# Why do old men wear their baseball caps that way? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 17, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098 "2006-09-17T20:28:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/1 "2006-09-17T20:28:11Z")
I’m sure you’ve seen him: the elderly man wearing a baseball cap with the band adjusted almost as small as it will go, and the hat simply perched on the crown of his head. If you look at the way a baseball cap is “supposed to” to be worn — as it is worn by, say, baseball players — the band should be just above the ears. The shell of the cap should be close to the scalp. It’s how the cap is designed. I’ve noticed that older men who wear baseball caps to work in — farmers, orchardists, etc. — wear their caps “properly”, i.e. the band around the head just above their ears, so that it doesn’t fall or blow off. That leads me to believe that the old men who “perch” their caps were perhaps more white-collar workers who came up during the days when men always wore fedora-style hats with their suits. The former group wears the cap for practical reasons, while the latter wears it for appearance or out of habit, and perhaps due to wearing fedoras they aren’t accustomed to feeling the hat touching the top of the head. Heck, I’ve seen these same old men wear stocking caps the same way during cold winter months - in a crumpled heap perched on top of their heads, rather than pulled down to their ears. Any other ideas about why the old men wear baseball caps in this manner? [sub]And before you start: no, it doesn’t look any sillier than young men wearing their caps backwards, sideways, or inside-out.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/2 "2006-09-17T20:36:30Z")
And they wear them with the bill in the front! What’s up with that? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/3 "2006-09-17T20:44:03Z")
[QUOTE=Phase42] I’m sure you’ve seen him: the elderly man wearing a baseball cap with the band adjusted almost as small as it will go, and the hat simply perched on the crown of his head. If you look at the way a baseball cap is “supposed to” to be worn — as it is worn by, say, baseball players — the band should be just above the ears. The shell of the cap should be close to the scalp. It’s how the cap is designed. I’ve noticed that older men who wear baseball caps to work in — farmers, orchardists, etc. — wear their caps “properly”, i.e. the band around the head just above their ears, so that it doesn’t fall or blow off. That leads me to believe that the old men who “perch” their caps were perhaps more white-collar workers who came up during the days when men always wore fedora-style hats with their suits. The former group wears the cap for practical reasons, while the latter wears it for appearance or out of habit, and perhaps due to wearing fedoras they aren’t accustomed to feeling the hat touching the top of the head. Heck, I’ve seen these same old men wear stocking caps the same way during cold winter months - in a crumpled heap perched on top of their heads, rather than pulled down to their ears. Any other ideas about why the old men wear baseball caps in this manner? [/sub] [/QUOTE] They forget how to adjust the size? ---
**Author:** ![YPOD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e99b99/32.png) [@YPOD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YPOD)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/4 "2006-09-17T21:15:26Z")
My uncle would occasionally do that. He said that a “real” baseball cap would come in sizes, not with the adjustable strap. Since he grew up wearing sized caps and hats, then got used to never wearing a hat, he often simply forgot or ignored the strap on modern caps. Too new for him I guess. He wore a cap to keep the rain off the eyeglasses or the sun out of his eyes, and could care less what he looked like. ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/5 "2006-09-17T21:19:21Z")
My family calls this phenomenon “DadHat”. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/6 "2006-09-17T21:34:48Z")
Well, if you look at gimme caps like you get from seed corn companies and tractor companies, they’ve got a mesh back and sides. Some (older) men may prefer a little room between head and hat so they can catch a cooling breeze and let air circulate. Y’all have probably figured out by now I’m either married to a Dekalb or John Deere rep, or I grew in up in the Great Plains. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/7 "2006-09-17T22:14:46Z")
They are rebelling against society, of course. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/8 "2006-09-18T00:01:17Z")
Before I opened this thread, I imagined being in a time warp and opening this same thread forty years in the future, to see the young whippersnappers asking why the old men wear their baseball caps backwards. It’ll happen, just you wait. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/9 "2006-09-18T00:04:22Z")
[QUOTE=kittenblue] Before I opened this thread, I imagined being in a time warp and opening this same thread forty years in the future, to see the young whippersnappers asking why the old men wear their baseball caps backwards. It’ll happen, just you wait. [/QUOTE] Nah. If they keep smart-assing their elders they won’t live that long. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Rosewater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mr.Rosewater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Rosewater)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/10 "2006-09-18T05:07:39Z")
[QUOTE=YPOD] My uncle would occasionally do that. He said that a “real” baseball cap would come in sizes, not with the adjustable strap. Since he grew up wearing sized caps and hats, then got used to never wearing a hat, he often simply forgot or ignored the strap on modern caps. Too new for him I guess. He wore a cap to keep the rain off the eyeglasses or the sun out of his eyes, and could care less what he looked like. [/QUOTE] Real baseball caps still come in sizes. [Example.](http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1857266&cp=1452346.1452692.704254&parentPage=family) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/11 "2006-09-18T06:36:12Z")
Is it possible that these old men are wearing toupees, and a lower hat would distort it, or cause the hair to come off when the hat’s removed? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/12 "2006-09-18T11:53:29Z")
It means they’re in a gang. You’ll also notice how high their pants are! And if you walk by their porch wearing the wrong color suspenders, they’ll stab you! ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/13 "2006-09-18T12:09:19Z")
[QUOTE=Bear\_Nenno] It means they’re in a gang. You’ll also notice how high their pants are! And if you walk by their porch wearing the wrong color suspenders, they’ll stab you! [/QUOTE] And if you flash your lights at them, they’ll say “Jeez Louise, what the hell was that?!!” ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/14 "2006-09-18T14:22:50Z")
I know why my father does, because that’s the way hats were worn. When I was young, my father told me that I was wearing my baseball cap “wrong”. It was pulled down, with my head filling the cloth part of the cap. I was told the “proper” way to wear the cap was with the band holding it up on your head where your head would not be touching the top cart of the cap. Now, the reason for this or where my father was taught this… I don’t know. I could be that he was taught this in the military or it was hat wearing etiquette of the time. As for the stocking cap thing, my step father said he got it from the Navy. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/15 "2006-09-18T14:24:22Z")
Ugh! The top PART of the cap… ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/16 "2006-09-18T14:52:19Z")
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth] And if you flash your lights at them, they’ll say “Jeez Louise, what the hell was that?!!” [/QUOTE] Or crash into a ditch. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/17 "2006-09-18T16:07:25Z")
I thought it was to provide sun protection and shade the eyes without retaining heat. But then, the only men I’ve seen wearing hats that way were outdoor laborers. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/18 "2006-09-18T18:44:16Z")
When you have a baseball cap on correctly it interferes with your peripheral vision a little bit…or it does on me, anyway. They annoy the crap out of me. Maybe that’s it? ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/19 "2006-09-18T21:35:47Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] And they wear them with the bill in the front! What’s up with that? [/QUOTE] For the same reason you wear your bass ackwards! That’s the way they like them. Also many prefer a flat brim to be able to see all around instead of through a partial tunnel. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098/20 "2006-09-18T22:10:59Z")
Not all old men do that. And then there’s the crowd that thinks there is a benefit to putting a curve into the bill, defeating its intended function of keeping the sun out of the eyes. Ah, peer conformity. Off to Great Debates? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-old-men-wear-their-baseball-caps-that-way/373098.md?page=2)