Can anyone date this Officer's cap?
 

Hobson and Sons are still in business so I have no cut off point for dating this cap. Can anyone date this cap from the style? Do the air vents at the back give a clue as to the date of manufacture?

The cap will be offered for sale if it is not from the period that I hope that it is.

Thank you,

Simon.

Simon,

Post WW2 caps seldom have such vent holes, so its a least WW2,.

regards

Simon.

I agree with Simon B's post I think late WW2 possibly into the late 1940s.

regards

Mark

Excellent, that is what I was hoping to hear. I now need to get a suitable leather chin strap for it.

Many thanks,

Simon.

I have a clearly post 53 cap, marked hatters to the Queen which has the same pattern of four rear placed vent holes as well as at two others with the same which also appear to be post WWII, from the buttons etc. War time or earlier caps tend to have the two pairs of vents either side rather than at the back in my experience.

Though it should be remembered that these are all privately tailored so there are no real hard and fast 100% rules you can apply in most cases. It is a combination of features I look at to help date them, if they do not have a royal warrant stating to which monarch they were hatters. I look at buttons, badges, type of peak, shape and length of peak, lining materials, presence of a crown seam, form and thickness of the chinstrap etc...

Personally I would place this cap as being post war, possibly late 40's but into the 50's seems more likely to me.

Sorry if this is not good news, and after all it is just an opinion.

I would say going by the colour , materials used and the makers marking its a post WWII example sadly with caps you cant go by the vent holes as these are place all over the place with the officers caps but this example in mo is definitely post 1952 regards steve

Jerry,

many thanks for your very valid points. My initial thoughts were that the cap was in far too good a condition to be WW2 and that given that Hobsons are still in business, it would be that much harder to accurately date than one from a maker with a Royal Warrant. I can live with it being late 1940s/ 1950s

Your phrase, "hatters to the Queen" reminded me of the old joke about the republican shoemakers whose goods proudly carried the legend, "Cobblers to the King".

Simon.

And the peasants are revolting is another in the same vein Simon.:D