The Ballcap Blog

Back in the old days, New Era made caps for Wilson Sporting Goods under private labeling. After New Era nearly wiped them out as a major competitor, Wilson switched over to having ANNCO (American Needle and Novelty Company, now American Needle) make their caps. In the past ANNCO made the cheap felt souvenir caps that were sold at stadiums. By the time Wilson changed to ANNCO, Wilson was only supplying caps to the Phillies. Around this time, ANNCO made pro model caps under their own label for the Mets. However, the Mets expert I spoke with doesn't believe they were used on the field. The early caps made by ANNCO for Wilson used cloth sweatbands similar to KM Pro's cloth sweatbands. New Era's Wilson caps also featured the same sweatbands, as the sweatbands and embroidery were originally added by a 3rd party. Early 80s Phillies Wilson cap (made by ANNCO) Later on, the sweatbands became one-sided like New Era's. Mid 80s Phillies Wilson cap (made by ANNCO) The Mets caps were...

A couple of weeks ago, I received what should have been the crown jewel of my collection: A genuine 1969 Seattle Pilots cap made by New Era. While the crown of the cap was in perfect condition, there were some problems. All of them had to do with the visor. Like many caps its age, it suffers from what has become the bane of my existence: a cracked visor board. Actually, it wasn't cracked. It had completely crumbled. Most of the visor board pieces came in an envelope. The seam that kept the visor fabric together had ripped open, and the pieces came out. The other problem was the embroidered wheat stalks on the visor. The thread literally disintegrated. Some of it was already gone by the time it arrived, and the rest rubbed off when I touched it. I knew that with a little work, I could get the cap into somewhat presentable condition. Luckily, New Era's Pilots caps did not have seams across the visor. There is only a seam between the blue top and green underside. I sacrificed a vi...