Just want to buy a pair of New Era Caps right now? New Era Caps.
“The caps the pros wear” started in 1920 when Ehrhardt Koch, a German immigrant, borrowed $5000 from his aunt and started the E. Koch Cap Co. Production started with just 14 employees in Buffalo, New York and 5000 dozen caps a year.
George Sampson, 2008 Winner of Britain's Got Talent (Dance) shows off his New Era Cap
Two years later, E. Koch Cap Co. became the New Era Cap Co. and manufactured a full line of men’s casual and uniform caps, including the popular newsboy caps of that decade.
In 1932, baseball became popular and Koch released a new design: the baseball cap. This earned them their first contract in 1934 to produce pro baseball caps for the Cleveland Indians’ “home” and “away” caps. Still a small company, their motto was “quality first, quantity will follow.”
By the 1940s, they were making baseball caps for local teams, the Minor Leagues, a few colleges, and Canadian baseball teams aside from plain caps sold commercially for Wilson and Spaulding. An unexpected break for New Era came when Honus Wagner, the Pittsburgh Pirates coach with a larger than average head, requested custom caps for himself. New Era launched the first adjustable size cap on the market and it clicked.
Fabolous in a "NICE" New Era Cap
The fabric shortage during World War II meant the only color available was cream! The company made do, with batches dyed in the Koch’s washing machine at home. This resulted in various color differences with every batch, but the customers were still happy to have colored hats and orders continued to come in.
This dedication to the consumer was soon awarded. In 1950, New Era expanded its customer base and was supplying the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Cincinnati Reds, the Cleveland Indians, the Detroit Tigers, Wilson, and Spaulding. They were the only independent cap manufacturer supplying the Major Leagues at the time.
1954 saw a bit of a revamp when the “Brooklyn Style” cap was renamed the 59Fifty and was given an overhaul in a more modern style redesigned by Harold Koch, Ehrhardt Koch’s son.
Ciara out in a New Era Atlanta Braves fitted cap
The 1960s was a decade of changes for New Era. First, they stopped the manufacture of caps for private labels, mainly the McAuliffe, Stall, and Dean companies. Then, New Era expanded its MLB customer base to ten pro teams. They saw nationwide coverage in 1969 when they won the bid to supply the Apollo 11 Moon Mission Splashdown Recovery team on the USS Hornet and supplied all the recovery missions afterward.
More growth for the company followed in the 1970s. It was a very exciting decade for New Era as they were supplying the majority of the MLB teams – 20 out of 24 – with their official headgear plus growing local and national markets.
Another Koch joined the company in 1976: Harold’s son Chris started work at New Era. He introduced direct marketing in 1978 with an ad in “The Sporting News” that offered any consumer that sent in a coupon with $12.99 a fitted baseball cap like what their baseball idols wore. There was such an overwhelming response that they were deluged with orders. This little scheme was the start of fan-driven pro licensing.
Norm MacDonald in a Boston Red Sox cap
By the 1980s, New Era was already supplying a mix of collegiate baseball teams, local baseball teams, the AAA, and international baseball teams plus athletes that played tennis and golf. They had custom special orders, US Military contracts, and supplied 23 of the 26 pro MLB teams. Cris Koch introduced automated sewing machines to speed up their manufacturing time. Its fan-driven production was so ingrained into the American psyche that by mid 1980s, the “cap the pros wear” was part of being a baseball fan.
In 1986, New Era unveiled the Diamond Collection 59Fifty, which was sanctioned as the official on-field product for Major League Baseball.
The company expanded yet again in 1993 when it was finally granted exclusive license for all MLB caps and was supplying all Major League teams with on-field and off-field caps. It became part of everyday wear when famed director Spike Lee requested a custom made red New York Yankees hat.
Kid Cudi and his New Era cap
In 2006, the company moved to bigger headquarters in Buffalo since their Derby factory became a tight fit. With the opening of two flagship stores in New York (in SoHo and in Buffalo’s former Federal Reserve Building) two more flagship stores in London and Toronto, then another two in Berlin and in Birmingham, UK, New Era was firmly cementing its position as an icon of American style.
At this time, New Era revolutionized the on-field cap. For the first time ever, MLB caps were made of 100% Performance Polyester instead of 100% wool. These new hats also sported black underbrims instead of old gray and spiffy black headbands instead of white.
New Era Caps most popular style is the official MLB cap, the 59Fifty. Sold in the team logos and colors of every Major and Minor League Baseball team, they’re also manufactured sporting names of American cities and characters from Marvel and DC comics. They’re daily wear for urbanites, especially Hip-Hop, Hardcore, Emo, and Skater cultures.
Other headwear styles produced by New Era caps include the fitted, casual 49Forty, the stretch fit 39Thirty, the unstructured and adjustable 29Twenty, and the premium design EK Line. Celebrity headwear only sold in select boutiques are distributed under the Capture the Flag label in batches of 288 and then discontinued.
In 2007, the New Era Company reacted in an unexpected way when it was informed that three styles of their New York Yankee caps were associated with gangs. A company press release informed the public that it did not cater to gangs and pulled the caps off the market voluntarily, earning acclaim for their immediate action.
To date, New Era primarily produces caps for men, women, and children but has also diversified into manufacturing hoodies, jackets, polos, tees, and pants.
Purchase your own pair of New Era Caps right now!
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