College Caps, etc.

Here is a display of caps used by college teams, including, from the left, the Naval Academy (Rawlings, late 1940s), New Mexico University (MacGregor-Goldsmith, late 1940s), a "K" cap that was likely worn by the University of Kentucky or Kansas in the 1940s (no label), Stanford University (Wilson, c. 1950), Notre Dame (Rawlings, early 1950s), Yale University (1950s), Vanderbilt University (Wilson, early 1960s), Wisconsin University (McAuliffe, 1960s), Harvard University (Leslie, 1960s), Yale University (1960s), the United States Air Force Academy (McAuliffe, 1960s), the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod League (Leslie, 1960s), Bowling Green University (New Era, 1970s), University of Southern California (KM Pro, 1970s),

Notre Dame (New Era, 1970s), Michigan State University (New Era, late 1970s), Michigan State University (New Era, c. 1980), Texas Christian University? (New Era, c. 1980), University of Washington (New Era, c. 1980), Eastern Michigan University (New Era, c, 1980), Arizona State University (two variations, New Era, c. 1980), Texas A&M (New Era, c. 1980), University of Texas (New Era, c. 1980), Oklahoma University (New Era, c. 1980), Oklahoma University (AJD, c. 1980), Mississippi State University (New Era, c. 1980), a mystery New Era cap that's likely connected to the University of Oregon (c. 1980), another mystery New Era cap that's likely connected to the University of Chicago (c. 1980) University of Arkansas (New Era, mid-1980s) and Oklahoma State University (New Era, mid-1980s).

Here are a pair of caps made of satin from the 1940s. There was a brief time when satin jerseys were used for night games in both the majors and minors. This was done to make the players easier to see under the lights. It's unclear what teams wore these beauties, but the one on the left was made by Rawlings, and has a second tag for Wichita Sporting Goods.

The popularity of the baseball cap led to the souvenir cap, which made it possible for kids to wear caps with the same logos as their favorite teams. Here are souvenir caps for the St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland Oaks (late 1940s), the St . Louis Browns (early 1950s), and the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Colt 45s (early 1960s). Also displayed are three 1960s youth caps made by Coane, which made caps briefly for the Dodgers in the 1940s.

Here is a collection of "mystery caps." They are all of high quality, and date from the late 1940s through the early 1970s. If you have an idea what teams wore any of the caps pictured below, your feedback is very much appreciated.

The last two caps displayed represent a pair of NFL rivals who have famously battled it out in the snow and mud of the Upper Midwest — the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings. Both were made in the late 1970s or early 1980s by New Era.

The Brooklyn Dodgers cap pictured below has an oversized button on top and purple tape inside, indicating it was likely made by Coane. But the label inside shows it was sold at Lipman's Sporting Goods in Detroit, which billed itself as the largest sporting goods store in the world in the mid-1950s. It's clearly a professional grade cap, but it was sold directly to fans, perhaps making an early example of a high-quality "throwback" cap. In the early 1960s, throwback caps become more common and were worn at old timers games that were popular during that era — the white cap with pinstripes pictured below (which was made by Rawlings) likely marks the 20th anniversary of the Browns' pennant-winning 1944 team, and just as likely, was made for an old timers game in Shea Stadium in 1964. The Twins cap (which was made by Wilson) was likely used in connection with a reunion or old-timers' game in the mid-1970s. Unlike the Twins cap at the time, it has a red button on top — just like the original Twins team in 1961. Also displayed is an assortment of modern throwbacks, including the St. Louis Browns (Mitchell & Ness), Columbus Redbirds (Ebbets Field Flannels), Cleveland Indians (Mitchell & Ness), San Francisco Seals (c. 1980, New Era) and Miami Marlins (Ebbets Field Flannels).