Nursing Sisters' Veils
Some nurses' caps resembled, in modified
form, the nun's coif, to signify the respected tradition of Roman
Catholic nursing and service to humanity. The coif was certainly the
choice for military nurses who served in both world wars in the
twentieth century. In France, nursing orders often served in military
as well as civilian hospitals, a custom that gave rise, in later years,
to the practice of calling all nurses who served in the military,
"nursing sisters". Many Canadian nursing sisters wore a large white
starched cloth, folded over their heads like a nun's coif. The classic
nurse's hospital cap with turned back winged brim that most people
recognize is a very modified form of the nun's coif
(1999.267.29;
1999.267.7;
1999.267.46;
1999.267.13).
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