Cracker Jacks
I love the Navy enlisted dress uniforms. The first time I put on my dress blues I felt like I was part of something that mattered more than me. I have to confess that I always kept all 13 buttons done up. The more often I wore it, the more it became a part of who I was. When the seasons changed and we went to dress white I felt almost the same. I really didn’t like the polyester, and I hated the thought that any dirt within a mile was going to hunt me down and jump on me someplace I could not see, but I enjoyed wearing it just the same.
The Navy Enlisted dress uniform is unique among all enlisted uniforms for the simple reason that it has a direct connection back to the beginning of our nation. It did not start out as a dress uniform, it grew and evolved with our Navy. Many of the parts that we see only on the dress uniform today used to be every day wear. There are many myths about the buttons, the flap on the back, and the bell bottoms, most of them false. It is basic, very utilitarian but with the possible exception of the Marine dress blues, the most iconic uniform any of or military services wear.
Some of the Myths,
There are 13 buttons on the dress blue trousers to represent the 13 original colonies.
False , I hate to say this but there are really 14 buttons. One is hidden behind the flap. There are 14 because 13 was not enough to keep the flap up and 15 was too many.
The Piping on the collar signifies the three victories of John Paul Jones.
False, the Piping was added with the stars to break up the uniform.
Some of the things about the uniform that a lot of people don’t know (Even some of the saltiest Chiefs):
The piping on the cuffs originally indicated the first 3 ranks, Landsman, Able Seaman and Seaman, and later the E1-E3 Ranks. It wasn’t until the start of WW2 that the became fixed on all uniforms no matter what the rank.
The flap on the back was originally detachable, it was there to protect the rest of the uniform from the grease and tars used in the long hair of the Sailors.
The Neckerchief was for protection from the sun, rain sweat etc.
Rolling a coin in the center of the Neckerchief was done (and is still tradition) so the a sailor lost at sea would always have money to pay the ferryman across the river Styx.
There is a pocket hidden on the inside on the Jumper top.
Hats worn with the uniform have changed over the years. They have ranged from a black top hat to the white hat (Dixie Cup) of today. The dress cover for most of the 20th century was not the familiar white hat, but the Donald Duck style felt hat. Until the beginning of WW2, the ribbon on the felt hat had the name of the ship, that was stopped due to security concerns and was changed to US Navy. The white hat during that time was worn as the primary enlisted working cover with the undress blue and white uniform. It was authorized for wear with dress blues and whites in the early 40’s for all but “Full Dress” occasions.
The white hat can be folded in an almost infinite number or ways. No two sailors fold or roll the brim the same. It is also the best ad hoc frisbee ever.
Full Dress while rarely seen except at funerals consist of Medals on the Left side of the Jumper top, Ribbons on the right. White Pistol belt and Spats (Leggings) with a white one piece scarf similar to a dickie.
For more of the history on the Navy uniform read here
Category: Navy
Thank you for serving enigma4you. Thank you for the history of a lot of Navy things I did not know. A well said and well written article. Thank you for your time to write it and post it here.
All the older uniforms were ship-friendly. Could be easily folded to fit in your rack locker (mine was 36″w x 14″d x 24″h). Many hours spent in boot camp learning how to fold to fit ’em in small places. My whites weren’t the “modern” polyester – they were 100% cotton and were starched so heavily that they were slightly tinted green and scratched the h3ll out of me. Then the new Navy came along with Certified Navy Twill and polyester blends that would burn and melt on people….
The dress blues were the best uniform to have at sea. We used to put them under the rack mattress. They NEVER had one wrinkle.
Bummer that the “13 buttons” is not the original 13 states. We used to joke that we had to go through 13 states to take a piss! Lots of guys had zippers put in around the edges to make that task easier.
Also, don’t know if they’re still around, but at least in the Pacific we had “liberty cuffs.” They were usually something like dragons or some such and after you left the ship, you would turn the cuffs up to reveal them. You know, to impress the Olongapo hooks, I mean girls.
I really loved cracker jacks. I was in one of the first boot camp companies to get them issued after Zumwalt (I think) got rid of them. Probably silly reason, but one reason why I joined the USN…to earn the right to wear cracker jacks!
