Cap

A cap is a flat headgear. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head covering". Over time, the word has evolved and changed its meaning, but it still retains its association with headwear. They are popular in casual and informal settings, and are seen in sports and fashion. They are typically designed for warmth, and often incorporate a visor to block sunlight from the eyes. They come in many shapes and sizes and are of different brands. Baseball caps are one of the most common types of cap.

Types

The Meyrick Helmet is a Celtic: Brythonic helmet that is likely to have originated from Northern England in the 1st century AD. The flat plane extending from the rim is intended to protect the back of the neck; however, some theorise[who?] it may have been turned in reverse to shield the eyes from sunlight whilst in battle
German M43-style field cap of the "Bundesgrenzschutz" (BGS) (now called Bundespolizei), the German Federal Police

Baseball caps

Baseball cap styles and variations
Snapback baseball cap
Trucker cap
Flexfit-style baseball cap
Fitted baseball cap

Present day depictions of caps

Sports

Historic caps of different sports

As stated earlier, caps are typically designed with a visor which makes it perfect for keeping a person cool from the heat and sheltering a person's eyes from the sun, so it was a matter of time before they made it to the sports industry. The first sport to adopt wearing caps was baseball, the hats were made out of straw and were worn on April 24, 1849, by the New York Knickerbockers. However, within a few years time the team began to wear a cap made of fine merino wool, that featured a crown and an attached visor. This design became the prototype for caps of that time and still the most popular in present day. It's also not the only design for baseball hats but other sports as well, such as cricket, golf and tennis.

Fashion

Sportswear found its way to fashion in the nineteenth century and on the contrary to what many believe it began to actually cater to the wants and needs of women. Sports cap however made an impact on the fashion industry around the 1980s when the company New Era, who had been designing hats for sports teams, began designing and selling hats to the general public. Baseball caps, fitted caps, snapback caps and truckers hats would then be seen in music videos, films, runways and even on Princess Diana's head, which helped nurture her appearance as the "people's princess." Along with hats, sports jerseys also became available in the 1980s as well, and now licensed apparel is a multi-billion dollar industry.

Etiquette

While men have removed their caps, a number of Evangelical-Lutheran Christian women have veiled themselves for the celebration of the Mass at Alsike Church, Sweden (2023)

In Western societies, it has been traditional for men to remove their caps when entering a Christian church—a practice derived from 1 Corinthians 11 in the Bible. On the other hand, women historically were required to wear a headcovering when entering a Christian church (a practice that decreased in the West in the 1960s, though it still occurs in the East). Historically, men in Western Christian societies removed their cap when entering a room where women were present, as well as when a national flag is paraded. Men traditionally remove their cap when a funeral passes through an area in which they are present. Until World War I, it was customary for women to wear a white cap on her head, and women were rarely seen in public without one.

Meaning in slang

In modern slang, cap may refer to something that is false or untrue, while no cap refers to the opposite, something that is truthful.

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ In the West, certain denominations of Christianity preserved the practice of the headcovering of women during, chiefly Conservative Anabaptist fellowships and Old Order Anabaptist groups, as well as by certain Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox congregations. In the 21st century, the wearing of a headcovering by women during Mass and while praying at home has increased in the West, especially among Roman Catholics and Evangelical-Lutherans.

Citations

  1. ↑ "Who Invented The Hat? - Amazing Hat History". Fashionable Hats. 28 March 2017. Archived from the original on 2023-01-13. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  2. 1 2 "Cap vs. Hat: Differentiating the Meaning of Different Headgear". Typing Adventure. 2019-07-26. Archived from the original on 2020-11-24. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  3. ↑ "Baseball Hat & Cap History". baseball.epicsports.com. Archived from the original on 2024-09-19. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  4. ↑ Yarborough, Kaitlyn (20 May 2022). "How To Know When It's Rude To Wear Your Hat Indoors, According to Etiquette". Southern Living. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023. Hat etiquette also has roots in Christianity, as it's long been considered customary for men to remove their hats upon entering a church. As we all know, however, church hats are a historic tradition for women to wear in the South.
  5. ↑ Neusner, Jacob; Armistead, M. Kathryn (2010). Introduction to World Religions: Communities and Cultures. Abingdon Press. ISBN 978-1-4267-1976-9. In most forms of Christianity, however, men remove their hats as a sign of deference to the deity. The bareheadedness derives from the comments of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:4 that "a man who keeps his head covered when he prays or prophesies brings shame upon his head" (NEB).
  6. ↑ Willis, J. J. (1925). An African Church in Building. Church Missionary Society. p. 117. In itself a church is as other buildings are; it is built of common bricks and stone, and common wood. Yet men remove their hats as they enter, speak in hushed tones, and move in reverent silence.
  7. ↑ Beane, Larry (27 February 2024). "On Headcoverings". Gottesdienst: The Journal of Lutheran Liturgy. Archived from the original on 15 January 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2025. This is a trend that is not limited to Lutheran Christianity, but is seen in all of the historical communions, as well as among some Reformed and Anabaptist groups (in the case of various sects of Anabaptists, like Mennonites and Amish, women have been covering their heads - and not just in worship - for centuries). There is a small but stubborn resurgence of this practice.
  8. ↑ Cieslik, Emma (8 February 2022). "Why a New Generation of Catholic Women Is Wearing Chapel Veils". ARC: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera (Danforth Center on Religion & Politics). Archived from the original on 2 July 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  9. ↑ Gordon, Greg (31 August 2015). "Are Head Coverings Really for Today?". Evangelical Focus. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  10. ↑ Hunt, Margaret (2014). Women in Eighteenth Century Europe. Taylor & Francis. p. 58. ISBN 9781317883876. Today many people associate rules about veiling and headscarves with the Muslim world, but in the eighteenth century they were common among Christians as well, in line with 1 Corinthians 11:4-13 which appears not only to prescribe headcoverings for any women who prays or goes to church, but explicitly to associate it with female subordination, which Islamic veiling traditions do not typically do. Many Christian women wore a head-covering all the time, and certainly when they went outside; those who did not would have been barred from church and likely harassed on the street. ... Veils were, of course, required for Catholic nuns, and a veil that actually obscured the face was also a mark of elite status throughout most of Europe. Spanish noblewomen wore them well into the eighteenth century, and so did Venetian women, both elites and non-elites. Across Europe almost any woman who could afford them also wore them to travel.
  11. ↑ Toops, Stanley W.; Peterson, Mark Allen; Anderson, Sheldon (2018). International Studies: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Global Issues. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-97478-6. In European history, Christian women wore veils or other head coverings in church, in accordance with a biblical injunction (1 Corinthians 11:4–10).
  12. ↑ Hathaway, Helen (1928). Manners: American Etiquette. E.P. Dutton. p. 38.
  13. ↑ Anderson, Cory; Anderson, Jennifer (2019). Fitted to Holiness: How Modesty is Achieved and Compromised among the Plain People. Millersburg: Acorn Publishing. p. 129. Throughout the nineteenth century, hats were a cultural necessity; women were never seen in public without one. Up until World War I, a woman slipped on a white cap immediately upon arising, unless she was in mourning, and some type of hat or bonnet was worn every time she left the house.
  14. ↑ "no cap". www.merriam-webster.com. May 11, 2026. Archived from the original on April 22, 2026. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Cap, Italian, 17th century". Metropolitan Museum of Art website. Archived from the original on 2025-10-19. Retrieved 2023-12-06.