Bell Bottoms and a Dixie Cup

I was thinking about Daddy's Navy days that he talked about with fondness and a curiosity question arose. Why did their uniforms have bell bottoms?

The Navy Dress Blues and Whites sometimes nicknamed "Crackerjacks",  have had the flared cuff or bell bottoms since 1817. The reason for the flared cuff was to make it easy to roll them up, so they could try to keep them from getting dirty as they went about their work. So that answered the question why. Incidentally the nickname came from the snack.

Prior to the turn of the century the uniform had been made of wool and it was believed that if you wound up in the water, it could serve as a life preserver. In 1901 the fabric was changed to denim. But they did keep the bell bottoms on their dungarees.

In 1999, however, they began phasing out the bell bottoms. I was surprised to learn that, originally, sailors were not happy about the change, preferring to keep with tradition, 180 years of tradition. But by 2001, they had been phased out. No more bell bottoms.

Topping off the uniform is the white hat made of sail canvas. It's nickname is Dixie Cup". It served as protection from the blistering sun at sea. 

The Navy uniforms have changed again in the 2000's, so this is just a bit of nostalgia. Hope you enjoyed it