Figure 1.--This unidentified English boy wears a cut-away jacket knee pants suit with a dearstalker cap. The CDV is undated, but looks like the 1880s to us, in part because it is an outdoors portrait. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published his first Sherlock Holmes book in 1886. This was anout the same time that the photogrph was taken. we wonder if the boy had just read one of the Holmes books.

The deerstalker cap was headwear used for outdoor activities like hiking and hunting, primarily in England. This is how the name dearstalker became associated with the cap. The cap today is not commonly worn and is primarily associated with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Some even refer to it as a Sherlock Holmes cap. It is commonly done in neutral colors that might blend in with foliage. It is a cloth cap, normally a wool tweed. The most destinguishing feature is a twin front and back peak or bill. We are not sure why it had twin bills, there seems to be little practical use for this although the back bill would provide some protection from sun and rain for the back of the neck. We believe it developed as a civilian cloth version of the Crimean War Balaclava helmet, with its twin visors. Paired with the twin visors were a pair of unstiffened cloth earflaps attached to the sides of the cap. These were tied together at the crown by grosgrain ribbons or laces. The earflaps when released could be tied together under the chin, keeping the ears warm in cold weather. This was not a boys' cap, but worn by adults. We do see a few boys wearing them, we think at about the time the Holmes association developed.

Created: 12:58 AM 7/11/2012
Last updated: 12:59 AM 7/11/2012