Business Notes HEADGEAR

Attention, raccoons: head for the hills! Not since the 1950s, when Fess Parker sported a coonskin cap on the TV show Davy Crockett, have the long-tailed hats been so popular. Manhattan-based Jack Seifter and Sons, the largest U.S. manufacturer of the caps, has seen sales double in the past several months. During 1988 the company sold 500 of the authentic caps (retail price: $100) and 10,000 versions made with fake fur or rabbit pelt and a real ringtail ($22 to $45).

The company attributes the renewed interest partly to last fall's debut of several new Davy Crockett episodes on NBC. But this time the fad is as big with moms and dads as it is with preteen frontiersmen.