Why yes, this is a dead bug with a beer bottle on my head.

May 3, 2011 9:07 AM

Perhaps you can identify this hat. Worn by an older (60-70) woman, it was a pill box hat, red on the sides and white on top. A name was embroidered on one side in yellow thread. The most unique part of the hat, and the reason I'm wondering about it, was the patch sewn onto the right side. The patch had a white background and had a squashed red bug embroidered on it. The bug was holding a bottle, possibly a beer bottle. I'd guess that the hat was related to a group like the Elks/Eagles/etc., but I'm not sure.
posted by iwhitney to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (3 answers total)

Best answer: Might it have been a Military Order of the Cooties hat? Here's a patch, no beer bottle, though.
posted by Floydd at 9:24 AM on May 3, 2011

Response by poster: The design of the bug was similar to the one on the Cooties patch, but it was a red bug on a white background. And there was a bottle, that part I'm sure of.

Also, the Cootie hat is awesome! I had never heard of these guys before.
posted by iwhitney at 9:27 AM on May 3, 2011

Response by poster: Actually, Floydd, I think you are right! This pic, top row on the right shows what appears to be the same hat. The patch could have been a variant of the standard Cooties patch made for a local branch.
posted by iwhitney at 9:41 AM on May 3, 2011