Americana culture can be found all around the world today due to globalization. From food, music, sports, the white picket fence and more, its influence can be found in a plethora of places. A ubiquitous example would be the hat considered to be the national hats of the United States, the baseball and trucker caps. The hats are renowned for their functionality, affordability and their innovation towards the world of promotional products.

The baseball cap was first standardized by leagues during the start of the 20th century. The development of these hats grew throughout primarily to increase functionality for players in the sunny field. Longer bills, firmer visors, team logos added and their crowns becoming more vertical to become what we know today as the commonly worn baseball hats. Initially, they were worn by the athletes they are named after, and not socially acceptable to be worn up until the 1970s. During this time, baseball hats became commonly worn by people outside the sport due to it being popularized by TV and movie stars like Tom Selleck as Macgyver in Magnum P.I.. Baseball hats were then seen on the cover of fashion magazines being worn by rappers and even by Princess Diana who would occasionally appear in jeans and a cap. What came of this was that the baseball hat was pushed as a trend to be worn from field to fashion.

With baseball caps becoming a more and more popular accessory, a similar hat came on to the scene; the trucker hat. The trucker hat came about during a movement for the promotional product industry or what is known today as the Promotional Product Association International (PPAI). They were initially given out to rural workers such as farmers and truckers after agriculture companies saw their potential as a functional, cheap, space for promotion. This was due to the hat’s crown being tall and more vertical, giving the opportunity for a company’s logo to be stitched there. Soon the baseball and trucker hats were seen as a type of staple uniform for pastoral workers across the country.

It is no surprise that the trucker hat became a product for promotion. Ever since the early 1900s, industry manufacturers decided to make an association for promotion products, this led them to having different ideas and open their eyes to the world of marketing. Realizing the potential of trucker hats and the perfect timing of its transition from purely a sports hat to something for everyone, agriculture companies saw an opportunity.

The trend that trucker and baseball hats became part of American fashion during the time where industries were looking for promotion products was perfect timing. Its development and the description of the features alone simply screamed “marketing”. The crown of these hats that became taller over time that simply acted as a “miniature billboard” for people to wear was a simply ingenious idea.

Works Cited

All images belong to their rightful owners. This is purely an educational article.

1. https://sneum.com/the-history-of-the-trucker-hat/#:~:text=The%20trucker%20hat%20came%20about,potential%20for%20advertising%20and%20promotional.

2. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/everything-to-know-about-the-history-of-the-trucker-hat

3. https://fullypromoted.com/blog/history-of-promotional-products-and-how-they-began/

4. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/history-baseball-cap-180977162/