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The Developing Years
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National Park Service Uniforms The Developing Years 1932-1970 |
Number 5 |
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The major contribution of the new method of distributing the uniform specifications was that for the first time drawings were included within the regulations, along with the descriptions of the various articles and ensembles. Prior to this the old blue print had been altered in order to accommodate the changes.
 Ranger Wilber Doudna, Death Valley National Monument, April 3, 1938. While not covered under the Uniform Regulations, another popular item of apparel out West, especially at Death Valley, was a short leather jacket. These were cut on the pattern of the field jacket, including pleated pockets. It is impossible to determine the color from existing photographs, but an extant example in the NPS History Collection from another park is forest green with plain green buttons. NPSHPC-DEVA 651.531#219 |
The few surviving sheets of Office Order No. 350, along with some memoranda from the official correspondence, enlighten us as to several changes that occurred before it was superceded by a new manual in 1940.
At the 1938 superintendent's conference, it was recommended that an aluminum-colored pith helmet with a large sterling silver Sequoia cone ornament be authorized for park rangers in extremely hot regions. This recommendation was passed, but when Office Order No. 350, revised was issued on April 19, 1939, the color of the helmet was changed to forestry green and there was no mention of an ornament.
This was cleared up in a memorandum from Acting Director Demaray on July 27, 1939. "It was found that aluminum colored helmets could not be purchased and no satisfactory sequoia cone has been devised for use on the helmet," he stated. "Consequently the color of the helmet was changed to forestry green and the cone ornament eliminated."
On September 3, 1938, the regulations were amended to include tropical worsted as an acceptable shirting material for hot weather and again on November 10 a "Forestry green, 1-1/4 inches wide" leather belt with a "nickel-plated buckle" was "prescribed for wear only when the coat is worn." [15] A drawing shows a plain belt with a line tooled all around, approximately 1/8-inch from the edge. It has two retaining loops, or cinches, for the end of the belt. The buckle was a simple open-frame, single loop type.
The above begs two questions. Why, when all leather was to be cordovan, this leather belt was specified to be forest green? And why was the belt "prescribed for wear only when the coat is worn?" Since the belt would not show when the ranger had his coat on, you would think it would be just the opposite. There is no explanation as to either of these issues.
Apparently, others picked up on this enigma as well, since it was corrected by a revision to the regulations in April 19, 1939. The web belt was eliminated and the color of the leather belt was changed to conform to the standard cordovan color of the Park Service leather goods. At the same time, the width of the belt was increased to 1-1/2 inches.
In addition, the regulations contain references to Emergency Conservation Work employees, who since they were under the aegis of the National Park Service had first shown up in the 1936 Uniform Regulations. The new revisions to the 1938 regulations changed their name to read "Civilian Conservation Corps".
Also, under this same revision, a 1/2" chinstrap and a forestry green pith helmet, plus ventilator holes in the hat were added. Even though this is the first time ventilator holes had been specified, they show up in photographs since the early 1930s.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Southwestern National Monuments, Petrified Forest National Monument and the Boulder Dam National Recreational Area were included in the list of parks whose employees were authorized to wear trousers in lieu of breeches. [16]
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Last Modified: Wed, Feb 7 2001 11:30:00 pm PDT
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