Hemingway Cap

[BellyTank]

What about this one for a Hemingway cap?

http://www.villagehatshop.com/longbill_ballcap.html

B
T

 

[Hemingway Jones]

BT, that is a nice hat.
The one thing about The Hemingway Cap is that the visor is made of the softest deerskin you can imagine.
It truly makes the hat.
Though, I must admit, I have never worn it outdoors. I bought it for my Hemingway collection. I would like to wear it fishing, but I don't want to mess it up.

 

[BellyTank]

OK- I see-
I thought that it WASN'T supposed to be leather and that the available look-a-likes DID have the leather bill.
Now I see the truth.

But that one at the link has a vintage, non-baseball cap style, which I like.

B
T

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Are you asking what Hemingway actually wore?
That is an excellent question, and I must say that in most of the photos I have seen, he is either wearing a cloth cap with a longish bill or a visor.
However, I have seen some photos, including one in which he is examining a centerfold with a sly smile, where he is wearing a light cap with a dark long bill. In the photo, it looks like it might be glossy black celluloid, like an old time card dealer.
Still, there are thousands of images out there and I have never really challenged Peterman's version for accuracy.
Let's say, it seems Hemingway enough, as does your link.

 

[BellyTank]

OK(again)- I thought you were correcting me on the leather bill thing.
Confusion all round then...

I remember images of him wearing an all cloth cap(presumably/presumedly) in khaki.
Long bill, yes.

I had assumed that you were correct, with the leather job and your collection and your knowledge of the man and his life.

OK-

B
T

 

[Hemingway Jones]

BT, I just found a photo of Hemingway wearing a long-billed cap in khaki with a very long bill of a very dark color, perhaps black or dark brown. I cannot tell what the bill is made of, but it fits with the Peterman styling.

Consequently, the Peterman Hemingway Cap is on sale for $34 for Fathers Day.

 

[dr greg]

milspec longbill

What was the one worn by John Malkovich in "Empire of the Sun", I thought it might be USAAF.

 

[scotrace]

... the Peterman Hemingway Cap is on sale for $34 for Fathers Day.

And, as it happens, I am a father.

Fingers crossed...

 

[GA Wildlifer]

Memories

The long-bill caps I remember seeing on fishing trips to Florida as a child were usually white, khaki, or Navy. They often had an embroidered anchor or jumping sailfish.

The bills were usually the same color, but some were contrasting. The key is that the bills all seemed to have a dark (usually green) underside to reduce the brightness of the light reflected off the water. Some of these hats even had a snap-brim of sorts in the back. Up for a sporty look or down in the French Foreign Legion style for more sun protection.

I have a few of the modern adaptations that I use for fishing, but I would love to find one like I remember.

Robert

 

[Kodiak]

Cabela's offers something like that. Go to the men's section. Not vintage, but It'll work.

 

[skbellis]

Bringing up an old thread...

I own the Hemingway Cap from J Peterman, but after looking at some of these it strikes me that these hats would be more "Hemingway" authentic.

http://quakermarine.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=65

Especially the original Original Swordfish® Cap and the Original Oysterman® Cap

Is anyone the proud owner of any of these hats? Any thoughts?

Cheers,

---Scott

 

[cookie]

Is anyone the proud owner of any of these hats? Any thoughts? Scott

They look great and a lot cheaper then Peterman which is to be expected...

 

[skbellis]

Peterman...

Don't get me wrong, I love my Peterman hat, but the leather brim really takes a beating when you are on the gulf coast. But, maybe the brim getting all salty from sweat and sea water adds to the charm...lol.

---Scott

 

[hatflick1]

Here's another option, Quaker Marine:
http://quakermarine.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=65
Hats look pretty authentic even for Papa.

 

[skbellis]

repeat...

Thanks Hatflick...but I already posted that site a couple of posts up. I was curious if anyone has purchased one of these yet. I was not sure how the quality of Quaker Marine hats are.

---Scott

 

[NonEntity]

Nick,

I have one of these fisherman's hats that I got at a gulf-side shop in Destin, FL way back when it was a sleepy fishing village, only mine is in a solid stone color made of a waxed cotton twill--making it waterproof--and it is made to fit to size, with no opening in the back. It also has four brass grommets along each side for ventilation. The dark green underbrim is hugely helpful in reducing glare, and the crown fits closely to the skull, which definitely reduces the chance it'll blow off into the jaws of a marlin.

Many think this style hat looks goofy because of the long bill, but it is very functional in windy conditions, though even I think the goof factor takes over when the bill gets longer than four inches or so. To over-analyze, it appears that the caps with a grommet in each panel and that do not tightly hug the head are nothing more than basic six-panel ball caps with an extra-long bill sewn on.

Geo,

Yes, this is the style of cap that John Wayne wore in the film "Hatari," which also featured the great character actor Red Buttons. A kid at the time, I was bugged that the Duke wore such at cap and not a proper safari hat in a film about catching wild animals for zoos on the savannas of Africa, but I now realize it was ideal for cutting glare and not blowing off on the fast-moving, jostling trucks from which the animals were snared.

It's hard to tell from the photos of Hemingway just what the bill is made of, but it does look to be shinier than plain or even waxed twill, perhaps smooth or patent leather like the ones in the links folks have provided. I have several ball caps with spiffy leather bills which render them stiff and very uncomfortable, so I believe a soft and flexible deerskin would be the perfect hide for comfort on this kind of cap.

I've searched all over the web for fisherman's caps that are sized (7, 7 1/8, etc.) but found none, so you'll have to make do with S, M, L, XL, XXL or accept one with an adjustable velcro or buckle closure with the attendant rear gap that compromises authenticity.

