History

Before baseball was donned “America’s Pastime” and before the word “Fitted” became a noun, one family embarked on a journey that would revolutionize and redefine the headwear industry.

Fact From The Archives

Our first manufacturing plant was located in a rented back room on
Genesee St., Buffalo, NY until 1932


Fact From The Archives

There were only 16 teams in major league schedule in 1930s


Fact From The Archives

New Era’s elastic-backed, adjustable caps made their debut in the 1940s.


THE 1950s - BIRTH OF AN ICON

By 1950, New Era was the only independent cap maker supplying caps to big league baseball teams. Its impressive roster of clients included many of the 16 teams at the time like the Brooklyn Dodgers®, Cincinnati Reds®, Cleveland Indians® and Detroit Tigers®. In 1954, Harold designed New Era’s fitted 59FIFTY style cap, giving it a more contemporary look.

Fact From The Archives

It takes 22 Steps to make the perfect cap. 22 pairs of hands that create the 59FIFTY.


Fact From The Archives

In the 1960s the term “Painting with thread” was coined by Val Koch in reference to our embroidery.


THE 1970s THE NEXT GENERATION

In 1972, Harold’s son, David, was named president - 14 years after he began working for the company. A few years later, Chris Koch, David’s son, continued the tradition and began working in the Derby manufacturing plant for his grandfather and father.

Fact From The Archives

By 1974, New Era had deals with 20 of the 24 professional teams that comprised Major League Baseball® at that time.


Fact From The Archives

1980 was the first time we offered MLB On-field caps to fans through a mail-order as in the Sporting News.


THE 1990s THE ONE, TWO PUNCH

Being named the exclusive supplier of on-field caps for Major League Baseball in 1993 and experiencing its first brush with custom, fashion headwear in 1996 with Spike Lee, New Era was shaping a future of creativity and collaboration.

From The Archives

New Era made the decision to launch its new identity in1997 with the introduction of the “flag” logo.


Facts From The Archives

After a long, courageous fight with cancer, David Koch passed away in 2002. The David C Koch Regional Perfusion Cancer Therapy Center at UPMC in Pittsburgh honors his Memory by providing medical treatment and care for cancer patients.


THE 2010s - ON-FIELD

After decades as the official on-field cap of MLB, New Era set its sights on rounding out its exclusivity with the nation’s largest sports leagues. In 2012, New Era became the official sideline cap of the NFL, and, in 2016, became the official on court cap of the NBA; making New Era the only brand in sports history to have exclusive on-field, sideline and on court headwear rights for all three major U.S. leagues at the same time.

Facts From The Archives

We started our New Era Foundation in 2016 to continue our long history of giving back to the community.