I just saw a photo of Trump showing his “MAGA hat” collection to some European leaders. It made me think - are baseball caps (the style, not caps with actual baseball team logos on them) universal around the world?
Where in the world would it be extremely peculiar to see a person wearing one?
When did they achieve ubiquity?
I’m not that widely travelled, but my guess is that it would overlap with where baseball is popular and where it isn’t. Probably typical in the Americas and eastern Asia (Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan in particular), and a lot less common in Europe, Africa, the middle east, and southern and western Asia. I suspect they would be even less common in places where people wear other types of traditional head coverings, such that wearing a baseball cap would also mean not wearing some other kind of head wear that is traditional.
I cannot speak for the world, but only for Germany (and central Europe in general). They are quite common here, but not because of a popularity of baseball (which really is the most unpopular American sport here), but mostly because of their ubiquity in hip-hop culture. So they came around here about the mid 80s and became mainstream in the 90s. Note that there were similar caps long before, we called them “Schlägerkappen”. I used to be a football (soccer) goalie in my youth and remember that I had such a cap as early as 1976 I wore in games when I faced the sun to not get blinded. The one I had was in the colors of my (still) favorite football club Borussia Mönchengladbach, so they had nothing to do with baseball.
Fun fact: baseball caps are called “basecaps” in Germany.
Nah, they’re equally popular in places where baseball isn’t, they’re just not associated with baseball at all there.
They’re super common in Israel but are just called ‘visor hats’
In my group of friends, they are known as “cunt caps”, the reasoning being that anyone wearing one is not likely to be a friend.
Unfortunately, yes, they are now widespread, if not universal. I own a hat, but it has a wide brim, the point of the hat is to keep sun off my face and neck.
I mean… that is the point of a hat. Weird fashion distortions do not change the point if a hat… do they?
“Baseball” caps seem designed to sell brand imagery, even if their original purpose was to help baseball players deal with the glare from the sun.
I have been to a reasonably large number of countries, spanning most continents (except Antartica and North America) and have seen baseball caps everywhere.
And if I make a short personal rant… if you choose to wear a “baseball cap” wear it straight. The brim is designed to keep the sun out of your eyes. Do not wear it backwards. Do not wear it some kind of sideways. Do not wear it at all.
Kind regards, your curmudgeonly local milliner.
Hmmm…the brim is designed as such but even you admit it’s about brand imagery. Wearing it backwards still gets the intent across!
For me the hat often is a way to keep my wild hair tamed so the bill has no purpose. Backwards or forwards, it gets the job done.
Weird - when I google that now all I see are images of golf club covers. I assume they are no longer called that and are only known as “basecaps” now?
For whatever it’s worth, I decided to look up “Chelsea FC hats” to see if the team’s merch department wanted to sell me stocking caps or some other style. Nope, baseball caps.
To clarify, this is what we traditionally called a “Schlägerkappe” (literally “brimmed cap”):
This, we’ve also called a “Schlägerkappe” in sports, before hip hop was a thing and the false anglicism “basecap” took over:
(this cap has the logo of my football club, Borussia Mönchengladbach)
You’re confused. You’re supposed wear it backwards with your sunglasses upside down on the brim. You shade your eyes with your hand.
Eh, as a milliner’s grandchild, I’ll wear my hats as I please.
I agree with @scudsucker on how to wear them but would add, take them off indoors.
In the Czech Republic, people wear them, but not nearly as much as in NorthAmerica. And as @rsat3acr said, people tend to take them off indoors.
Interesting! ISTR that at least in various branches of the US military, that particular nickname was used for the Garrison Cap. Not because the wearer was necessarily a cunt, but because it sort of resembles one.
In 1990 Melbourne, Australia they pretty much only existed on my head.
Been a while since I was in Ireland, yet they tended towards the “Schlägerkappe” as EinsteinsHund or any kind of beret like thing as headcover.
Ten years ago they started to become common (in the UK). At first USA baseball teams (and to this day there’s a 90% chance a baseball cap is the Yankees), yet now they are using them for all sorts of team sports. More as a show the sports squad you favour than on-the-field worn.
Might have been interesting if Zelensky had arrived in the U.S. wearing a MUGA cap (“Make Ukraine Great Again”).
They’ve always existed here in Argentina (Always = since the 80’s at least, because I remember them as always existing and I was born in 1978).
They are, of course, not called “Baseball caps”, they are called “Gorras”, wich means “Caps”, there’s probably some more specific name but to the general public they are just caps.
Did yours have a logo?
I cannot recall when slogans (words) rather than team emblems became a thing. It certainly pre-dates MAGA.
Dodger Blue and Giants Orange superimposed on top of another: N&Y. (Mets!)
Correction: The Dodger Blue (or a blue very close to it) with the N&Y in Giants Orange.
ETA: and no swishes or other company logos