The August 2020 issue of Naval History featured a handful of articles centered around the recently released movie Greyhound. Gracing the cover was Tom Hanks in his movie role as Commander Ernest Krause. Hanks’ image includes a particular piece of naval uniform history: the bullion-embroidered Navy officer cap device. When and why did this classic rendering of the venerated and historic emblem disappear—or has it?
In the Navy’s uniform regulations of 1897, only the embroidered cap device was described for officers, although its description was virtually identical to the one worn today. What may come as a surprise to some is that these beautiful classic bullion-embroidered devices are still authorized for wear.
Article 4311.1 of current Navy uniform regulations describes how the commissioned officer and commissioned warrant officer cap device “consists of two gold crossed fouled anchors with burnished silver shield surmounted by a burnished silver spread eagle facing to wearer’s right. It may be embroidered [emphasis added] or made of metal.” Perhaps in the wake of Greyhound, the surface warfare community will have a resurgence of interest in this version of the cap device, harkening back to a time when a destroyer’s captain might release guns to local control and order, “Fire as they bear!”
The embroidered cap device is arguably as traditional as a leather jacket. Bullion-embroidered versions of naval aviator wings and submarine dolphins also are evidenced in photographs from the early and mid–20th century, but unlike the officer cap device, the embroidered bullion versions of those breast insignia did not survive changes to Navy uniform regulations, and today only the metal pin-on versions are authorized.
The description of the officer cap device remained very similar from 1897 until 1941, when the eagle changed its gaze from the looking to the wearer’s left to the right. While the reasoning for this change to align with heraldic standards is documented, the evolution of the manufacture and wear of bullion versus metal cap devices leaves the researcher wanting. There was a brief period near the end of World War II when changes were made limiting the use of gold bullion devices in rank and cap devices as a result of wartime shortages, but the conflict ended before the changes took real effect. Half-striping of officer sleeve devices and a suspension of the use of gold chinstraps were called for, but images from that period suggest these practices never took hold.
We do know that as the United States ramped up for the rapid expansion that marked its involvement in World War II, large numbers of newly minted officers, all products of the Great Depression, needed quick, affordable, and therefore mass-produced, solutions to fulfill their uniform requirements. This no doubt led to the popularity of stamped metal cap devices, while at the same time sounded a death knell for the previously dominant, classic-looking, handmade, and thus expensive, gold bullion cap device.
World War II in now more than 75 years in the rear-view mirror, but today junior officers of all branches continue to be driven by cost when outfitting themselves. If the demand signal existed, the cost of a bullion cap device, then as now, would be significantly more than the stamped metal version. Our sister services are no different. In the Army there is the fairly well-known, albeit frowned-upon, practice among newly promoted first lieutenants seeking to get a bit more mileage from their embroidered second lieutenant bars. They simply darken the yellow threads through the careful application of a black Sharpie pen. The same penny-pinching first lieutenants can extend the life of their dress blue nylon shoulder straps with judicious application of white correction fluid. White bullion shoulder straps are available for Army officers, but they have been marketed towards “career” officers.
With the Army’s recent return to “pinks and greens” for a service uniform, the bullion versions of Army shoulder straps for the Army dress blue uniform already are expected to decline in popularity. This is the military equivalent of someone being completely satisfied with an aloha shirt from Costco or Walmart, while someone with a bit more expendable income, or perhaps driven by a more demanding sense of personal style, might decide to spring for the Tommy Bahama version.
Classic movies made within the decade or so after World War II seem to support this observation. In the 1954 film The Caine Mutiny, the character of Ensign Willie Keith, a young officer from a well-off family, is introduced to the audience at his commissioning ceremony, his service dress blues topped off by the bullion version of the cap device. He is surrounded by ensigns wearing the more common stamped metal style. Although there is no particular mention of it, this nuanced use of a more expensive uniform item hints at his being from the upper crust, which is a central part of his character. In a subsequent scene, Ensign Keith offers his hat to a shipmate who is about to be sick, saying, “Use mine, I’ve got three others.” Clearly, Ensign Keith had expendable cash to buy the finer things in life, and the bullion cap device was just such a thing. Today, Ensign Keith undoubtedly would be wearing the Tommy Bahama aloha shirt while off duty.
Visitors to Navy uniform shops today may notice that chief petty officers can choose among different styles of rating badge for their service dress blues: the simple cloth embroidered, or the bullion version, which are of course significantly more expensive. In contrast, officer cap devices made of embroidered bullion are not available through the Navy exchange system, nor through any of the major uniform and insignia vendors.
While it appears that the market for these devices has faded away, a victim of the economics of supply and demand, there is still hope for traditionalists wishing to give these historic devices a nod. As mentioned above, if you can find one, you can still wear it. The devices can be cleaned up nicely, by brushing them with a soft toothbrush and a paste made with the spice cream of tartar and water. While serving in the Far East, I stumbled on a bullion cap device online at a reasonable cost, and wore it until my retirement last year. During my career I encountered only one other officer wearing one, now-retired Rear Admiral Mark Buzby. I’d like to think that there are some others out there keeping this tradition going.
