Military Cap Makers and Their Labels
Historic military caps can offer clues about the makers who supplied uniforms to British officers. This article draws on surviving labels, distinctive construction details and Laurence Kirwan's family photographs to explore the history behind individual caps.
This Officer's No 2 "Forage" Cap, shown above, is known as the "Undress" version in the UK. This was probably made by Ayres & Smith or Alkit. Morry Kirwan and his fellow officers of the Kings Regiment (Liverpool and Manchester) are wearing standard issue caps in July 1947 at Morry's wedding at Greenbank Synagogue, in Liverpool. Morry is wearing the cap insignia of the Royal Army Medical Corps.
This Staff Brigadier Visor Cap was custom made for the Officer by Hawkes & Co and is a very fine piece. The Insignia is a bullion type common to all Staff Ranks.
There are so many iconic military hatters. The address on the label can accurately date the period of manufacture. In the UK, Hawkes and Co were still at 14 Piccadilly in London until 1890 when they moved to 1 Saville Row, also in London.
Herbert Johnson began in business at 45 New Bond Street, moving to 38 New Bond Street in 1895, where they traded until 1975. In 1975, they were forced to leave 38 New Bond Street, owing to a rent increase. A new shop opened at 13 Old Burlington Street, where the firm remained until 1988, when it moved back to New Bond Street (this time to no. 30).
“A man with a Herbert Johnson hat is a man apart”. He has an air of sophistication and assurance such as arises from the knowledge that he is in possession of superb quality craftsmanship”. Whether a bowler (black for the town, brown for the country or grey for driving), a classic tweed cap for shooting or fishing, a classic Homberg, a hat for racing across the Atlantic or a cap for scoring runs on the village green – it had to be from Herbert Johnson.”
There can be little doubt that the most famous exposure for Herbert Johnson was when Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones sported a broad-brimmed, high-crowned "Poet" felt hat in Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
In the United States, the Bancroft Cap Company of Framingham, Massachusetts, produced the iconic "Flighter" cap, which is recognized as one of the most famous versions of the 50-Mission Crusher. 
While "50-Mission Crusher" was an informal nickname given to any service cap that became soft and pliable from extensive wear, Bancroft's "Flighter" model was purposefully designed to achieve this aesthetic.
Key defining details of the Bancroft Flighter include:
- The "Crush" Design: It featured a collapsible crown and lacked the interior stiffener wire, allowing aircrews to comfortably wear aviation headsets over their caps.
- The Visor: It uniquely used a soft, single-ply leather visor—often called a "true crusher" bill—which could literally be folded in half.
- Date Markers: Original wartime Flighters can be identified by the "Visor Pat. Pend." (used from 1943–1945) or no patent text at all, which denote early production models.
There were many famous WW2 military cap makers in the US such as Morry Luxenburg and Berkshire Deluxe. Morry was based in New York at 45 East 30th Street and also in London.
Berkshire DeLuxe (or Berkshire De Luxe) was a well-known U.S. label for military caps during WW2. The company produced dress caps and garrison caps for U.S. officers and enlisted personnel. Like many other quality millinery brands of that era, they were manufactured in the famous hat-making city of South Norwalk, Connecticut. South Norwalk was the primary hub for U.S. hat manufacturing in the 20th century
The Wolf-Brown Company made the WOLBRO caps for the Navy as did Art Caps. WOLFBRO was sold at Navy Station locations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, in California.
Explore related art and historical background for related artwork and background.
Comments (0)