Early Soviet Air Force Leather Visor Cap

[Docholl]

Below are photos of a black leather visor cap for the early Soviet Air Force. The red star on the upper body is an early enameled hammer and plow. The hat band sports a large sliver metal winged propeller which shows evidence of having been broken and repaired. The chin cord and slides are leather and are affixed to the cap by brass hammer and plow buttons. The interior is lined in a tan/brown cotton. There is a 1919 dated ink stamp on the lining. The sweatband appears to be made from the same material as the lining. Overall this cap shows moderate wear/tear and age.

Your comments are appreciated.

[RichieC]

The edges of the visor seem overly distressed - as well as the edges where the peak meets the crown.

Hammer & plough chinstrap buttons?

Too perfectly executed to be a real historical object. To me, the whole ball of wax seems like the finished product of busy Eastern European hands to appeal to, and to take the USD of potential Western collectors.

IMO, that is. Of course...

Star-cockarde appears to be OK. But, they're being reproduced as well - and aged in such a fashion to appear to be legitimate examples.

Again, IMO.

Stamps. It's all about the stamps. That selling point is a long gone attribute.

[Marcel Banziger]

I am not experienced with such caps. I do however notice a point that is weird to me. There's a lining with stains of sweat, hair grease and what not but this doesn't effect the stamp. In fact, it looks as if the stamp is done looong after this cap was worn.
I have several German 3rd Reich visors, some also with sweat and grease stains, and this type of wear always effects the interior of a cap and it does show. I miss that on this stamp??

Edit: could it be just an old farmers or workers cap with recently added insignia and stamp to spice it up for extra $$$?

[Kohima]

I do not trust the insignia as having been fitted to the cap for its entire life, be it original insignia or not (the fact that the wing insignia is broken - presumably the fixing pins, though this is not stated - implies that it broke when it was removed from something else). Pins are only intended to be bent once, and will frequently break at a second attempt.*
The format seems weird too, with star fixed to the crown rather than the band; not a setup I have seen before. I suspect the pins of the star have been merely poked through the seam, as it does not appear to ‘live’ there... It simply doesn’t look like part of the whole.

The chinstrap is also a later addition, rather than the broad (1/2”) black leather original.

I would say, an original period cap, but mucked about with, as Marcel points out.
Richie’s comment upon the stamp is also to be noted.

Bob

*on closer viewing, I see that the wing itself has broken (missed that first time).

[Docholl]

Thank you to all for your comments.

[bourguignotte]

Hello

The ailes's insigna is a french WW1 insigna (interesting by the way)

Similar cap were also used by train drivers

Bruno

[Gugreze]

Hello,
i have a leather cap in my collection.

[RichieC]

It seems to me that the star-cockarde is postwar. Type of 1947.