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Cap

Workers often wore fabric caps of this style in a time when it was impolite for men to go without a hat. Unlike molded hats with brims, fabric hats could be crushed and re-formed easily. They also cost less money.

Irish farmers fleeing the potato famine in the 1840s first brought flat wool hats to America. This hat, popularly called a newsboy cap, has a button on the top. Workers of every sort wore this type of hat. Valued for its versatility, it was later worn by middle and upper class men while they played golf or rode bicycles.