"Rules" for newsboy caps use?

[Torpedo]

Hello,

What do you think where the accepted "rules" for newsboy caps use, at the time they were popular?

I mean, were they regarded as a "sports" headgear? A cheap alternative for those who could no afford a fedora? Just another option for headgear, less formal than a fedora?

I know caps were not in the same league as fedoras, and certainly would not be seen as acceptable with some kinds of attire, but one sees photographs and films (both modern and contemporary) where newsboy caps (or other kind of caps like flat or Ivy caps) are worn with everything from 3-piece suits to bib fronted trousers, and still do not look out of place.

Any opinions?

 

[Feraud]

Caps look great with any outfit.

 

[1911 Man]

Probably just a less expensive (maybe?) but just as acceptable alternative, purely a matter of personal preference.

 

[Feraud]

This thread has caps and prices.
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=31973

 

[Fletch]

Just going on my memories of old pictures, movies and such, the newsy would always have been more acceptable on youngsters and workingclass men than on white collar grownups, unless same were out a sportin' or on vacation.

The dignity and substance that a good fedora or homburg gives its wearer is not to be found in the newsy cap. What it is is practical, jaunty and rugged.

"Rules" - well, mine anyway, YMMV: Yes to caps with anything but a serious businessy suit or formal wear. Sweater or shirtsleeves? Sure. Knockabout jacket? Of course. Tweed or linens (even a suit)? Perfectly apropos. Just match the material to the season - no heavy wools past 65° or so.

 

[dhermann1]

I suspect the rule was, if you want to keep your head warm, and you can't afford a fedora or a homburg, and you work in a job where you're outdoors much of the time, where a brimmed hat would probably blow off anyway, then you get yourself a newsboy cap.

 

[L HATLEY]

Rules... No rules

BETTER THAN A BASEBALL CAP.... WEAR IT AND BE PROUD...I M H O.

 

[kpreed]

I really can only speak for me. but any "Hat" rules apply to caps too, I would think. My everyday hat, during the warm months is a tan linen newsboy and for times it should be fancier, I have a white one too. Cold months I wear my gray wool newsboy. I also have many fedoras I wear when going out in a suit. I also wear my straw boater at times.
My Grandfather did pretty much the same thing in the early 1900's.

 

[shortbow]

Like Fletch, my take, derived from old films and photos, is that the cap was much more widely used by kids and working men. If you consider how most rural workers today have abandoned their cowboy hats for feed caps etc., it is easy to understand.

I would like more info on this though. I was actually thinking about it recently after watching one of the "Thin Man" movies. All the suit or jacket and tie guys were in fedoras or homburgs, the street scenes, with newsies or working guys, featured the cap.

 

[Edward]

Pretty much covered above.... I agree with the interpretation of it being a class and age thing.... Personally, I find a cap great for high-wind days - saves cramp in the arm holding the fedora on all the time, even with a wind trolley. and for more casual affairs...

FWIW, for me while I automatically think 30s/40s with a fedora, I'm more inclined to think 20s with a cap.... [huh] Another thing, a cap automatically strikes me as somewhat more 'rural' in feel, though equally at home in the city. (Thus a good alternative to a deerstalker which I'd only rarely get the opportunity to wear).

 

[hatflick1]

Newsies

If you have a chance, rent "Newsies", a film from years back about the newsboy strike of the turn of the last century. Not a great movie, but some great newsboy caps. You can also Google old b&w photos of newsies. Such photos indicate no rules for the wearing of these caps or the fisherman style caps or derbies also worn by the news sellers.

 

[LocktownDog]

If its good enough for a president, its good enough for me. While wearing a suit and in public, Woodrow Wilson was often seen with top hat, homburg, or newsboy. There's a wonderful profile photo of him floating around somewhere speaking with his advisors in the snow while wearing his grey newsboy, overcoat, and a black suit. I'll see if I can find it.

 

[Lefty]

WW sure could mix it up.

 

[Torpedo]

Thank you for the interesting points of view!

I would say that (for me) the newsboy cap "lower" the degree of formality if combined with formal dress, like suits or suit jacket combos, which may be worked to your desired effect - sort of "sports-formal" level I would say; I think it can be compared to Ivy style flat caps, in these respects.

Of course this is my opinion, which may or may not coincide with actual contemporary usage.

Regards,

Daniel

 

[Matt Deckard]

They were often worn as workwear because... well who wants to mess up a good felt hat when you can buy caps on the cheap. You can wear them easily while driving, you could do sporting things with them and worry less about the brim getting in the way and them flopping off as easily as would a fedora.

The cap is more of a sporty headgear, it just looks casual. You can wear them with tweed suits or when you want to bum around a bit I throw one on with my double breasted pinstripe... it works well and gives a Devil may care appearance that a fedora, bowler and homburg sometimes chase off.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

anyone have instances where they were worn in a movie or screen caps (other than LEATHERHEADS or THE GREAT GATSBY)?

 

[pistolpete]

O' Brother....

...Seabiscuit, Once Upon a Time in America. Lots of cap scenes.

 

[Pat_H]

I think that very early on caps were more of a working wear type of hat. Indeed it seems to me that I've read somewhere newsboys were originally a cheap hat basically made by tailors on the street for men who needed a cap (and everyone needed one) but who couldn't afford a good hat, or whose job would discourage wearing a good hat. In some types of work, you wouldn't want to wear a hat.

As time moved on, the use of caps spread, but in the hat era, they were always less formal than the hat. They occupied the space now occupied by baseball caps, although baseball caps have spread into nearly every imaginable use.

Newsboys are a sharp cap.

 

[Pat_H]

I think that very early on caps were more of a working wear type of hat. Indeed it seems to me that I've read somewhere newsboys were originally a cheap hat basically made by tailors on the street for men who needed a cap (and everyone needed one) but who couldn't afford a good hat, or whose job would discourage wearing a good hat. In some types of work, you wouldn't want to wear a hat.

As time moved on, the use of caps spread, but in the hat era, they were always less formal than the hat. They occupied the space now occupied by baseball caps, although baseball caps have spread into nearly every imaginable use.

Newsboys are a sharp cap.

On this, by the way, I think this explanation would apply most to the US. In some other areas cap use was widespread in uses that we normally think of hats here, in some instances. The British Isles, for example, seem to have had widespread cap use in nearly all sorts of wear. Or at least Ireland seems to have.

 

[Feraud]

anyone have instances where they were worn in a movie or screen caps (other than LEATHERHEADS or THE GREAT GATSBY)?

Look for films where there are real working men characters.
I can recall a James Cagney picture where he wears a cap with a double breasted suit. Could it be The Roaring 20s?
See films like Tomorrow, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, etc. etc.