Epaulette, Merchant Marine, Assistant Purser

Epaulette, Merchant Marine, Assistant Purser

Ca. 1940s. This epaulette was worn by an individual in the Steward's Department and has the double-quill marker of a ship's purser. Larger shipping concerns or steamship companies used colored cloth between lace on shoulder boards (epaulettes) and cuff braid to denote the wearer's department.

This board represents a continuum of foreign and autochthonic symbols as acted out on maritime uniforms. The double-quill was a device at first used by the U.S. Navy for its Warrant Officers and the U.S. Army Transport Service on its purser officers' collars in 1942, and later unofficially and organically extended to boards (only to be abolished in 1944). The device was worn in the Merchant Marine community for a decade after the close of the Second World War only to be abandoned as U.S. shipping lost the appearances of hierarchy.  Colored cloth was first championed by the British Royal Navy, then British shipping, and was followed by U.S. companies and the U.S. Army (the innovation never fully suited the U.S. Navy).