Visor cap cardboard strips?

[Durandal]

Hello, everyone. I'm new here and need some help with a couple of questions about visor caps. I've been trying to find this out for awhile now with little luck. I'll take my chances here.

Ok, so I've a couple of surplus Soviet visor caps, both of them have a cardboard strip behind the sweatband, tucked under the visor.



However, I have one used cap from the 50s and it doesn't have the strip. My question is, were the strips removed upon use or were the strips not yet around at all/standard practice to be inserted in the caps during the 50s?

Also, what was it's use? I realized that the shape of the visors of my unissued caps (with the strips) are more ummm "refined" and consistent in shape especially seen at the area where it's connected to the rest of the cap.



As for the 50s cap without the strip...


My theory is that the strip is to maintain it's shape but then again, how much can a cardboard strip affect a fiberboard/plastic visor? It's prolly a coincidence (my 50s cap is used after all) but I had to bring it up.

So, to recap:

What are the strips for?
Were they removed at any point in time?
When did the strips first started appearing in visor caps?

Sorry if TL;DR. Thanks!

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

Usually bits of cardboard get added to slightly alter the size of the cap, to make it a little bit smaller and so a better fit for the wearer.

Cheers, Ade.

[Wagriff]

Ive also seen strips of cork in the same place in some German hats, but they were used to insert the stick pin insignias into. Like Ade said, cardboard could be simply to adjust the fit, is all. William

[Durandal]

Hmm...is it that simple? How far back have they been using strips like these to adjust the fit? Also does this mean that some of the general and higher ranking caps with the special adjustable sweatband don't have the strips? Thanks for your input guys.

[Adrian Stevenson]

If the cap has the luxury of an adjustable sweatband no need for a bit of card.

It is sometimes possible to find newspaper used on caps to pad it out. I too have seen cork like William mentions.

Use of paper/card still happens today: my local Police Officer (also a forum member) uses some card behind the sweatband on his current issue Police cap.

Cheers, Ade.

[Durandal]

Ah. So when did it start becoming standard procedure/practice to insert the strips on the visors? As far back as WWII and earlier? Thanks for your patience and answers!

[Adrian Stevenson]

This is an old trick: goes back to at least WW1.

Cheers, Ade.

[Durandal]

Thanks again for all the input, Ade and William. I was thinking that I wasn't ever gonna be able to get any information on the cardboard strips. XD

[davejb]

I think the actual idea of adding a material in order that a helmet or hat fitted correctly goes further back, possibly into the Roman era, but obviously the type of materials used throughout the ages changed and were simplified, when i was in the force, our caps normally fitted quite well but there were always some that had odd shaped heads that needed some type of makeshift padding and cardboard was commonly used but needed to be replaced often because of sweat