I also love the scene in the “The Last Detail” when Jack Nicholson as Buddusky is talking to the girl at the party about his dress blues. I quote from IMDB:
“[Budduskey’s response to a woman’s sarcastic remark about his navy uniform] You know what I like most about this uniform? The way it makes your dick look.”
LMFAO!
The Crackerjack uniform was around a long time before Zumwalt and Beards. I don’t know why or how you insert those uniforms with Zumwalt but he never changed the style of uniforms that I know about. The new bus driver uniforms started sometime around 1975. As I recall, that was years after Zumwalt left as CNO.I am no expert but I retired in 1978 and lived through the previous 21 years wearing the uniform you are talking about. I loved Cracker jacks and when the navy discontinued them they killed the meaning of what being a sailor was all about. I no longer prided myself with wearing my uniform. That was a goal used for making Chief which I never accomplished. Melvin E. Holliday
I’ve seen some amazing liberty cuffs on those things too. Never got them done despite 6 years in Japan… regretted it ever since.
PI and Hong Kong were excellent places to get them done as well.
Yeah, thats the problem. Went to the PI three times and HK twice! 🙂
Enlisted in 1960 and basically wore the same uniform as my father and both fathers-in-law.
When I made E5, I invested in some tailor mades SeaFarers, both dress blues, whites and the dungarees. Looked so sharp that I attracted 2 wives (not at the same time). The first lasted 6 years and the second is staying with me well past 45 years.
I also went thu the salt and pepper, Johnny Cash, suit and tie uniforms but the bell bottom, 13 button were always my favorite.
Sometime in the future, I will tell the story about me, a Gunny Sgt, Army, and Air Force dude getting ready for a parade. Thanks for the reminder on uniform history. BZ
I picked up a set of Seafarers at a Junk Shop about a year ago.
They were from the late 50’s Early 60s and had the Basic liberty cuffs that Seafarer offered.
They have an RM3 rate patch and are tiny. The original owner had to be about 5 feet tall and weight about 100 pounds.
I Had the Working Blues Jonny Cash Style and working whites that made me look like a good Humor man.
I would love to find a Donald Duck Hat to complete that Uniform.
I have one in a drawer in my bedroom. Stop by my house and I will give it to you. The hat is free but the shipping will cost you as I live in Honduras.
For any Non-Navy types that read this,
Liberty cuffs were embroidery or patches sewn on the inside of the jumper cuff, Very often Asian in design with Dragons or other very colorful and graphic art work.
The embroidery was also done under the back flap.
http://navydp.com/NavyCollector/Navy%20Images/steve_dragons2_Manny.jpg
Steve McQueen in the Sand Pebbles
http://www.navydp.com/NavyCollector/Navy_Traditions.htm
This is a very good page on Liberty Cuffs
That’s similar in concept to the unofficial patches that we wear on the bottom part of our ACU collar. It remains hidden from view, but when you lift the collar, it becomes visible.
I knew what a liberty cuff was… but then again, I’m prior Navy.
We used to say that the 13 (yes, actually 14) buttons was, “Thirteen chances to say no.”
The only time I didn’t like the 13 button trousers was during events like Navy Day Ball, when the vast consumption of beer resulted in a lot of unbuttoning and rebuttoning. It got to be an adventure several pitchers in as manual dexterity began to wane.
My father taught me a handy mod for that. I did it to mine.
Wear your blues out to the local tailor shop. Have the back silk lacing done just right with a nice bow. Button the flap so it’s right as you like it. Now, have them slipped off, and have the tailors sew a hidden zipper into each side seam, going down from the top of the waistline to about crotch level.
This way, you can just zip them up on the sides and your frock/jumper will hide the zipper seams. 🙂
I hadn’t heard of that mod, but I did know guys that had a similar mod, in which the buttons were sewn to the flap. Underneath the flap they had heavy-duty velcro sewn in, creating a really big “Velcro Fly.” I guess they got some inspiration from ZZ Top.
I knew one guy (not saying who) who had sewn black elastic loops to his 13s with the buttons through the holes, so that he could ‘expand’ as much as needed on liberty.
