Fitted Baseball Hats

The ancestor of modern baseball hats was originally worn by the Brooklyn Excelsiors way back in 1860.  It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that the “Brooklyn style” cap started to become popular.  Unlike today where fitted baseball hats are worn as part of a fashion, the caps served a single purpose in those days and that was to keep the sun out of the players’ eyes.  The bills were much shorter and of course were not yet made of plastic.

It wasn’t until the 1940’s that a form of rubber began being used to stiffen the bills of the fitted baseball hats and thus the modern baseball cap was born.  The floppier style of hat popular in the 19^th and early 20^th century was replaced by the new firmer style of cap.

A New Style of Fitted Baseball Hats

Fitted baseball hats are now mass produced of course using mostly cloth, plastic, and metal materials.  They are normally sewn in six sections and topped with a matching fabric covered button.  In order to provide ventilation for the wearer’s head small metal grommets are often sewn near the top of the individual sections of material.  Although not as common, the rear of fitted baseball hats can also be made of a netlike mesh material.  Unlike the early days the bill is now stiffened by inserting a section of paperboard and covering it with fabric.

Fitted Baseball Hats in Athletics

What many people don’t know about fitted baseball hats is that they have been mass produced in a kind of “one size fits all” mode since the early 1980’s.  The hat is designed with an adjustment strap in back to tighten or loosen the fitment of the cap however this leaves less sun protection for bald men.

As a result, more recently the “stretch-fit” caps are becoming more and more popular.  These hats use Lycra or rubber  which still maintains the fitted baseball hat style while being more adjustable.

Besides just protecting a player’s eyes from the sun fitted baseball caps are also a prominent place for team logos.  This helps to distinguish one team member from another especially in baseball where team uniforms can be starkly similar.

Fitted Hats in the Military

Many people will noticed that militaries such as the United States armed forces wear fitted baseball hats but this is not totally true.  As a former member of the United States military I can tell you that anyone calling a hat a baseball cap would be quickly corrected.   The military style hats are made to be folded so as to slip them into the side pocket of a soldier’s Bdu’s (battle dress uniform).  The fitted baseball hat aka cover can quickly be folded to fit in the pocket of a soldier’s pant leg and then removed just as quickly to cover the soldier’s head when moving to an outdoor location.

Fitted baseball hats have become increasingly popular over the years first amongst sports teams themselves and now among the general public.  Originally crafted for use by sports teams in order to help keep the sun out of their players’ eyes fitted baseball hats were invented over a century ago.  However, the hats of yesterday are so different that you’d almost never recognize them.

Today’s fitted baseball hats are made of modern materials and mass produced using fabric, paperboard, and metal.  You can find styles varying between gansta style hats all the way to women’s fitted baseball hats.  Often times companies will use fitted baseball hats as promotional giveaways in an effort to increase brand awareness.

So as you can see; no matter where you look you are bound to see fitted baseball hats graving the tops of heads young and old alike.

Hello and welcome to my site dedicated to none other than Fitted Baseball Hats.  This site is a hobby for me as I am an avid hat collector.  Hey now, don’t laugh.  Some people collect stamps I collect hats.   The site itself is just for fun and I hope you enjoy the articles on various topics related to fitted baseball hats.