Questions about 1920’s / early 30’s Yankee caps..
 

Hey guys, I’ve been looking for a 1920’s / early 1930’s game worn Yankees cap. Just had a couple questions I was hoping someone could help me with:

1. How long were individual caps typically worn by players during this time period (20s and 30s)? Were they typically worn for the entire season and beyond? Or did they usually get more than one cap per season?

2. Did Yankees players wear the same caps at home and on the road during this time? Obviously they had the pinstripe cap in 1921 that was only worn at home, but when they switched to the current version of the cap in 1922, did they begin using the same cap for home and away games?

I guess what I’m getting at here is if I were to buy a game worn Yankee cap from this period, would there be a reasonable possibility that it was worn every single game in the 154 game schedule (assuming the player played every game)?

Thanks guys..

In my opinion, that assumption would be a stretch. I do not know how many caps the Yankees issued each player during that era. But it was likely more than one, and highly unlikely that any player would wear one single cap (home and road) for the entire season.

Caps typically exhibit wear and tear more than any other uniform component... they were stretched and taken off/put on thousands of times during the course of the year. They absorbed sweat, endured being folded, stuffed in back pockets, etc. Perhaps someone here has a definitive answer about game-issued 1920s-30s Yankee Caps. But I think the single cap assumption would require a huge leap of faith.

Interesting. I definitely see your point and agree with that. Curious if anyone else believes different.

In my many years of collecting, I have seen far more game-used Yankee jerseys from the 1920s-30s than I have seen caps. Which leads me to believe that not many caps were issued. I own two game-used Yankee caps, Marty McHale's 1913 cap, and a late 20s-early 30s capo of Art Jorgens.

Very nice! That’s very cool.

For what it’s worth, I found this mentioned in a Hunt Auctions description for a Babe Ruth worn 1920’s cap: “Utilized in an era long before the advent of batting helmets, hats such as these saw action both in the field and at the plate. They were often kept for multiple seasons, and as such, generally garnered more personal care than other tools of the trade considered more disposable.”