That’s why they put the lace in the back. You just untied it and you could pull your whole rig down to take a leak. Then pull it back up and chinch up the tie down in back again. Ha! Every good sailor had a story to tell.
FWIW, according to “Todd’s Military equipage 1852-1872” (published by the Company of Military Historians) the piping on collar and cuffs was standardized right after the civil war. Prior to the war, enlisted men were given free reign to embellish their frocks (jumpers) and undershirts with embroidery and other fancy work. This was done in order to keep folks busy during long down times at sea or in port.
In fact, prior to the civil war, recruits reporting aboard a hulk for training were issued with cloth, sewing kit and buttons and ordered to make their own clothing. Older hands aboard those facilities as well as tailors outside the gate (yeah, they go that far back) made a good living making up the clothing and then teaching the new recruits how to mend it, do fancy work, etc.
Anyway, as the Navy was downsized after the civil war, the Navy uniform board decided that although some fancy work would still be permitted, some standardization was needed, and so the 2 corner stars and piping on the collar, and the piping on cuffs became fixed for all rates below CPO.
Also, the number of buttons on the fall-front trousers varied over time. In fact, during the ACW (and for several years afterward) it was also common to see sailors wearing dark blue trousers with 4-button flies like modern pants. In this period, too, the frock was tucked into the trousers. The wearing of the frock outside the pants became common about the time of the Span-Am war and continues to today.
V/R
The Uniform wasn’t standardized until 1817.
That uniform is still worn during the summer months by the crew of the USS Constitution.
Oddly Shoes were not considered part of the uniform.
Concur. My comment was that the piping as is seen today, wasn’t standardized until just after the ACW. I believe it was the 1866 uniform board. But regardless, by 1872, a lot of the uniform as we know it today was in place.
V/R
The self created portions turned to liberty patches that were stitched under each cuff, on the under side of the blouse flap (which is part of the ole’ neckerchief) and the front part of the trousers … My libery patches were custom made in Portsmouth England … And I hand a special pocket designed for a 3 inch blade.
My father also taught me a “self-preservation” trick that worked out beautifully.
When you lay out the neckerchief to roll up, place a roll of dimes in the center along the top edge. Roll up the neckerchief and then use a couple of small rubber bands to hold the dimes in place.
Tie it off with a square knot and off you go! In a pinch, just grab ahold of that square knot and pull the scarf up and over your head and voila! An ersatz blackjack that will put someone down in a heartbeat, and also give you change to call the CMC for bail. 🙂
You better not embellish your inspection frock or you would be doing some extra duty. That kind of stuff was unauthorized even though many disregarded regulations and wore their uniform with pride anyway.
Great article!
I still have a blue chambray shirt that says Navy above the pocket.
I do too and I have my name embroidered on the other side but it was never authorized. I had my done in Olongapo Zambalies, Philipines duping a liberty stop in 1972. I still have 3 of those great seafarer dungaree shirts.
I had the poor timing of enlisting in the Navy in 1975, shortly after they moved away from the cracker jacks and onto the salt’n’peppers with the combination cap (the working uniform was even worse). I had to endure that hot mess for 4+ years. I still have my original set of dress blue cracker jacks, although they have a 30″ waist.
I still have a 30″ waist, it’s just covered with 8″ of fat.
I like that one. I weighed 170 lbs when I left the navy in 1978. I still weigh 170 pounds but my old uniform won’t fit me anymore. I think they call it weight redistribution or old age.
Not my service, so my opinion is probably not pertinent. Still . . . this kinda seems to me to belong here:
Great song,
I dont think anyone who has ever been to sea does not have moments of great regret that that they wont ever be able to do it again.
I can remember standing on Vultures row watching the planes come in and land thinking that this is something few people will ever see. Or sitting on the fantail of a ship at night and seeing the glow of its path across the ocean.
The constant months long game of spades, The players would change with the watch.
Decades later a few times a year I am still in the Navy in my dreams I look forward to those nights.
