I occasionally see photographs of Armed Guard sailors, and other World War II U.S. Navy sailors, wearing a very dark blue, flat-topped hat with a black band with "U.S. NAVY" in gold letters. Much more often I see photographs of sailors of the World War II era wearing the familiar "dixie cup" white caps. And I suppose I should be calling them covers and not hats or caps. What can I say, I'm not a veteran.
Here is an example, one of many, from the Armed Guard website: http://www.armed-guard.com/nlog46a.jpg.
The style seems to have a very long history, both in the U.S. Navy and in foreign navies. I've found a few for sale on eBay or elsewhere where they are called "Donald Duck" hats but I hesitate to assume that is what sailors called them.
What were the flat-topped covers called, either officially or in sailor slang? For that matter, what was the dixie cup style called other than, umm, dixie cup?
And how often, when or under what circumstances was the flat-top style worn, as opposed to the white dixie cups? Was it part of a dress uniform? When was the style discontinued?
Ron Carlson, Webmaster
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