Plentiful are the superstitions pertaining to where hats should never be placed, burned, dampened, damaged or worn - and these beliefs were in place centuries before World War II, as they will be in centuries after we kick the bucket - and this brings us to an odd story from the war years and one particular citizen of San Angelo, Texas, who had, in the fullness of time, developed his own unique superstition on the subject of hats; some Texans felt that this fellow was able to save the lives of 56 American servicemen as a result of his queer notions...
More about W.W. II fashions can be read here.