This cotton miner’s cap has a leather brim with a leather lamp bracket holding a carbide lamp. A small union pin that reads “United Mine Works of America @ 1934, Working Button” is attached to the side of the cap. Before head protection became mandatory in industrial workplaces, miner’s caps served as a way to mount their lamps.
The union pin on this mining cap speaks to the personal connections miner’s had with their cap. A miner chose their headgear, and took it with them to work where it was worn all day and used for decades. It wasn’t uncommon for miner’s to personalize their helmet with stickers or their caps with pins.