An interesting bit of nautical collecting is something called a navy hat tally. They were ribbons with ship’s names and were worn on both the cloth wheel cap and the tarred straw hats starting around the time of the Civil War, in the U.S. navy. Some countries also used them on tropical pith helmets. Wealthy owners of private yachts also had their sailors wear hat tallies with the name of the yacht on the ribbon. Prestigious steamship lines had their sailors wear hat tallies, often with the steamship line flag embroidered on the ribbon as well.

Circa. 1900 British Bosun's Mate with Hat Tally.

The U.S. Navy 1897 regulation prescribed tallies to be made from navy colored silk ribbon and were one and a half inch wide with the letters of the name of the ship in half inch block letters woven from fine gilt thread or stenciled with gold paint. The lengths of unissued or unused hat tallies varied from 33 inches to 37 inches. As a side note, the large diameter cracker jack hat had that had been standard from just after the Civil War was reduced in size by regulation after WWI.

Hat tallies were issued as extremely long ribbons, sometimes as long as 38 inches. When the hat tally was tied to the hat, a bow was made and the extra long tails were often cut short and neat. Unissued hat tallies will generally be quite long and tied, issued hat tallies when dismounted from the hat will be considerably shorter. Retired navy men saved their hat tallies and sometimes cut them down to the legend only for display so expect to see a variety of lengths.

Most major navies had hat tallies and it’s not uncommon to find South American and Italian hat tallies on the market because they are still being used today or were made obsolete only recently. Hat tallies were not just named ships, but naval duty stations and reserve status might be indicated on a hat tally.

American hat tallies with ship names ended in August 1941, just before America’s entrance into WWII, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor due to security reasons. Wartime and later hat tallies just said U.S. Navy. The cracker jack hat went away by the mid 1960s, being a piece of basic issue to new recruits, but seldom worn.

Hat Tally USS Lancaster 1858-1915

Hat Tally USS Machias 1891 to 1919

Be careful of buying hat tallies over the internet. There are increasing numbers of reproductions being sold as original. The most common are U.S. Navy hat tallies with the name of famous ships from the civil war to WWII as well as German WWII hat tallies of battleships.

The most common original hat tally is the standard “U.S. Navy” which is worth from $5 to $10 depending on condition. The post-WWI small navy hat with a common “U.S. Navy” legend sells from $25 to $50, although there are considerable variables in condition. A named hat from a good ship will bring more and a hat with a pre-war named ship hat tally can be expensive, just be careful of reproductions.

Hat Tally USS Mohican 1883-1921

Hat Tally USS Topeka 1898-1929

This is an rare example of a cross over hat tally. The Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse (Kaiser Wilhelm der Große) started out as a civilian luxury liner and was converted into a light cruiser during WWI and was sunk in the battle of Rio de Oro in 1914.

Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse Luxary Liner-Commerce raider

Norddeutsche Lloyd (NDL) (North German Lloyd) was a Germanshipping company

Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse 1897-1914

Norddeutsche Lloyd (NDL) (North German Lloyd) Logo

Please note that all actual hat tallies featured in the above images are original and from our collection and are available for purchase. Prices upon request.

For further information go to the following web sites:

Early Hat Tallies
Canadian Hat Tallies
Sailor Caps
Navy Uniform History
Soar Valley Weaving, Home of Cap Tallies

Two Sailors from the USS St. Louis Note Hat Tally on Right.


Doug Mansfield Owner & Operator of The GI Museum

Today we went to the The GI Museum located at 5796 Ritcher Road in Gautier, MS. We were very fortunate to have Doug Mansfield the owner & operator to give us a personal tour of the museum today. This wonderful Museum aims to preserve memorabilia representing the generations of Americans who have served our country so that we can remain free today. The museum does this through many thoughtfully and carefully arranged displays and by means of a number of educational programs. This collection has items from WWI all the way through the current era. The museums goal is to make sure we never forget the sacrifices that the men and woman of our country have made as civilians and military during war time service.

Very rare combat photographer's field kit WWII era

This is not simply an arry of militay equipment, but a exhibition of the everyday things that were used by the the average military member and supporting civilians. They feature a lot of items that were extremely common when new 70 years ago, but have become quite rare over the years. I was thrilled to see a package of Wings brand cigarettes! We saw a WWII era Russian Maxim machine gun. They have some rare Flying Tigers memorabilia. And to top it all off, Mister Mansfield had so much great information to share. It was a truly enjoyable and educational experiance! I know that The GI Museum will be a repeat destination for us in the future!

Field radio set up with military bugle and issued phonograph WWII era

The GI Museum also sponsars the WKFK TV show Local Heroes. On this locally televised show Doug Mansfield interviews military veterns about their military experiances

For further information check out The GI Museum