Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

WEDGE CAP

Date Range From

1957

Date Range To

1963

Materials

COTTON, SILK, METAL

No. Pieces

1

Length

29

Width

11.4

Description

BLUE WEDGE CAP WITH FOLDED EDGE SEWN AROUND CAP; FRONT OF CAP HAS TWO BRASS BUTTONS EMBOSSED WITH CROWN OVER EAGLE IN FLIGHT AND TEXT “R.C.A.F.”. LEFT-WEARING SIDE OF CAP HAS METAL SEAL ON BLACK BACKGROUND; SEAL SHOWS BRASS, RED, AND SILVER CROWN OVER A BRASS FLYING EAGLE OVER FOUR BRASS LEAF FRONDS TIED IN THE CENTER. INSIDE OF CAP IS LINED WITH RED SILK AND DISCOLOURED VELVET EDGING; TOP OF INSIDE HAS FOLD IN SILK WITH “MATHESON” WRITTEN ON EITHER SIDE IN BLACK MARKER. INSIDE CAP HAS DISCOLOURED GREY TAG WITH BLUE STITCHED EDGING AND BLUE AND RED EMBROIDERED TEXT “THE MUIR BRAND, EST. 1875, MUIR CAP & REGALIA LTD., SI SIMCOE ST. TORONTO”. INSIDE LEFT-WEARING SIDE OF CAP HAS HOLE IN VELVET LINING; INSIDE BACK OF CAP HAS FRAYING ALONG VELVET EDGING; CAP IS FADED ON OUTSIDE AND HAS SOILING ON RIGHT-WEARING SIDE. OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

