Cavalry Heer M34 Overseas Cap

Product Description: This Cavalry Heer M34 Overseas Cap is a very nice piece that was produced just before the start of World War Two. The exterior of this cap is constructed from a fine wool fabric, in a slightly bluish feldgrau shade common for prewar Heer uniform cloth. The wool shows only minimal wear, and has one very small match head sized moth nip on one side. The front of the cap is complete with a complete and correct set of insignia, which is factory applied to the cap. The 1937 pattern eagle and cockade are Bevo machine woven, and are neatly hand sewn as is typical for this period. The golden yellow soutache indicates the desirable Cavalry branch, and is correctly applied with machine stitching. The insignia shows some light age toning. Inside, this Cavalry Heer M34 Overseas Cap is lined with a typical cotton twill fabric, which shows no wear. A neat line of machine stitching in the crown is intended to give the cap a smarter appearance when worn. The lining is stamped in black ink with the maker name “Schmidt and Menser”, the size of “56,” and the date code “839” for the month and year of August, 1939. This scarce cap displays great, and remains in excellent condition.

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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