My wife cleaning out garage hands me this hat she thinks she got at a yard sale some time ago.
Has 2 tank patches on one side possible infantry hat.
Anyone have any info on this ?
Thanks
Whoever had it was a Russian/Soviet tanker officer. The pins were probably collected at veteran get-togethers or organizations in Russia. Like the VFW or American Legion. Cool find.
When the Berlin Wall came down tons of that stuff immediately showed up in flea markets and surplus stores, looks like someone just used the cap to display their collection. Those tank patches are actually sleeve insignia. The only thing that belongs on the hat is the red star pin on the front. It's a neat little collection and probably worth a few bucks to someone
These (as well as the classic soviet fur hats “ushankas”) became very common items found in Russian flea markets post USSR. There was so much soviet army surplus produced during the Cold War that it spilled out onto the streets and became a popular tourist trinket to get when visiting the country (same goes for the pins). Like mentioned google, “pilotka” and that will give you a general idea of how the hat should have looked like. The two more significant pins is the red star (with young Lenin’s face) and the “ВЛКСМ» flag above it. Those were given to Octoberites and Komsomolites...that was your first indoctrination badges into the communist party (first one given between 7-9yrs of age) (second one 14 -28 yrs of age). If you want to know about any other pins let me know. Cheers.