Let's see your vintage baseball caps

[seattlerainiers]

Adding a few PCL gamers to the mix:1940 Hollywood Stars, 1940s LA Angels, 1940s Oakland Oaks, 1940s Portland Beavers, 1950s San Diego Padres, 1950s SF Seals, 1948 Seattle Rainiers.

[Chris-Counts]

Wow, those PCL caps are off the charts. I'm curious who the makers are. Thanks for sharing. If you ever decide to part with the Oaks cap, let me know ...

[perezfan]

Those are all magnificent, Dave...

I especially love the 1940 Hollywood Stars with that killer chenille logo. In addition to being incredibly attractive, these must be insanely rare.

Great thread!

[accidental]

Originally Posted by seattlerainiers

Adding a few PCL gamers to the mix:1940 Hollywood Stars, 1940s LA Angels, 1940s Oakland Oaks, 1940s Portland Beavers, 1950s San Diego Padres, 1950s SF Seals, 1948 Seattle Rainiers.

Incredible caps indeed! I bet the guys at Ebbets Field Flannels would love to see these caps!

I guess these caps were made by the same manufacturers as the MLB caps, no? I own some Minor League caps myself, these were all made by the big manufacturers of the day.

[bnorth]

Not as old as the stuff shown, this is my only real MLB cap. I bought it a couple years ago when former MLB pitcher Sammy Ellis past away. I believe it is from around 1997 when he was the pitching coach for the Red Sox. I wear it all the time so his auto is almost gone.

I have a head like a melon so I have to stretch it out on a regular basis. Anybody know how to stretch it so it will stay larger. Pics are from when I bought it.

[Chris-Counts]

Ben, I have the same problem finding caps that fit. I would never do this with a vintage cap, but with a modern cap, I soak it water, place it on top of a bowl that's slightly larger, and pull the sides down tight until it wraps around the bowl. When the cap dries out, I remove the bowl, and the cap is definitely larger. It's a little stiff, but the modern caps end up stiff from sweat and heat anyway. After a while, it basically shrinks back to its original size, so I repeat the process.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Chris Counts

Ben, I have the same problem finding caps that fit. I would never do this with a vintage cap, but with a modern cap, I soak it water, place it on top of a bowl that's slightly larger, and pull the sides down tight until it wraps around the bowl. When the cap dries out, I remove the bowl, and the cap is definitely larger. It's a little stiff, but the modern caps end up stiff from sweat and heat anyway. After a while, it basically shrinks back to its original size, so I repeat the process.

Thanks Chris, I do something similar. I use a gallon glass jar and a tennis ball to apply pressure to a wet cap. My dream would be to be able to magically stretch a Wade Boggs game used hat to fit my melon. Yes I would really wear it till it fell apart.

[JollyElm]

I use what my girlfriend calls 'the device' to stretch out hats. Use a round 5 or 10 lb. weight. Wetting the hat makes it more pliable, but you can do it dry. Put the back part of the hat (where the label generally is) on a door knob, but NOT the way you would usually drape something over a door knob. Make sure just the extreme edge of the hat 'band' (not the insides) is balancing on/touching the door knob, so the right part gets stretched out. Now put the weight inside the hat, using the roundness to match the round inside band of the hat. You have to balance it to get it in just the right position. From there, simply give it a couple of days and that hat band gets stuh-retched!!

[seattlerainiers]

Thanks for the comments, Chris & Mark.

Most of these PCL caps are Wilson, and yes, they certainly don't surface very often

Fredy, Jerry Cohen at EFF has indeed seen, and in most cases, borrowed these hats to model his replicas. We are both in Seattle, and are good pals.

Here are a few more: 1955 Oakland Oaks, 1958 Portland Beavers, 1960 SLC Bees, 1970 Phoenix Giants. All Wilson caps, all gamers.