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), Notre Dame (Rawlings, early 1950s), Vanderbilt University (Wilson, early 1960s), Wisconsin University (McAuliffe, 1960s), Harvard University (Leslie, 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), USC (KM Pro, 1970s), Michigan State University (New Era, c. 1980), University of Washington (New Era, c. 1980),

University of Texas (New Era, c. 1980), Oklahoma University (AJD, c. 1980) and a mystery New Era cap that's likely connected to the University of Oregon, also from around 1980.

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). The Brooklyn Dodgers cap pictured below is a real puzzle. With an oversized button on top and purple tape inside, it appears to have been made by Coane. But the label inside indicates it was sold at Lipman's Sporting Goods in Detroit, which billed it self as the largest sporting goods store in the country in the mid-1950s. It's clearly a professional grade cap. In the early 1960s, throwback caps appear, and were worn at old timers games that were popular during that era — the white cap with pinstripes pictured below 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. Also displayed are three 1960s youth caps made by Coane, which made caps briefly for the Dodgers in the 1940s.

This group is what I call "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.