Personally I think that the Soviet Caps with large crowns are great. They are uniquely Soviet and very disticntive. I think the old hats from the 40s, 50s, and 1960s are OK but the large crowned hats make them unmistakbly Soviet/Russin.
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I must respectfully disagree. Does anyone remember the old Warner Brothers Daffy Duck cartoons that came out during the war, the ones lampooning the nazis and the Prussian stereotyped characters? Well, every time I see one of these enormous monstrosities on the head of some late-soviet, or Russian Federation serviceman or official, I think of those cartoons, and only of how UTTERLY RIDICULOUS those damned things look. My wife, who is from Moscow, and whose father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all distinguished Soviet officers, says that soldiers used a derisive term for these caps, "aerodrome", since they were big enough to land a MiG on!! Who can NOT look at a 50's or 60's general's parade cap, and not sigh with admiration and satisfaction from the inherant beauty they exude?? Put it next to a late 1980's wave green general's cap, and you will see what I mean!!
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I will probably open myself to a massive flame war but I agree with viking raider for two reasons.
1) Vive la difference. The wacky big hats, which kabanchik so correctly calls ridiculous, are part of the 1990s feel for Russia in my mind. Odd but true.
2) Sadly, those ridiculous hats fit the Russian (and late Soviet) military perfectly - a ridiculous shadow of itself. No slur intended on the few good officers there even towards the end. The great Red Army of the 40s-50s and especially the brave vets of WWII had respectable hats. The later you get the more it is all about shine and not substance. Those ridiculous hats sadly fit the highly corrupt, inefficient, rusting and generally uncaring Soviet/Russian army of the 1980-90s.
I bet you could seperate the good from bad officers based on which hat they would choose if given the choice between 50s-60s style (the good ones) and 80s-90s style (the bad bunch).
Shawn
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I appreciate Shawn's view. They certainly are collectable and I have more than a few. But Soviet officers that I spoke with in the 70s and 80s also joked that if you stood in a strong wind you could go airborne if you were not careful. I think it was a source of moderate embarrassment to them.
I have a good friend who was a naval architect (one of the designers of the K-19) and he said that he continued to wear his father's visor hats (a squadron leader in the Baltic fleet during the war) throughout his career. He held Malinovsky responsible for pushing those airfoils on to otherwise classy uniforms.
Once in a while the armed forces of almost every country get a top dog who thinks he is a fashion expert (e.g. General McPeak whose handiwork was quickly dropped after he retired).
Now, if you want to see some really silly visor hats, look at the Indonesian or Thai examples!
Dr. Bob
