Western stock saddles and the lariat, items unique to them in that war. Stock saddles continued in in use in some Canadian cavalry units early in World War One.

Anyhow, the Montana Peak style hat was an item used by Canadian units sent to South Africa, with the peak running with a dent in the front, like the RCMP still wears as a dress hat. The hat was good looking, so it spread from the Canadian forces to some British units, none of which were regular British Army units. Other British units similarly adopted the Australian "slouch" hat, which became very common in South Africa at that time, even spreading to German Imperial units in Africa in the early 20th Century.

4" brim Stetsons with the Montana Peak crown remained a Canadian Army item, in some mounted units, up through World War One, and perhaps even later as a dress item in those units. It spread in Canada from the military to the RCMP, which had worn a different style of hat.

In the U.S. Army, as noted above, it came in as an unofficial item in the 1880s, with soldiers wearing what essentially was a popular style of cowboy hat. The style became increasingly common, and you can find some notable examples of it in use in volunteer units during the Spanish American War. It continued to increase in use thereafter, and again you can find examples of 4" crown Montana Peak hats in widespread, if unofficial, use right up until it was adopted as the pattern in 1911, in a 3" brim.

 

[Wolfmanjack]

Pat, I've always found it interesting that Canadian/British Montana peaks are worn with the dent in the front; while U.S. military, Forest Rangers, scoutmasters, state highway patrolmen and Smoky the Bear all wear theirs with two dents, forming a 'peak' in the front. Do you have any idea how this traditional 'dimorphism' originated?

 

[deanglen]

Good question Wolfmanjack! I've wondered that myself. Nice shot of the grandkids, BTW.

dean

 

[John in Covina]

For the US version I like the WWI style where the portion of the crown between the brim and the start of the peak is a little taller.

Also is it the WWI Marine version has stitching around the brim?

Is anyone making a reproduction of either WWI style?

 

[Pat_H]

Pat, I've always found it interesting that Canadian/British Montana peaks are worn with the dent in the front; while U.S. military, Forest Rangers, scoutmasters, state highway patrolmen and Smoky the Bear all wear theirs with two dents, forming a 'peak' in the front. Do you have any idea how this traditional 'dimorphism' originated?

The orientation of the dents goes way back. I think originally it was simply a stylistic choice. Interestingly, I've seen some photos of U.S. troops wearing Montana Peak hats with 4" brims, before the adoption of the M1911, with the dent in front, just like the Canadian campaign hats.

Why the Canadian military went with dent in front, and the U.S. Army went with ridge in front, I don't know. It's funny, however, that the military adoption in both countries seems to have influenced civilian and police choices after that in their respective countries. Just recently I've been seeing a small revival in the Montana Peak type crease, and they are always in the orientation of the M1911 campaign hat.

 

[Pat_H]

For the US version I like the WWI style where the portion of the crown between the brim and the start of the peak is a little taller.

Also is it the WWI Marine version has stitching around the brim?

Is anyone making a reproduction of either WWI style?

I like the WWI variant better also. It just looked sharper.

We tried to have some high quality M1911s made up, and my hat is the single example of that effort. While I'm sure it could be done, we had a hard time finding a hatter who was willing to take it on. We did, but it was quite a project as the hatter had to match the felt color, etc., and the style features. The brim stitching turned out to be a problem, as they had to experiment with the sewing machine in order to get it right. After they did, the person who had worked on that quit, so they sort of had to start over. In the end, we didn't end up having the hats made up, and the project was abandoned.

I am sure that it could be done, but having them made in a nice quality is a bit of a problem. I suspect the market isn't there, for the price the hatter would have to charge. I hear about reproduction hats being made from time to time, but I always wonder about the quality. Having said that, I haven't seen them other than in photos, so I have no reason to comment on that aspect of it one way or another.

 

[Fletch]

No thread on campaign hats would be complete without...

YELLING!!!11!!

A moment of tribute now to the members of perhaps the last profession in our over-civilized world where being a miserable, bullying SOB is not merely an asset, but an explicit and sacred duty.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

I am sure that it could be done, but having them made in a nice quality is a bit of a problem. I suspect the market isn't there, for the price the hatter would have to charge. I hear about reproduction hats being made from time to time, but I always wonder about the quality. Having said that, I haven't seen them other than in photos, so I have no reason to comment on that aspect of it one way or another.

Have you tried Tim Bender at http://www.benderhats.com/?

He reproduces the best version of the 1858 army dress hat (I have one, and will post pics soon) which has a similar brim stitching treatment. I also know he does custom orders for very fair prices.

 

[deanglen]

Here's a shot from the Span-Am War era that shows a peak styling that defies clear categorization. I prefer the treatment of the hat on the guy sitting down to his right.

And here, the "montana peak" is present in a manner that makes me think they weren't all that settled on its proper shape...probably why the Army decided to standardize it with the M1911. Someone wanted it more "uniform".

dean

 

[Pat_H]

There's a really nice photo of Col. Jay Torrey at Ft. D. A. Russell during the Spanish American War wearing a Montana Peak cowboy hat. Unfortunately, I can't find it on line anywhere, and don't have it in front of me. The hat is a large one, and it might have rolled brim, although I can't recall that for sure.

It's interesting, however, in that Torrey, a colonel in one of the volunteer cavalry regiments raised for the war, is wearing the Army uniform, but clearly departing in headgear.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Here is a picture of my 1858 Hardee hat. It is brand new so the bash hasn't acquired a true "campaigner" look quite yet.