The head coach of the Indianapolis Colts was being interviewed on the Sunday morning program that I was watching, and — not for the first time — I noted his commitment to the “Men With Hats” club. Shane Steichen was wearing what is commonly called a “baseball cap,” one that had on the front of it, the horseshoe logo of the team. Later in the program, other members of the team were interviewed, and in keeping with the “MWH” theme, they all wore hats.
When I was young, one of the needs that I shared with my high school friends — all the young men — was a desire to have a snap-brim fedora with a small flower pinned to the silk band. I never got one, not even when my friends and I formed a singing group. “The Chancellors” wore navy blue sport coats with gold buttons, but no snap-brims. And in the 1960s, the only baseball caps that I remember were on the Pittsburgh Pirates team members, and the ball players on the Schenley High school Spartans’ baseball team.
The ubiquitous baseball cap is a necessary item in every modern man’s wardrobe. I have 23 caps, some of which are more than 50 years old (my brother’s cap being of that age.) But I rarely wear them. My Pittsburgh Steeler cap is mostly for bragging purposes, especially when the Steelers play the Colts. My Heartland Film Festival cap demonstrates my support for the festival, and I have a cap from my favorite cidery. I also have a cap that showcases my favorite beer. My Rolling Rock cap was given to me by the owners of the bar where I would shoot pool and drink that beer. But, as I said, I rarely wear those caps.
I am a photographer who looks through a viewfinder, and the bill of a baseball cap impedes that. Nor can I shoot pool with that ball cap bill protruding from my forehead. I, unlike most of the rest of the male hat-wearing population, will never turn my cap backward. Nope: Not gonna do it. Legend has it that Ken Griffey Jr., an actual baseball player, popularized the wearing of the cap backward, but various singing groups and rappers helped to push the trend. I remember having seen a meme on a social networking site that showed a man wearing his baseball cap backward, and using his hand to shield his eyes from the sun. Excuse me sir, but the bill on the cap was designed for that purpose.
Ball caps are often worn to disguise hair failure; I have seen men lift a cap from a rim of fur, only to reveal a shiny top. I understand the vanity inherent in that, as well as the necessity to warm that pate. On a recent cool day, I stepped out to find that my new haircut was too short to protect my dome from the cold. I slapped on a cap and went back out to join the rest of the “Men With Hats.”
Most of the men of my youth wore hats, though none of them wore ball caps. (My father wore a beret.) But hats came off when men entered the doors of a house, unlike today. Men wearing hats do not remove them, and ball caps stay on, even in the theater. In the sports world, ball caps are welded onto the heads of both the players and the spectators. And, unlike the snap-brim fedora, “Men With Hats” don’t have to chase a windblown ball cap.
cjon3acd@att.net