Figure 1.--This American Scout, Douglas Dutiel, wears the American overseeas-style cap at camp, probably in the 1950s.

Nothing captures the image of a Scout wordwide more than the broad-brimmed hat. Although many options have been tried over the years (such as the World War II overseas hat, the red beret and the baseball cap), the "Smoky-the-Bear" or "Campaign" hat is the only uniform item which has remained constant around the world since Scouting came to the United States in the early 1900s. The military-inspired overseas cap became standard issue in the 1940s and was worn until the early 1980s. It was worn so long and by so many boys that it became more associated with Scouting than the Smokey Bear hat that few American boys ever saw, much less wore. It was a largely impractical cap, but even so endured for four decades. A few adult Souters can occassionally be seen with the Smoket Bear hat because of the distinctive image. The baseball cap became the standard headwear of American Scouts and Cubs when a new uniform was introduced in 1981. This cap has proven popular with the boys.

Chronology

American Scout uniform head wear has largely flooswed uniform trends in the U.S. Army. Nothing captures the image of a Scout wordwide more than the broad-brimmed hat. Although many options have been tried over the years (such as the World War II overseas hat, the red beret and the baseball cap), the "Smoky-the-Bear" or "Campaign" hat is the only uniform item which has remained constant around the world since Scouting came to the United States in the early 1900s. The military-inspired overseas cap became standard issue in the 1940s and was worn until the early 1980s. It was worn so long and by so many boys that it became more associated with Scouting than the Smokey Bear hat that few American boys ever saw, much less wore. It was a largely impractical cap, but even so endured for four decades. A few adult Souters can occassionally be seen with the Smoket Bear hat because of the distinctive image. The baseball cap became the standard headwear of American Scouts and Cubs when a new uniform was introduced in 1981. The change was made largely for stylist reasons, but we note that the baseball cap was also worn in the Army. This cap has proven popular with the boys.

Types

American Scouts have wore several different types of headwear. American Scout uniform head wear until recently has largely followed uniform trends in the U.S. Army. Te first uniform headwear was a hat--the Naden Powell lemon-squeezer hat that was adopted by Scouts all around the world. . All subsequent Scout headwear has been sifferent styles of caps.