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David Dessler has an extensive academic background and held tenured responsibilities as a professor of government at the College of William and Mary. In early 2001, David Dessler had the opportunity to visit Russia and help set in place a study-abroad program. Facing severe winter weather in Moscow, he purchased a traditional fur hat of the region.
Known as ushanka, which means “for ears” in Russian, the country’s most popular winter hat was introduced following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. With the traditional treukh hat common at the time, those in the White Army who remained loyal to the tsar were issued ushanka hats that were initially known as Norvezhka, or “Norwegian.”
Designed in Scandinavia, these hats had lengthy earflaps that could be tied under the chin to provide extra warmth. At the same time, they could be compactly fastened to the top of the hat when such protection was not necessary. With the Red Army quick to adopt the style, the ushanka became standard issue during World War II and is still used by military and law enforcement personnel, as well as the general populace.
One interesting aspect of the ushanka is that the military uniform code requires that soldiers wear the earflaps tied up on the top of the hat. To address issues of freezing ears during patrols in the bitterly cold winters, many soldiers have adopted the practice of wearing ushankas that are too large for the head but fully cover the ears.
