EXC ORIG NAMED GROUP -- PRE-WWII EARLY WWII CAVALRY DRESS HAT & 2 GARRISON CAPS

Description

This is a set of three pre- to early WWII items named to a US Army soldier, the set consists of an early style OD wool enlisted man's visor hat with backstrap, and two OD wool enlisted man's garrison caps, both piped yellow for cavalry. The visor dress hat is a pre-WWII style, it is made of OD wool with a black visor and has a brass cap device and backstrap. The hat is lined with a patterned OD stain material, and has a plastic or celluloid sleeve for inserting identification. Inside this sleeve is a card marked "ALL WOOL, Exclusive of Ornamentation, 6 7/8." At the top it reads "IDENTIFICATION," and has areas designated for NAME, ORGANIZATION, AND REGIMENT.  The soldier who owned and wore this hat was Private Fernand Gosselin, who served with a cavalry regiment. On the card he wrote in blue ink the following: "Pvt. Fernand R. Gosselin, 36084722 Cavalry, Blue eyes / brown hair, light complexion, scar on right leg below knee. Please return to Identification as above if lost."  The cap device is screwback. There are two grommeted vent holes on each side of the hat, these are blackened steel. ********** The two garrison caps are OD wool, piped in yellow for cavalry. One is lined with khaki cotton and has a leather sweatband. There is a tag inside marked "6 7/8" for men's hat size and has designations for LOT and PRICE.  Pvt. Gosselin stamped his ID number (first initial of last name, and last four digits of US Army Serial Number), "G 4722." The second cap is unlined and has a khaki cotton sweatband. Gosselin wrote lightly in pen on the sweatband F. R. GOSSELIN 4722and stamped his ID number on the sweatband also, G 4722. The number 17565, and what appears to be the letter "S" is written on the sweatband also. The second cap is not size marked but appears identical in size to the first. ************** The hats are in excellent condition. There is no moth damage to the wool on any of the hats. The garrison caps are in fine shape, the yellow piping is bright. There is some minor soiling to the sweatband. The visor hat is also in excellent shape. The front visor, of a leatherette material, has some marks from where the plastic contacted something during long storage, resulting in some shallow divots or gouges as if the leatherette melted a bit. One of these is about 1 3/4 inch long and 1/4 inch wide, near the back left side of the brim, and another about 1/4 inch in diameter near the front center of the brim. Leatherette strap and backstrap are in good shape, cap device is bright and untarnished, buttons are in good condition. ************ Guaranteed 100% original. This was issued to a cavalry trooper in the period immediately before WWII or during the earliest days of the war. Even then the horse cavalry was on its way out, with no place in modern mechanized warfare.  I've included a photo from a 1941 issue of Life magazine showing a cavalry trooper who would have been a contemporary of Private Gosselin. ********* I can ship worldwide. Free shipping to a US address. Non-US buyers pay exact postage costs only.