Uni-Firsts for Caps & Hats

Threads Of Our Game not only documents the early game, but also determines when new uniform styles and trends came into being. The following is a list of “Uni-Firsts” for baseball caps and hats as we see it, after the year 1865:

—First to wear a brimmed hat, instead of a cap: Several in 1871

—First described to wear a pill-box cap: 1875 St. Louis

—First to wear pill-box cap (no brim): 1876 Chicago

—First to wear cap with horizontal bands: 1876 Chicago

—First to wear varying cap colors to denote positions in field: 1876 Chicago

—First team photographed with a brimmed pill-box cap: 1877 Indianapolis, 1877 Star, Syracuse

—First to wear a cap with vertical stripes: Many in 1882

—First major league team with a visor displayed in an accent color: 1883 Philadelphia

—First to wear a pinstriped cap: 1885 Baltimore

—First team documented to wear a polka-dot cap: 1887 Lynn MA

—First to return to a cap with a rounded crown after previously wearing a pill-box cap: 1891 Boston (NL)

—First to have a monogram on the front of the cap: 1894 Boston

—First to have a graphic on the cap: 1894 Baltimore

—First to have a single letter on the front of the cap: 1895 Baltimore, 1895 Pittsburgh and 1895 Washington DC

—First since the 1870s to accentuate the ribbing on a cap with colored trim: 1895 Brooklyn

—First to have multiple initials (not as a monogram) on the front of the cap: 1896 Philadelphia

—First to wear a cap with vent holes (cut by hand): 1897 Louisville

—Learn about the history of baseball caps & hats at the Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum website: Dressed To The Nines – Caps

—Learn about the history of the baseball cap in this 2023 story written by Michael Clair, mlb.com: The long, strange history of the baseball cap.