# Baseball caps - flat brim w/stickers. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 4, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198 "2015-03-04T14:51:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/1 "2015-03-04T14:51:20Z")
Back in the day, when you bought a new baseball cap at the park or wherever, the first thing you did was peel what few stickers there were off the cap and form the bill into an arc so it would work better and fit better. Now, of course, the style is flat brim and with the stickers still on it. I know **why** the fashion started. Some music type started wearing his cap that way for cred, like he was in the locker room when the team won the Big One. What I want to know is **when**? Anybody have any clues? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/2 "2015-03-04T15:01:31Z")
Not so much the flat brim, but I recall stickers being left on hats in the early 1990s in California. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/3 "2015-03-04T15:22:49Z")
Stickers? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/4 "2015-03-04T15:28:30Z")
Like [this](http://www.drcap.co.uk/Portals/0/Skins/drcap/images/New_Era_59fifty_cap_images/Large/10-09-12%20New%20Era%20Cap%20Fitted%20MLB%20LA%20Dodgers%20Basic%20Red%20White.jpg). Or [this](http://cdn-jpg.si.com/sites/default/files/2013/02/chicago-cubs.jpg). Or [this](http://www.strictlyfitteds.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/hof-size-caps-new-era-59fifty_1.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/5 "2015-03-04T15:36:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Back in the day, when you bought a new baseball cap at the park or wherever, the first thing you did was peel what few stickers there were off the cap and form the bill into an arc so it would work better and fit better. Wait, blocking less sunlight is “working better”? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/6 "2015-03-04T15:41:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wait, blocking less sunlight is “working better”? They block just as much (if not more) with the brims curved down on the side. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/7 "2015-03-04T15:42:55Z")
I’m glad to see the flat style return, as a guy who wears glasses and likes to take photos. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/8 "2015-03-04T15:43:52Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Like [this](http://www.drcap.co.uk/Portals/0/Skins/drcap/images/New_Era_59fifty_cap_images/Large/10-09-12%20New%20Era%20Cap%20Fitted%20MLB%20LA%20Dodgers%20Basic%20Red%20White.jpg). Or [this](http://cdn-jpg.si.com/sites/default/files/2013/02/chicago-cubs.jpg). Or [this](http://www.strictlyfitteds.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/hof-size-caps-new-era-59fifty_1.jpg). [Minnie Pearl](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Minnie_Pearl_1965.JPG) had cred. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/9 "2015-03-04T15:59:02Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Now, of course, the style is flat brim and with the stickers still on it. That is _a_ style. > [@enipla](#): > > > [@Chronos](#): > > > > Wait, blocking less sunlight is “working better”? > > They block just as much (if not more) with the brims curved down on the side. Yes. The vast majority of actual ballplayers, and IME others who work outdoors and actually use cap brims to shade their eyes, employ some degree of curve. A flat brim is so rare among players that IIRC Anthony Reyes once felt moved to deny claims that he ironed his (he just didn’t bend it). So the “cred” achieved is, shall we say, subjective and contextual, at best. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/10 "2015-03-04T18:04:12Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I know **why** the fashion started. Some music type started wearing his cap that way for cred, like he was in the locker room when the team won the Big One. What I want to know is **when**? Anybody have any clues? Actually I think he just forgot to remove them and the stupid fashion caught on. If your not Minnie Pearl\*- remove the damn stickers. - and she’s been dead for almost ten years so… ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/11 "2015-03-04T18:09:54Z")
For a while there it was fashionable to keep the tags on sneakers/basketball shoes. I always assumed it was just a way of proclaiming “I have enough money to buy new sneakers. You can tell they are new because the tags are still on them”. Same with the hats? ---
**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/12 "2015-03-04T22:13:32Z")
The last time I went to a MLB game I noticed that the flat brimmed caps cost more than the ones that were pre-curved. I haven’t figured that out. Is the flat brim style more prevalent in some ethnic communities than others? I once heard it referred to as “Elmer Fudd.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/13 "2015-03-04T22:46:14Z")
Kids here have taken to calling them ‘flat caps’, which is really annoying. [This](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_cap#mediaviewer/File:Flat-cap.jpg)is a flat cap. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/14 "2015-03-04T23:25:33Z")
I always thought of leaving the hang tags and stickers on ball caps as the “Just Shoplifted” look. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/15 "2015-03-05T13:56:32Z")
Thanks for clearing that up for me. Like Ranger Jeff, I thought it was shoplifting. I was behind 2 guys who were “styled” like that the other day at a store, and wondered if the clerk would notice. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-caps-flat-brim-w-stickers/714198/16 "2015-03-05T14:12:54Z")
> [@jebert](#): > > The last time I went to a MLB game I noticed that the flat brimmed caps cost more than the ones that were pre-curved. I haven’t figured that out. > > Is the flat brim style more prevalent in some ethnic communities than others? > > I once heard it referred to as “Elmer Fudd.” Just to be clear,[Elmer Fudd was a fan of the curved style.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e0/Elmer_Fudd.png)