Caps and hats have a long and varied history as promotional products. Their visual prominence places at the forefront of popular products as the advertiser's message is directly above the eyes of the person wearing the product. This is the first point of human visual contact and interaction, making the cap or hat the perfect place for your logo to be noticed. The early crusaders emblazoned the helmet with the cross so that all could see the affiliation of the soldiers. Today, millions of companies use the cap as a staple product in their promotional campaigns.

Modern caps hats come in various styles and colors from berets to brimmed caps each designed to make a statement about the style of the wearer and create an identity for the advertiser giving them out. Perhaps the most popular promotional cap is the baseball cap, which is manufactured in a surprisingly large number of different styles, each having a prominent area for the advertiser's promotional message. The baseball cap with its’ forward visor, henceforth referred to as cap in this article, gained popularity as baseball players wore them both for protection from the summer sun and to shield their eyes from sun glare and thereby better see the ball. The exception to this practice was the catcher on the team who wore the cap backwards so it would not interfere with his face mask and still provide sun protection for his head. Along with the growing popularity of the sport in America, so grew the popularity of the cap as a practical item and an adopted fashion style. The catcher’s style of wearing the hat backwards has evolved into a fashion statement among the younger crowd, so promotional caps are now available with imprinting on the back as well as what is normally considered to be the front.

Caps are available in a variety of styles that fall into the categories of structured and unstructured. The structured cap has a reinforcing material across the front panel to keep the panel shape in tact. Sold most often with a high front, the structured cap is a virtual billboard for your promotional logo.

One of the most popular promotional structured caps is the “Truckers Cap” . The truckers cap has a high front reinforced with a stiffener to maintain its shape, a large front visor and a polyester mesh material on the top. Typically, the trucker cap is made in bold bright basic colors. As there is no need here to protect the top of the head while sitting in a hot truck cab, truck drivers love them because the mesh top cools their head and the large bill helps protect them from sun glare. The high structured top allows air to flow freely around the head. Originally, companies that use trucker’s caps as an advertising item used the caps to advertise their various services and supplies, from parts, to lubricants to towing services. The trucker cap has achieved its place as an icon in the blue collar work force, so companies advertising things as diverse as beverages and radio stations cater to this market.

The more casually styled unstructured cap is a unisex design frequently made using chino twill, denim and brushed cotton materials for a softer faded look. They are available in dozens of designer colors and earth tones as well as solid bright colors, all with a variety of size adjustments including Velcro backed straps, metal buckles or plastic bands with nibs and holes. The unstructured cap is a perfect advertising medium for almost every industry as they are inexpensive and feature multicolored embroidered imprints at truly affordable prices. The fashionable unstructured cap is frequently worn with the visor facing backwards, so those advertisers looking to capture the younger audience frequently embroider their message on the back of the cap, or in some cases on both the front and the back. The least expensive styles are made using a five panel construction which allows for a silk screened imprint across the front, lowering the cost from the embroidered versions.

Other headgear featured on our site includes visors, headbands and bucket hats which have their special and highly effective promotional applications, but they pale relative to caps in terms of volume and distribution.

If you have any questions about our caps and hats, or don’t see the exact style you want or need some ideas for your company's next promotion, please feel free to contact us at 1-877 477-6667. Ordering caps from Empire is so easy!