You said what is in the hearts of many of us poor souls that long for a return of what we used to bitch and complain about as a way of life. In retrospect, it wasn’t all that bad and oh how we long to return to those days when life was simple and normal. I would sell my soul and give up what I presently have just to return but those days are gone and today none would be happy with what we know we have lost. The navy we miss no longer exists and there would only be misery to a returning sailor.
The only uniform items I still have are my submarine coveralls (poopy suits) and a foul-weather jacket off my last boat–the good green one, not the crappy blue issued one.
Just never saw a reason to keep anything else except my peacoat, but that didn’t fit me anymore, damn the bad luck.
I don’t have much, save a couple of pea coats, my choker whites and my sword. I did, however, buy a WWI era boat cape with an ermine collar at an Officer’s Wives charity auction at Annapolis back in ’91. It must weigh 22-25 lbs. I’ve no occasion to wear it, but dizzam, is it impressive.
I would love to see pictures of that, Any of you other guys that have old or Unique Uniform items as well.
I’ll try to gin up a photo. It doesn’t fit me as it has a 16.5″ neck, but it’s damned impressive. It was made in New York in ’21 or ’22 at a cost of $230, which had to be a fortune in the 20’s. According to the info I have, it was made for a Naval Academy midshipman who graduated in ’22 and died in ’25.
“I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: ‘I served in the United States Navy.'”
President John F. Kennedy, 1 August 1963, in Bancroft Hall at the U. S. Naval Academy.
**sigh** Us Army types are stuck with bland on top of blah 🙁
While we had a chance a little while ago to change our Class A’s to something cool, historic, and would have challenged the Marine Blues, Army command and logic said; “..Oh no! We must not look good! We must adopt a uniform that is more forlorn and ambiguous than the Air Force, make it look confusing, equal to a bus driver, do so quickly, and to hell with what the Soldiers pride!!”
…………..I retired with my greens. At least they still somewhat resemble a military uniform.
IMO the Army had that (and still does, I think), former SSG Medzyk, but it was optional vice required: Dress Mess.
That IMO was one absolutely striking uniform. Impractical as hell for anything other than formal events, though.
I still have my Greens. I’ll probably be planted in them when my time comes.
I believe I’m correct, One of you army types correct me if I’m wrong.
Doesn’t the Army Mess Dress uniform have an optional Cape? Black on the outside with the lining in the color of the branch? Blue for Infantry Ect?
Extremely ornate piping on the Jacket Cuffs that indicate Rank?
They did away with the piping indicating rank. Now it’s a similar pattern, but with the normal rank badge in the middle of the piping.
Also, there is a cape option, with the inside of the cape the branch color of the owner. I’ve only known one guy who owned one, though, and was commonly referred to as “that pompous ass with the cape.”
http://www.marlowwhite.com/army/uniforms/mess-blue/officer-male.html
roger that SSG, at least for the Cavalry the uniforms look solid with the that dusty stetson and clanking spurs.
I have never heard of the “13 chances to say no”. We called them the “13 buttons to paradise”. After I made Chief and subsequently CWO, I wanted to toss my old uniforms. My wife adamantly said no, I was to keep them for my kids to have when I died. She still wears my old Pea Coat (sans rank insignia) on cold winter days.
I don’t know when the 13 chances to say no came about. I believe it was late 70s or 80s.
I do remember hearing it during the don’t catch the clap class in boot camp. I went to Boot Camp in San Diego. So my guess would be that its place of origination.
Many a bar fight were started by referring to the 13’s flap as a Marine Dinner Plate….
I dont know how I never heard that before. I just blew Mt Dew out of my nose
Yeah, the story as told to me went thus:
Q: Why do sailors have fall front trousers?
A: So the Marines can have a tablecloth with their lunch.
🙂
I don’t recall ever hearing it before either and today I have too much respect for the Marines to sayo it even though it is funnyo and veryo 1940’s, 60’s. There was always a lot of that talk in the old days. As a Sub sailor I remember dragging many through the mud because they didn’t get Sub pay and I could afford more than many shipmates or other service members. We were, in fact, mostly equal and today I equally respect all branches for they all have something to add to what we are sorely lacking in our present government. I don’t begrudge any military person now serving and having to worry about being raped by another service member.