HJ Summer Overseas Cap

Product Description: This HJ Summer Overseas Cap is an appealing, very lightly worn piece, with a great look. The exterior of this “Schiffchen” style cap is made of a typical tan twill fabric with red cord piping. The front of the cap has the original Bevo style machine woven HJ diamond swastika emblem which is neatly hand sewn to the cap, period applied. There is no damage, staining, holes or tears to note. Inside, this attractive HJ Summer Overseas Cap has a tan cotton lining that shows only minor wear. There is an original white cloth tag inside, likely an RZM tag, but the text is washed out and the tag shows some separation from the cap at the seam. This is an attractive display piece with great eye appeal. The condition rates as excellent plus.

Historical Description: The “side cap” was a part of the uniform worn by nearly all military, paramilitary, political and civil organizations in the Third Reich. It was a narrow hat that could be folded flat and tucked into a belt or haversack. This was, at the time, a very stylish type of uniform cap; in the German Army, it replaced the round “pork pie” style of field cap used in the Great War. The German name for this cap, in most organizations, was “Feldmütze”- field cap. Despite the name, it was often worn as a daily service cap by postal workers and other personnel who would never be deployed to the field.  The men and women who wore the side cap gave it the nickname “Schiffchen,” meaning little boat, due to its shape. The side caps were made in the same type of fabric as the uniforms, in the uniform color particular to each organization. The side caps were adorned with branch-specific insignia, usually bearing some form of the German eagle and swastika national emblem. Many side caps also bore red, white, and black national cockades. The insignia were usually embroidered or woven, but metal devices were used on some caps as well. Officer caps generally were distinguished by silver braid along the top edge and/or on the upper part of the flap at the front of the cap and were often custom tailored from fine fabrics. The German military, and many other organizations, had broadly replaced the side cap with a new, more practical cap featuring a brim, by 1943. But the side cap continued to be worn by some troops until the end of the war.

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