The M55 Parade Furazhka

[Spenwil73]

Hello everyone, Today I wanted to make an informational post on the 1955 Regulation Soviet parade visor caps. Introduced on June 30th 1955, These visor caps are a staple among Soviet uniform collectors abroad. known for their flashy appearance, one can truly not call a visor collection complete without at least one of these caps.

Here are my two M55 caps, the left for Tank/Artillery/Motor officers and the right for the VOSO officers (VOSO being made up of officers anyways)
All M55 visor caps are in a steel gray color, Minus the exception of the Air force, Border guard and NKVD/KGB. The NKVD/KGB and Border guard caps were essentially just normal officer grade caps with the M55 parade cockade and leaves added onto them. As for the air force, they received a dark blue cap that was strangely made of the later Diagonal double weave wool of the 1960s, All other caps were made of napped wool.

Here we can see the extra ornamentation that can be found on the M55 visor caps. All officers wore a golden chinstrap, A new M55 officer cockade with sprawling leaves, as well as oak leaves pinned to the visor via 2 prong attachments each. These ornaments began off as Brass, but were later supplemented by aluminum, as seen here on both caps indicating a late manufacture.

Here we can see the interiors of both caps side by side, nothing unusual about the interiors of these caps. They feature the typical officer grade linings with diamond shaped production labels, both of these caps were manufactured by the Central experimental manufacturing combine of Moscow. This marking is very commonly found on officer and general grade visor caps, coincidentally also very commonly found as the maker of M55 visor caps, almost always undated.

Shown here is a close up of the label, You may notice the condition of this cap being very good. as most of you may know the 1955 regulations only lasted until 1957. Most M55 uniform parts you will find are in very good condition because they did not have a chance to become worn out by the owners, instead being preserved in most cases.

Some closing notes here because I feel they are of worth noting. M55 visor caps have seemingly been on the rise of price along with other associated pieces of the uniform. But no soviet collector will pass up the elegant look of the iconic steel gray uniforms that were worn during Georgiy Zhukov's tenure as marshal of the Soviet Union (1955-1957). Perhaps one day I will post about the tunic, but let us not get ahead of ourselves.

[Gerry C]

Spenwil73,

Thanks for the post. Enjoyed the extra information on the M55 visor. IMO I agree they're a very professional, attractive cap. Over the course of years I've had several in my collection at one time or another. They always make a great display.

Gerry C.

From the High Plains of the Midwest U.S.A.

[Spenwil73]

Thanks Gerry, I would love to see some of your soviet Visors!

[Dom]

Nice, I really like these caps (I think you mean when the Marshal is Minister of Defense of the USSR)
The second cap seems to have a small centering problem

Here's one with classic infantry piping

City Garment Industrial Union Collective named after the 23rd Anniversary of October Revolution , Moscow .

Cheers

[Spenwil73]

Yes, the cockade on my VOSO cap is a little loose/damaged. That is a beautiful rifles M55 my friend!