Keywords: handicraft trades, felt making, men’s headgears, felted hat, etiquette, interaction of cultures

The article discusses the history of origin, modes of production and bearing of one of the most popular types of Ossetian men’s headgear — felted hat. Ethno-cultural parallels with Iranian and Turkic material-objective world are researched with assistance of the archaeological, linguistic, folkloric, illustrative and field ethnographic data, etiquette rules associated with felted hat are revealed. The problem of revival of folk handicraft trades is raised, in particular the relevance, keeping and organization of production of this headgear in the modern mountain conditions, transfer of the traditional skills of its making to the young generations.