CLOTHING-HEADWEAR

Historical Association

MILITARY

PERSONAL CARE

History

ON MARCH 1, 2017, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED CLYDE MATHESON REGARDING HIS DONATION OF ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE APPAREL. MATHESON SERVED TWO YEARS IN THE ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY ON H.M.C.S. “NADEN” BEFORE TRANSFERRING TO THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE. ON THE WEDGE CAP, MATHESON RECALLED, “[THIS IS THE ORIGINAL] FROM THE R.C.A.F. RIGHT FROM DAY ONE.” “THEY’VE BEEN HANGING UP IN MY CLOSET FOR FIFTY SOME ODD YEARS AND I THINK IT’S TIME THAT I DID SOMETHING WITH THEM.” “ABOUT 1955 I JOINED THE NAVY AND I WAS IN THE NAVY FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS AND THEN TRANSFERRED WITH AIRCREW IN THE AIR FORCE. I WENT IN THE AIR FORCE IN ABOUT 1957 AND THEN GRADUATED FROM THE AIR OBSERVER SCHOOL IN WINNIPEG ABOUT 1958 AND GOT MY WINGS THEN AND THAT’S WHERE THESE ALL ARE ORIGINALLY FROM. THIS ALL I’VE GOT OF ALL THE UNIFORMS I HAD.” MATHESON SPOKE ABOUT HIS TIME IN THE NAVY AND AIR FORCE, STATING, “IN 1955 WHEN I GOT THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL, THE LAST THING I WANTED TO DO WAS ANYMORE SCHOOLING. I HAD ENOUGH OF THAT, SO SPUR OF THE MOMENT THING I JOINED THE NAVY. I WAS IN THE NAVY FOR ABOUT TWO WEEKS AND I REALIZED I HAD MADE A MISTAKE. I LASTED TWO YEARS IN THERE, AND THEN TRANSFERRED TO THE AIR FORCE. I GUESS THAT WAS PROBABLY JUST THE REASON TO GET OUT OF LETHBRIDGE BACK THEN.” “MY DAD WAS KIND OF ANTI-MILITARY. MY BROTHER, BILL, WAS IN THE PARATROOPERS DURING THE WAR…HE WAS KIND OF A HERO WHEN WE WERE KIDS…I THINK MAYBE THE REASON I JOINED THE NAVY IS MY DAD WAS AN OLD FISHERMAN IN SCOTLAND AND HE KIND OF REALLY LOVED THE NAVY. I MIGHT HAVE DONE THAT TO PLEASE HIM, BUT I THINK THE MAIN REASON WAS TO GET OUT OF LETHBRIDGE.” “THE KOREAN WAR [WAS IN] ’55, IT WAS JUST ABOUT FINISHING UP AND THE VIETNAM WAR WAS JUST GETTING [STARTED]. THE ONLY CLAIM I HAD WHEN I WAS IN THE SERVICE IS THEY DID A LOT OF FLYING. ALL MY TIME WAS SPENT IN GREENWOOD, NOVA SCOTIA, 405 SQUADRON AND WE DID A LOT OF FLYING DURING THE CUBAN CRISIS. THE REST OF OUR TIME WAS JUST THESE LONG BORING PATROLS IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC LOOKING FOR SUBMARINES.” “[I KNEW I MADE THE WRONG CHOICE IN THE NAVY FROM] THE DISCIPLINE OF IT. IT DIDN’T MAKE SENSE TO ME, I THINK. THERE WAS SO MUCH STUFF CARRIED OVER FROM LORD NELSON…BUT I STUCK IT OUT FOR TWO YEARS. I ENDED UP GETTING A PRETTY GOOD TRADE IN THE NAVY. I WAS AN AIR AND A WEATHER OBSERVER, SO I HAD A JAMMY TRADE, AND A POSTING ALL THE TIME I WAS IN THE NAVY. IT JUST WASN’T FOR ME AND I WAS GOING THROUGH WHAT THEY CALL AN UPPER YARDS MAN PLAN WHERE YOU GET YOUR COMMISSION THROUGH THE RANKS IN THE AIR FORCE OR IN THE NAVY. I WAS IN TALKING TO THIS COMMANDER MARVIN…THERE WAS A CRUISER OUT, THE MAIDEN, IN ONTARIO, AND HE CALLED ME IN AND SAID, “YOU’VE GOT TO GET READY FOR THESE EXAMS”. I HAD DONE SOME, AND I JUST HAPPENED TO MENTION TO HIM I CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT MAKING THE NAVY MY CAREER AND I WAS THINKING ABOUT TRANSFERRING GOING TO AIRCREW IN THE AIR FORCE. HE MUST NOT HAVE LIKED THE NAVY VERY MUCH EITHER. BEFORE I KNEW IT I WAS IN FRONT OF THE RECRUITING OFFICER FOR THE AIR FORCE AND AWAY I WENT.” “IN THE AIR FORCE [I WAS A FLYING OFFICER]. I WAS JUST AN OOD, AN ORDINARY SEAMAN IN THE NAVY.” “WHEN THEY GIVE YOU A COMMISSION, IT’S A SHORT SERVICE COMMISSION WHICH IS ABOUT FIVE YEARS…ALL MY TIME WAS SPENT IN GREENWOOD NOVA SCOTIA FROM ABOUT ’58 TO ABOUT ’63. THEN THEY OFFERED AN EXTENSION TO MY COMMISSION BUT BY THAT TIME I DECIDED THIS WASN’T FOR ME EITHER AND I TURNED THAT DOWN AND GOT OUT AND WENT BACK TO SCHOOL.” “I WENT BACK TO THE U OF A [IN 1963] AND GRADUATED IN DENTISTRY IN ’68.” “I WOULD DO IT AGAIN IF I HAD TO. IT WAS THE BEST TIME OF MY LIFE ESPECIALLY WHEN I GOT IN THE AIR FORCE. WE WERE AIRCREW SO WE WERE MAKING PRETTY GOOD MONEY. I WASN’T MARRIED AND I SAW A LOT OF THE WORLD FLYING AROUND DOWN THERE IN NOVA SCOTIA MAINLY EUROPE. I DON’T REGRET IT AT ALL.” WHEN ASKED ABOUT HIS MOTIVATIONS FOR DONATING THE CAP, MATHESON NOTED, “I JUST DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT. IT’S JUST [BEEN] HANGING THERE FOR FIFTY YEARS, SO I FIGURED MAYBE [THE MUSEUM] MIGHT HAVE SOME USE FOR IT. I WOULDN’T WANT TO SEE IT GET THROWN AWAY..." FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20170009001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20170009001

Acquisition Date

2017-03

Collection

Museum

Less detail