White Top Traffic Police Visor

[W.Unland]

This photo demonstrates the simple and cheap construction of the cap. As mentioned it was intended as an issue service cap, and was never intended as a vanity piece.

The front stiffener was held in place by the vertical strip joining the top edge and the lower cap body. A simple foam pad was originally glued, rather sloppily to the front beneath the sweatband.

Also notice that the sewing line and the older holes from a previous attachment are almost contiguous here in the front. In the rear of the cap the two lines are some mm's apart indicting that the first attempt at sewing in the sweatband was crooked, and low in the back.

[W.Unland]

Another interesting characteristic of this cap is the lower edge of the cap body. On an officer's cap this was made of wool. On this cap it is cheap white cotton. Unfortunately, cotton does not wear as well as wool, and constant stress on this edge would have caused it to wear, break and unravel. Consequently the maker has coated this lower edge with a thick white alcohol based lacquer. It is not for color as the cloth beneath is white, it is to make the edge waterproof and to strengthen it so that it doesn't fall apart after exposure to hair oil, sweat, and the friction of wear.

Because this lacquer is susceptible to softening with heat it has discolored badly over the years as it would become sticky and hold dirt and oil to itself.

In the first photo you can see the thick lacquer, with brush marks near the brim.

The second photo shows that this discoloration ENDS at the edge of the sweatband. To me this is proof that the sweatband has been sewn as shown here since the cap was first issued. If the sweatband was a newer replacement the gunk blackening the lacquer would not stop at the thread line, and would not accumulate there as shown in this photo. At least to me, this clearly indicates that the discoloration occurred while this sweatband was sewn down AS IT IS NOW. It supports my earlier hypothesis that the sweatband was re-sewn at the time of manufacture due to its having been initially sewn in too low in the back.

You can also see similar discoloration on the sweatband itself as this too is lacquered white. I am not certain of the material making up the sweatband. It could be split leather, but seems ersatz to me. Perhaps a paper product in keeping with the generally cheap nature of the materials used in this cap, other than the top.

[W.Unland]

In conclusion, it appears that traffic police white tops caps, at least in so far as this maker is concerned, were made up of cheap purpose made cap bodies with the appropriate red piping added, and at hand removable officer's type white cotton tops that were very simply sewn in place to complete the cap. The grommet on the front served no purpose on this cap. It is an artifact of the tops original intended purpose.

Those who are familiar with my police collecting know that I am a "technical" collector. I do not accumulate artifacts. I enjoy collecting variations and am very interested in manufacturing traits and characteristics. If this has been boring I apologize. I am indulging my own interest and hope that someone else might find it of some limited value.

White top traffic police caps are among the rarest of police caps and the chance to study them seldom presents itself, at least to me.

Regards,
William Unland

[stonemint]

Bill, I liked it before you started this thread, and I like it now. Nothing wrong with
it at all.
For such a simple (almost disposable) cap, they are very hard to find.

[Bob Hritz]

Absolutely fascinating. Thank you, Bill, for the detailed information on this most ellusive hat.

Bob Hritz

[BenVK]

Consequently the maker has coated this lower edge with a thick white alcohol based lacquer.

Many thanks Bill for your detailed analysis.
I've also handled a white top Polizei cap with a lacquered lower edge that's identical to your cap. It's not something that I've encountered before so I thought that maybe it had been applied post war for some reason.

Now we know the truth.

[SgtB]

Great looking cap! I enjoyed your detailed analysis as well.