Original U.S. WWII Navy Female WAVES Officer’s Hat with Badge by Knox

Original Item. Only One Available. Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service “WAVES” was the US Naval Reserve Women’s branch established on July 21, 1942. The branch was established to replace men stationed ashore to provide more sea duty sailors and officers. By the end of 1942, there were 770 WAVES Officers and 3,109 enlisted. In 1945 these numbers had grown to 8,475 officers and 73,816 enlisted. Following the War, many WAVES were demobilized, however the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act in 1948 was signed into law allowing women to serve in the regular Navy. The term WAVES continued in usage for Navy women until the 1970’s. The WAVES uniforms were custom designed by Mainbocher, the famous New York fashion house. The uniforms included a white style uniform, a seersucker version with gray and white stripes, and a blue version. This is a very rare WWII Navy “WAVES” Female officer’s cap, with the original officer’s cap badge. This example was manufactured by Knox of New York for retail in “Rothschild’s”. There is no size marked but it is roughly a size 6 ½. The cap badge has lovely bullion work and the cap looks great on a mannequin head. The hat band correctly has snaps to remove it, but one of the snaps has broken away from the band. A great example, ready for display!