Early unusual slouch hat

[Jerry B]

I just purchased an odd one from Ebay, very cheap so I took a chance on it. The seller had two examples of very similar Slouchies for sale and sent me the wrong one by mistake. They sent me the more expensive one they had for sale. I was the only bidder on the other one and no one bought this one so I have arranged for them to send me the one I bought but am thinking I might try and keep this other one as well.

It is pretty salty with severe moth tracking in one place and a couple of holes around the top of the crown but it does have a badly replaced pug band. The band appears to have been poorly tacked back into place but matches the cloth edge trim so is likely to be original to it. I so far have not found an exact match for these two-the one I bought has no holes but is missing the pug band- but I did find a similar example with cloth edge trim and no vent holes and no popper or hook to hold up the side.


If anyone can add anything to this it would be appreciated.

Most of the pictures, with the pug band are of the wrong one, with only two from the seller of the one I bought which should arrive within a day or two.

The slouch hat was the standard item or headress for a few years during and just after the 2nd Boer war until the Brodrick cap and the SD cap were introduced circa 1903 and 1904, so there must have been at least circa 200,000 of them in circulation at that time so it is not surprising that some would turn up. Unfortunately most period pics do not show enough of the details to be certain of all variants and as they were all privately made by many different makers, variants must abound.

In my searches I cannot find anything else that could be compared with these slouch hats, apart from British Boer war types, I tried looking at Scout hats and those from other nations with no success so far but maybe someone else has some information.

[Steelhead10]

Very nice Jerry thanks for posting it and with any luck you will get both of them.

Matt

[wizardman]

It reminds me of a German Colonial Slouch hat..in style...its a mystery

[Jerry B]

It reminds me of a German Colonial Slouch hat..in style...its a mystery

Indeed, that was the other nearest match I could find for it, especially the quite wide fabric edge trim is very similar, also they do not appear to have vent holes or a popper to hold up the side of the brim. It might be one of them which would be very cool if that was the case as I know they also came in a sandy tan colour as well as the bluey grey version yuo have shown.

Some good examples here that are very similar though not exactly the same. German Colonial Uniforms

[Jerry B]

Very nice Jerry thanks for posting it and with any luck you will get both of them.

Matt

Thanks Matt, even with the uncertainty I would like to have both in my collection, so hopefully they will offer the one I have to me for a sensible price. As my wife would say -though she always used to say it about Pith helmets-, a man can never have too many slouch hats!

[wizardman]

Just from close ups i think your band may have been added later...it seems to be in much better condition than the hat itself..as with Australian ones, ive seen so many different styles after the war as they were just used as a daily hat. either way, definitely worth a punt

[Jerry B]

Just from close ups i think your band may have been added later...it seems to be in much better condition than the hat itself..as with Australian ones, ive seen so many different styles after the war as they were just used as a daily hat. either way, definitely worth a punt

The band has definitely been replaced, though does appear to be a good match for the edge trim. As I posted, I own the example without the band though the seller sent me the one with the band by mistake and I am trying to get to keep that as well as waiting for the one I bought to turn up.

Hopefully I will end up with both as I do like slouchies. So many variants etc among all the nations who used them, many of which have very little information out there so far, so hard sometimes (as I well know) to tell which are military or civilian and what date they are from etc... It all makes for some interesting research which is half the fun of collecting IMO.

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

Morning Jerry, I can't really help, but I will say that if it is one of those German slouchies, maybe the roundel was pinned through the two layers of material which then held up the side, getting shot of the use of a "popper". Leon.

[Jerry B]

Morning Jerry, I can't really help, but I will say that if it is one of those German slouchies, maybe the roundel was pinned through the two layers of material which then held up the side, getting shot of the use of a "popper". Leon.

Indeed Leon and the same was the case with the very earliest British versions. Both types had no vent holes or poppers though later British versions have them.

[Jerry B]

The Slouch hat I bought turned up today. I was also able to complete the purchase of the example sent in error. The search for answers continues. I notice that both have a red/brown H stamped inside the dome, but have no other markings that I have yet found. Also both have had their liners removed which was quite commonly done on Slouch hats as they were liable to rotting.