Making a forrage cap top fall forward

[cjc]

Does anybody know a way to make a forage cap (federal) slouch forward like you see in the period pictures? Maby steaming the front of the body of the hat will help. Any ideas are welcome! or look at how The Circle top almost touches the brim, as apposed to

Caleb Courtney
Soon to be with the 30th Indiana Co. F

[Paul L Muller]

Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

I don't know if it is documented...I put a stitch in it to hole it in place. plm

[Secesh]

Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

Wear it and let it do it naturally...these guys in the pics wore their caps day in and day out, in all weather...

[FranklinGuardsNYSM]

Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

Yes, let it do its thing. Over time, the stiffener will lose some of its ability to "stand" on its own. And, remember that the originals varied, too.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

Wear it in the shower.

[erik]

Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

Time, steaming or wetting will do the job for the look you want. The last forage cap that I had I shaped by wetting. We used to shape our berets by soaking them in hot water placing them on our heads and getting the accepted look, then letting them dry while wearing them.
Be careful as this is wool and may shrink the entire hat or cause a seam to split.
The originals had rain to get there.

Erik Simundson

[Lewis Robinson]

Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

I bought a size 3/8"or one size too large for just this reason.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

Hallo!

Tis complicated....

The material used for Federal forage caps was listed in the QM specs as "facing cloth," and was a fair thin and light weight wool NUG woven very tightly so that the weave cannot NUG be seen.
Some reproductions of forage caps are made of uniform wool, and some of that heavier weight than original uniform material as well.
Depending upon the maker, one's forage cap may be heavier wool as well as wool woven using the nap rather than the tight weave for its overall appearancee, and is not subject to being "limp."

Second, one's head size and shape also plays a factor in how the forage cap sits on one's head. Lads with smaller heads end up with more "cap" above their heads to "sag" down. QM specs were set for crown heights which varied a bit by sizes.

And last, steaming wool causes it to shrink and full. It becomes thicker and denser. It would not make a floppier cap. Wetting and "crushing" to shape will help.

I suppose one could wash some of the sizing that might be in the wool. And I have know lads who, in a modern way, have tacked the front of the crown disk down with a loop of thread to the chin strap.
One alternative is to go "private purchase" and have a hat made with excess crown height so that it will fall forward.

Curt

[Archie R. Lib]

Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

Hey Caleb - even if you wet it to wash out the sizing you have to wear it.... Wear it every chance you get, in whatever weather. Wear it while you do yard work, garden, work on your car, whatever you're doing outside. If you wet it and let it dry outside on your head the fit will be that much better.

The first forage cap I bought was in 1986 and that's the first thing I noticed - it stood up on my head just like a shako. I wore it everywhere (to events and just around the yard), sweated it up, kept pushing that disc down, and over time it became a good old, perfectly fitted and shaped friend. I still have that hat. It's faded now to a very cool indigo and is more than serviceable.

The best way to do it? Go to a lot of events, sleep outside, sweat and dirty it up and expose it to campaigning weather!

Good luck!

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

Caleb,

I'm going to answer your question from another angle:
Why do you want it to fall forward?

I have always been an advocate of weathering/aging gear by using it. When you do this, you can learn things that you might not learn otherwise. On the flip side, if you artificially age your gear, in my book that's a bit of a farbism.

(So: To the folks advising adding non-documented stitches and such... please remember that you're in the Camp of Instruction folder and that "No Farbism" is one of our big three rules)

Consider this gent:


Notice how his jacket is 'ribbed' with horizontal lines. The question to ask isn't "How do I get my jacket to do that?", but, "what's different about his jacket, compared to mine?" The answer is that his jacket batting in the chest and has been quilted in the lining to hold the batting in-place. With heat, humidity, and wear, the wool on the outside is conforming to contours of the quilting.

So, as with the jacket example, consider "why" those hats in your pics look different from the reproduction you own. It may be an aging process. It may be that the pics are simply different styles of hats, or it could be the materials or how the hat was made.

[J.H.Berger]

Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

I agree to the former fellows, let it do it by usage. It also depends on the pattern the cap is made after. there are seme early war patterns that will not really fall forward because the crown is not that tall. If you want to wear it with the crown forward pull it that way each time you put it on your head. I remember doing a similar thing every time I put on my beret in the Army. Sweat and time will do it.

[Chris Fisher]

Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

I agree with the let it happen from wear. To look like a veteran, one must become one. If you must rush to look the part and not be the fresh fish then wear it all the time and let it happen naturally.
Wetting and steaming while not wearing it to dry will cost you 2 new hats, the one you own already and the one you buy to replace your shrunken hat.

[rpierson]

Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

...and also, there is no "right" way to wear a forage cap. A casual search through original images will show that many/most of these guys barely considered how they looked wearing their caps. While the flipped brim, falling crown and 22 degree jaunty angle did occur, more often than not forage caps seem to have been worn as an after thought. I say, wear that thing however it fits your head, and don't spend too much time in front of a mirror shaping it. After all, how much time would you spend manicuring something that would be thrown away in a few months?

-Randall Pierson

[unclefrank]

Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

I made a painted cloth cover just to keep it from getting wet. At a hundred bucks a pop, I want mine looking nice for as long as possible.

[BobRoeder]

Re: Making a forrage cap top fall forward

Pg. 133/34 US Army Headgear 1812-1872 - Langellier & Loane. A forage cap from Loane's collection w/ the following caption - "A now unknown member of the 63rd Pa. Vols. gave this cap worn at the battle of Gettysburg to a young boy there at a reunion in the early 20th Century. The crown has a brass company letter affixed over an early III Corps badge....along with 5/8" brass regimental numbers. He also sewed a cord of thread from the crown to the base of the cap [basically welt-to-welt]so the top would always sit at a 'jaunty' angle and proudly display his unit identification. "

So at least one example of an original Federal forage cap with the crown sewn down (sorta). Of coarse who did it and when over the ca. 40+/- years of original ownership is anyone's guess.

Have fun....