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New Era Clothing and New Era Cap History.

New Era Caps have truly set the trends of hats since its inception in 1920. From a borrowed $1000 capital from his sister Rose and friend Joe Amerien, Ehrhardt Koch managed to establish the E. Koch Cap Co. in Buffalo, New York. His company came up with 5000 dozen caps with the help of 14 employees, including Rose and Joe, Harold, Erhardt’s son, and Wally, Rpse’s Son.

Two years after, Ehrhardt renamed his venture to “New Era Cap Company,” which produced men’s casual and uniform products, and a handful of sporting goods. New Era’s first caps are eight panel wool caps with a loose fitting crown top and a short bill. This style is considered the modern take of “flappers” and “newsboy” caps.

In 1932, Baseball became very popular in the United States. Seeing this opportunity, Ehrdhardt’s son decided to venture to the sport cap business, with some help from his father for the designing process. Two years after, New Era released the Cleveland Indians Home and Away caps. The caps’ quality features truly emanated the company’s slogan of “quality first, quantity will follow.”

At the dawn of the 40’s era, New Era became the authority on local, minor league, college and Canadian basketball teams. The company also made blank, “private labels” caps for Spaulding and Wilson. In the mid-40’s, Pittsburgh Pirates coach Honus Wagner requested New Era to make a customized cap for his “unusually large head.” This seemed to be the predecessor of New Era’s adjustable size cap, which became a huge hit when it was released in the market in the late 1940’s.

By the 1950’s, New Era was the official supplier of the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, Detroit Tigers, and other teams under Spaulding and Wilson’s “private labels,” making the company the sole independent cap supplier of major league teams. In 1954, New Era, through the efforts of Harold Koch, revolutionized its pro cap and renamed it 5950 (or the “Brooklyn Style” cap.)

New Era was the supplier of about 10 major league baseball teams, all of which the company offers cap cleaning and reconditioning services by 1965. Three years later, the company ventured outside sports by supplying caps for the Apollo 11 moon mission’s Splashdown recovery effort.

In 1974, 20 of the 24 major league teams were already supplied by New Era. Four years after, New Era delved with direct marketing, running an ad for “The Sporting News.” As expected, throngs of major league baseball fans sent in $12.99 cheques for sporting caps.

In 1980, under the helm of David Koch, New Era expanded. Besides supplying 23 of the 26 major league teams in that time, the company supplied caps for college sports, local, AAA, and international baseball, golf, and tennis teams. In 1986, after 32 years of the original 5950 release, new Era unveiled its Diamond Collection Pro 5950 cap, which was deemed an official on-field product of the company.

After almost 60 years in the hat biz, New Era was granted the first exclusive license with major League Baseball teams in 1993. The same year, Chris and Dave Koch, the company’s president and CEO, opened a Distribution Center based in Hamburg, New York to accommodate the increasing demand of baseball players and fans alike. Four years later, New Era presented the “Flag,” its first new logo to be emblazoned on all its caps, after six decades in the business.

In 2003, New Era went global by opening district offices in UK, the European Union, Australia and Japan. Two years later, New Era exposed their new “Blue Box” logo, which combines the first “flag” logo in a new frame, and their new slogan: “The Originators of the true fitted.” In 2006, New Era’s ever-growing company moved from their old Derby facility to a new one in downtown Buffalo. The company also opened a flagship store in the area, after opening the first flagship store in New York’s trendy SoHo district. True enough, the company had a homecoming to its original site – the one which Ehrhardt Koch had in 1920.

Starting out as a humble cap company in the 1920’s, New Era Cap Company has grown into a successful enterprise of over 1,700-strong employees. Much has changed in their products but now in their tradition of creating quality caps. To adapt to each and every cap wearer’s needs, in March 2007, New Era made caps out of 100% Performance Polyester, instead of the traditional wool. They’ve also incorporated a black under-brim to help reduce glare, compared to grey-colored under brims. Their famous cap styles – 59 Fifty, 49 Forty, 39 Thirty, and 29 Twenty remain to be fan (and player) favorites.

With regard to sales, the company is now the undisputed cap distributor of the majority of Pro League Baseball teams, its minor league associates, National Hockey League teams, National Basketball Association Teams, and the teams of over 200 colleges and universities across the nation. It also enjoys national and worldwide acclaim, with a lot of cap fans frequenting their Atlanta, Toronto and Birmingham flagship stores in Canada and UK.