Harvard University 1899 Pillbox Wool Ballcap

WOOL PILLBOX BALLCAP HONORING HARVARD UNIVERSITY History: Harvard baseball has been played since 1865 — back when the flat-crowned pillbox was the standard cap in the game, players wore wool from head to toe, and the rules themselves were still being written. In 1877, a Harvard player named James Tyng became the first catcher to ever wear a mask behind the plate, after teammate Fred Thayer adapted a fencing mask to protect his face. It was a small invention with enormous consequences — and it happened in Cambridge, on a Harvard diamond. Made from genuine wool broadcloth with felt appliqué lettering, this pillbox-style hat reaches back to the late 1800s, when nine hats just like this took the field for the Crimson.