Thread: Navy Uniform

Originally Posted by leadduck

I don't know where, but I once heard a decription of the Cracker Jack uniform and how it came to be. The flap on the back of the shirt was originally intended to keep tar from the sailor's braid off the shirt. The bell bottom legs made it easier to tie them together and use as a floatation divice. The had (proabably designed for submariners) could be held tightly and air blown in to speed one's flight to the surface. If anyone knows if any of this is true or false, please respond.

As far as keeping with tradition goes, anyone in the vicinity of Boston might enjoy a visit to the oldest commissioned warship in the Navy, the U.S.S. Constitution -- yes, Old Ironsides herself. Notice the uniforms that crew wears!

The part about the neckerchief keeping the tar off the uniform is correct. The pants were also closed with 13 buttons, for the 13 original colonies. I still have my Crackerjacks.