Early NSDAP Ortsgruppe Leader Visor Cap in the Austrian Maker’s Box Mailed to the United States

The visor cap is an early example of headgear worn by an official of the Nazi Party at the Ortsgruppe level, being constructed of ribbed golden brown wool with light blue piping. The peak of the cap carries the large Third Reich political eagle in the 1934 pattern, with an enamel swastika cockade being present on the cap band. The visor is the thin lacquered style that is seen on earlier political visor caps, including Adolf Hitler’s own cap from the period. The exterior surfaces show some subtle very minor tracking but the cap is without holes or stains. The top peak is a bit slanted towards the back, apparently a combination of the fact that the cap was without a wire stiffener (giving the cap a decidedly “jaunty” appearance) and the placement of the cap in the shipping box. Across the top of the visor is a toned silver bullion cap cord that is secured by silver colored pebbled side buttons. The interior lining of the cap is intact, as is the full celluloid sweat shield. Some stitching of the visor has deteriorated with time, leaving the visor only slightly loose, but being secure on the cap. The cap is contained within a shipping box that shows that it was sent by the old and well known hat shop (“Hutfachgeschaft”) of Joseph Geiger in Salzburg, Austria. The box shipping label states that the contents (“Inhalt”) consisted on a hat (“Hute”). The box was sent to a “Mr. Robert Goodmann” in Spring Valley, New York. The box shows expected signs of age and use.