 

[davidd]

Yes, I realize a full decade has passed since this topic was introduced, and at least eight years since it was last updated. Most of the images are missing and the links are outdated.

Some topics, however, are worthy of revisiting. This is one such topic.

"Hemingway's Cap" from J. Peterman​

The Hemingway's Cap, purported to be styled after the long-billed fishing caps the famous author sports in a few photos from the 1930s to the 1950s, is still available from the J. Peterman Company web site and catalog (or, as Peterman's describes it, the "Owner's Manual").

Here's a J. Peterman link, current as of May 2016: http://www.jpeterman.com/Hemingways-Cap

Here's an image of Hemingway wearing a cloth cap with a long, dark bill while fishing in Bimini in the mid-1930s:

Hemingway fishing near Bimini in the Bahamas in the 1930s​

Initial posts in this topic indicate that the circa 2006 price for the Hemingway's Cap was $39.00, with an occasionally discounted price of $34.00. Ten years later, in 2016, the price is $59.00, although subscribers to the J. Peterman email list are sometimes offered short-term "percent off" coupons, generally 20%.

Early posts in this topic also describe the long bill of this cap as being covered in soft deerskin. The current Owner's Manual listing indicates calfskin leather.

J. Peterman "Hemingway's Cap"​

I recently purchased a J. Peterman "Hemingway's Cap." Yes, I paid fifty bucks for a baseball cap. Yes, I'm a frivolous moron sometimes. At least I had a "21% off" coupon, so actually I only paid $47.00 for a baseball cap. Plus shipping. So yeah, fifty bucks.

I've wanted one. For a long time. Practically forever, it seems. Or at least, ever since I first saw this cap and read the likely spurious but nevertheless compellingly entertaining description in a Peterman catalog years and years ago. But I could never justify the cost. And, quite frankly, I still can't justify the cost. I mean, it's a cotton baseball cap. Light tan in color. With a long, dark bill. It's not worth fifty bucks.

Is it?

"Hemingway's Cap" -- top view​

Here's what it is: it's an "old school" low-crowned baseball-style cap made of a lightweight cotton material. The crown consists of six wedge-shaped panels. Each panel sports a brass ventilation grommet in the middle. The back of the cap has elastic sewn into the hem of the fabric to keep it snug. No plastic adjustment band. No Velcro. No open back with a stretchy bit tacked in. Elastic, sewn into the hem. The hat is available in three sizes, Medium, Large, and Extra Large. Thus, it is "sized" to an extent, rather than merely being "adjustable" or "one size fits all."

"Hemingway's Cap -- back view -- elastic hem​

I generally wear a 7-5/8 or 61 in "sized" hats. I purchased an Extra Large, and it fits well. You'd think that with all that space in my head for brains, I'd know better than to spend fifty bucks on a baseball cap.

A tag sewn inside the cap displays the J. Peterman logo and indicates the body of the cap is Made in Sri Lanka of 100% cotton.

"Hemingway's Cap -- J. Peterman tag​

The bill is, on my example, 4-7/8 inches long from the front edge to the seam where it attaches to the cotton body. The bill is, indeed, covered in leather. The leather is very smooth, almost shiny. In fact, it almost looks like vinyl. But a close examination of the inside of the hat where the brim attaches reveals that the brim covering is actual leather, as the "non-shiny" side of the hide is visible at the seams. The brim feels as though the core inside the leather is... cardboard. I don't know. What are the brims of baseball caps (or, I shudder at the term: "trucker's caps") usually made of? This one feels like thin cardboard. When the hat arrived the brim was completely flat. I have been gently attempting to give the brim a curve without inadvertently creasing it.

I suppose one way to justify having purchased this hat is that this is the first baseball-style cap I have ever owned. Even as a kid, I never had a baseball hat. So if you add up all the five and ten and fifteen dollar baseball hats and trucker's caps I haven't purchased over the years... okay, yeah, it's a stretch, I know.

Anyway:

PROS:
*Cotton body (not nylon or other new-fangled synthetic blend)
*Six-panel, low-profile, rounded crown construction
*Brass (probably plated) ventilation grommets, one in each panel
*1930s "fishing hat" style
*Long, nearly five inch, leather-covered "duck bill" brim
*Available in a range of three "sizes" rather than one-size-fits-all
*Elastic sewn into the hem; no Velcro or plastic size adjustment band
*No external sports team or "Big Johnson" novelty logos
*Made someplace other than China

CONS:
*Sixty bucks for a baseball hat: that's a "con" in more than one sense of the word!
*Fifty bucks for a baseball hat even with a discount coupon

Does anybody else have one of these? Or rather, will anybody else admit to having shelled out fifty bucks for a semi-fictionalized reproduction of a type of fisherman's cap a famous author might once have worn?

Does anybody else think this hat is... kinda cool?

 

[parispal]

thanks for digging up the vault!

you can also try to find Hemingway's WWI paramedic cap

 

[parispal]

plus an extra $30 for S&H to France...

 

[Edward]

Thanks for adding to this thread. It's not a style of hat I'd ever buy myself, but I enjoyed reading your review, and it's always interesting to learn about something else from the period I didn't know before. Sounds like you're well pleased with it. In terms of the price, I don't think it sounds so bad..... though bear in mind the last few years have seen me buy several eight panel and eight-dart, vintage pattern caps that cost significantly north of fifty bucks! Acouple of them are denim, too, which is cotton, really.... Compared to what the likes of Buzz Rickson would charge you for a much less unique style of baseball cap, I'd say the price here really isn't so bad, if you like it and it does what you want it to do. Subjective aesthetics aside, I woul have said the only thing they could really do to improve it would be to make it in individual sizes (as you can get with some cotton baseball caps now), but that would undoubtedly rase the price markedly. Wear and enjoy!