Original Confederate Cap with Newsprint Visor

[Fred Adolphus]

Has anyone seen a particular original Confederate cap with an enameled cloth visor that has newsprint showing through on the bottom side? I need to research this cap for a book I'm compiling.

Some background: About five years ago, at an event in North Georgia, a fellow campaigner, Marlin Teat, was wearing a copy of an original Confederate cap as described above. The most unusual feature of the cap was that the visor had been made of newspaper sheets glued together. Instead of putting enameled cloth on both surfaces of the visor, the manufacturer only covered the top and left the newsprint showing on the underside. This surface he merely shellaced.

According to Marlin, he got the idea for the cap from another campaigner, name of Galen out of Alabama.

So... I am trying to track down the original cap so that I can examine it and put images of it in the book.

Any leads would be appreciated.

v/r,

Fred Adolphus

[GWagner]

Re: Original Confederate Cap with Newsprint Visor

Fred,

I purchased that Cap from Confederate Yankee; Dennis...or Denise Semrau out of South Carolina. At the time, he had compiled some documentation on that cap, and had it available. I don't know if he made the cap. I also don't remember the provenance...that was several years ago, and I have trouble remembering what happened yesterday.

I can tell you that the news print was lacquered together forming the bill, and then it was covered with painted canvas on top, and bound with painted canvas. The lacquered newsprint was showing on the bottom. Showing was an article an pic from a Harpers Weekly.

I wish I had it today. It was my favorite cap. Went with my favorite frock. Sorry I ever sold either.

I am wearing both in this pic from 1999. Tom "Cornbread" Key's ugly mug with me.

[jmbyrnes]

Re: Original Confederate Cap with Newsprint Visor

Wayne Hutzell has reproduced a kepi like the one mentioned above. If you're looking for more information on the original you may want to consider speaking with him. Here is a link for his contact info http://www.whutzell.com/contact.html

[Fred Adolphus]

Re: Original Confederate Cap with Newsprint Visor

Thanks, Jared & Galen. I will follow up on the leads.
Fred

[GreencoatCross]

Re: Original Confederate Cap with Newsprint Visor

I've seen a very, very small number of original kepis with paperboard visors or crowns made from composite layers of newspaper but they were either varnished black or covered over by the crown lining. The only way I could tell that the underside of the visors and crowns were newspaper was because they had suffered some kind of damage or degradation; the visor layers of paper separated from one other or the crown lining was ripped away from or separating from the crown stiffener.

I wouldn't think that exposed newspaper would be desirable anywhere on a military cap and I haven't seen any originals (to date) that were made that way.

[Cpl. Parker]

Re: Original Confederate Cap with Newsprint Visor

Galen Wagner, Thanks for posting that superb photo of Tom "Cornbread" Key and yourself.