What Kind of Hat is That?

[butchd]

I've been watching the goings-on in Boston. There is a Col. in some department that wears a very odd hat. It is rounded and squeezed in on top. There is no "lid"and it makes his head appear to be the same size as his waist. I would not dare to cross him. He looks to be the DI from hell. For the LEOs, is there a name for and tradition behind this sort of hat.

 

[25elk]

I believe you are referring to the commandant of the Massachusetts State Police and yes that is a strange hat that none of the troopers wear. RHIP I guess.

 

[feralmerril]

Whats so strange about it? I have seen them in many world war two movies and comic books. Usualy they also had califlower ears and old busted noses.

 

[GF]

I noticed that too, told my wife I'd like one like it.

She rolled her eyes and kept typing on the computer.

One cool lookin' lid that cop had.

https://www.google.com/search?q=com...bq2gX-zYCYDw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1170&bih=574

GF

 

[25elk]

I only meant strange in that it is so different and is the only one visible in the hundreds and hundreds of various LEO's participating in this tour de force.

 

[walnutred]

Yeah. It's probably modeled after a vintage WW2 Luftwaffe Officers hat. With different insignia of course. While all air corps of the period seemed to like the "20 mission crush" look the German cap tended to have a taller peak.

 

[keith44spl]

.


The patrol cap I saw in the photos...With the scrambled eggs on the bill,

looked like the stiff liner had been remover and the sides kinda drooped down.

Not as sharp looking as, an officer of rank should be wearing, I'd think,

in this country anyway....more fashionable in some eastern block countries



.

 

[feralmerril]

Kind of a extream version of the old "Go ta hell" versions some WW11 pilots used to wear. He does look kind of ferrocios in it. Achtune schwine hunt!

 

[old bear]

I don't know if there is an official name, but hats shaped like that used to be called 100 mission hats. The bend was caused by wearing earphones over the hat.

Looked great in WWII, but now reminds me of something a banana republic strongman would be outfitted in.

 

[kozmic]

No disrespect but he looked like the ring master from the B&B Circus. I was expecting to see him crack his riding crop.

 

[Joe Kent]

I think a Stetson looks best on a lawman. When Texas Lawmen focus in, a criminal will be brought to justice. They appear to have handily solved the brutal murder of the Texas DA and his wife.

 

[Texas Star]

I think a Stetson looks best on a lawman. When Texas Lawmen focus in, a criminal will be brought to justice. They appear to have handily solved the brutal murder of the Texas DA and his wife.

What a Ranger or a DPS trooper wears in Texas is repugnant to a liberal Yankee cop in raving liberal MA.

Most of those cops look fat, too. Oh, well: they figured out who the bombers were. We didn't even have to send them a Ranger to solve the case.

The old Army Air Force bomber pilot caps were called "50-mission caps" not 20 or 100 mission ones. At the time, they could be rotated home after flying 50 missions.

 

[golfrj1]

[QUOTE) The old Army Air Force bomber pilot caps were called "50-mission caps" not 20 or 100 mission ones. At the time, they could be rotated home after flying 50 missions.[/QUOTE]

Yep, the Ole 50 Mission Crush..My drill instructor told us we would be buying a "New" one, ONCE we got off KP... IF he saw the slightest hint of that crush on our hats

 

[butchd]

Keith44 looks like he could take him but all he would get from me is a deep bow and a smile.

 

[jlrhiner]

I thought he looked like he was ready to bite something.

The first time I saw him reminded me of a pair of Marines I once saw. A brand new, shiny 2nd Lt. was standing on our deck in preparation for an upcoming dignitary arrival. He was milling about smartly, staring off into space and exhibiting general dis-interest, as only 2nd Lt's and Ensigns could do. Standing beside him was this barely human creature, built like an upside down triangle and wearing Gunny stripes. His aura said,"Touch him, I dare you!". It was like someone had said to him "Here, don't let anything happen to him". 40 years ago, and I still remember that.

 

[GF]

There have been no cool hats since the Pickelhaube went away.

GF

 

[sierra255]

During my LEO day's, I attended the Southern Police Institute in Louisville and my roommate was a Boston copper. I visited him several years later, and saw these style hats worn by the Mass. State Police and many Mass. departments. I asked him about that, and he told me it is just a East coast thing. Police Dept's began on the east coast and tradition in their uniforms just continue to this day. New York state patrol officers/troopers (?) do not wear breast badges. They are issued wallet badges and ID cards, but their hat emblem and arm patches speak to their authority. That explanation came from a NY copper also in my class at SPI. I'm sure others do the same, but, here on the left coast our styles are a little different, but it is the same tough job wherever one serves.

 

[lawandorder]

All a matter of taste I guess but I don't care for the look at all.

 

[Len]

I may be wrong here, but in the WWII days, it was also called the "bomber crush." After several missions, the headsets they wore made some remove the stiffeners in the cap [that keep it in shape] to make it more comfortable, which shaped the hat as it looked...the more missions, the more "deformed" the hat became.

Len

 

[mjr]

There have been no cool hats since the Pickelhaube went away.

And it never would have, if the Germans hadn't run out of dill and vinegar during the Great War.