BACKGROUND: The name "Hussar" is most likely derived from the Hungarian "Husz" (the twentieth man), and "ar" (payment) - the combination relating to the obligation of every twentieth 14th or 15th century Hungarian household having had to provide one armed horseman for the King. By the 17th century, these fast and daring light cavalry troops were known in the Austrian army as "Hussars." Their uniforms, regardless of which army they were attached to, retained their Hungarian trappings. Among these was their distinctive "Busby," a cylindrical, sealskin-covered hat, with decorative elements particular to the individual regiment, which included scales, cockades, field badges, a colored "Kolpak" and a draped cord called a "Fangschnur."

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A doubled, white linen cord, twisted into decorative loops, one end of which terminates in a white toggle, and the other with a slide. The loop formed beyond the slide is fed unto the doubled cord immediately before the toggle. The solid white color distinguishes it as being for other ranks, and it would have been threaded through eyelets on the right side of the Busby. Light to moderate age soiling is evident throughout, and there is noticeable fraying to one end of the toggle.

GRADE ****                             PRICE $165.00