*** United States boys clothes: peaked caps ear flap seasonality








United States Peaked Caps: Chin Straps and Ear Flaps


Figure 1.--This family snapshot shows 8-year old Stephen Jones with his father Stanley. They lived in Bltimore. Stephen ws born in 1945. He wears a classic oeaked cap with the ear flaps down with a matching overcoat. They would have been purchased togther. Note there are no chin straps. They probably were cammel hair. They are probably on the way to church and Stephen is oresuably wearing suit. Note that the cap matches the oat, not the suit. Hats and caps were sill very common in the 1950s which also can be seen in the movies.

We notice that some American peaked caps were done with ear flaps. This was a seasonal style for cold weather wear. This would have been a bother for a boy wearing the cap during the summer. The ear flaps of course were for cold weather wear when these caps were worn with suits and formal winter coats like pea jackets and overcoats. The boy on the previous page wearing aeal jacket nd the boy here wearing an oversoat are good examples (figure 1). We think these caps may have been made in summer and winter versions, but we are not sure. Hopefully some of our readers will have insights on this. We only see the ear flaps when it looks cold out. In some cases like the boy on the previous page, monther probably did him up and buckled the cap. In the caps wihout chin strps like the boy here-, the boys may have pulled down the flaps on a really cold day. Notice that Stephen's peaked cap here matches the coat, not the suit. Mothers also bought caps that matched the suits.







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Created: 5:18 PM 6/10/2015
Last updated: 5:18 PM 6/10/2015