Miscellaneous Brands Baseball Hat/Trucker Cap Tag Guide: A Year-by-Year Timeline
The Evolution of Miscellaneous Hat/Cap Brands T-Shirt Tags by Year
How I Determined the Years for These Tags
When dating vintage t-shirts, the year printed on the graphic doesn’t always match the actual copyright date printed on the shirt. Copyright dates reflect when the image was copyrighted, not necessarily when the shirt was made. So, sorry—your Snoopy tee probably wasn’t printed in 1965.
A more reliable way to determine a shirt’s age is by looking at dated event graphics, like a 1984 World Series tee or a 1979 Annual Chili Cook-Off shirt. These are more likely to be from the year stated—unless the design was popular enough to be reprinted later. However, there’s always the chance that a printer used an older blank shirt, leading to different tags on shirts from the same event year.
Since we don’t have an official tag history from any of these brands, this is an ongoing research project rather than an exact science. The tag years listed below come from event-dated shirts rather than copyright dates. As I collect more examples, I’ll continue updating this guide—it's a resource for me, and now for you too.
| Generic No Brand | ||
| 1980s: | ||
| 1983 | ||
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| 1990s: | ||
| 1992 | 1993 | 1995 |
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| 1999 | ||
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| Ahead Vintage Headwear | ||
| 2000s | ||
| 2002 | 2006 | |
 |
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|
| AJD Cap Co | ||
| 1980s: | ||
| 1988 | ||
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| Associated Premium Corp | ||
| 2000s: | ||
| 2001 | ||
 |
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| Cap It All | ||
| 1980s: | ||
| 1988 | ||
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| Chavin | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1994 | ||
 |
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| Decky | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1998 | ||
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| DA Designer Award | ||
| 1980s: | ||
| 1987 | ||
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| DP Designer Pro | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1993 | ||
 |
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| Fahrenheit RN56398 | ||
| 2000s Y2Ks: | ||
| 2000 | ||
 |
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| FlexFit by Yupoong | ||
| 2010s: | ||
| 2016 | ||
 |
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| Headmaster | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1994 | ||
 |
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| Y2Ks 2000s: | ||
| 2000 | 2001 | |
 |
 |
|
| KC | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1995 | ||
|
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| Legacy | ||
| 1990s | ||
| 1997 | ||
 |
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| Logo Athletic | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1997 | 1997 | |
 |
 |
|
| 2000s Y2Ks: | ||
| 2001 | ||
 |
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| Major League Baseball | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1991 | ||
 |
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| ML Caps | ||
| 2000s Y2Ks: | ||
| 2002 | ||
 |
||
| Mohr's | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1994 |
1998 |
1999 |
 |
|
 |
| New Era | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1990 | 1994 | |
 |
 |
|
| 1996 | 1998 | 1999 |
 |
 |
 |
| 1999 | 1999 | |
 |
 |
|
| 2000s Y2Ks: | ||
| 2000 | ||
 |
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| Nike RN56323 | ||
| 2010s: | ||
| 2012 | ||
 |
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| Nissin | ||
| 1980s: | ||
| 1988 | ||
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| 1990s: | ||
| 1991 | 1993 | 1994 |
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|
|
| Otto Cap | ||
| 1980s: | ||
| 1988 | ||
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| 1990s: | ||
| 1992 | 1999 | |
|
 |
|
| P Brand - Paramount - Made In USA | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1992 | ||
 |
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| Reebok | ||
| 2000s Y2Ks: | ||
| 2003 | 2005 | |
 |
 |
|
| RP | ||
| 1980s: | ||
| 1987 | ||
 |
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| Speedway | ||
| 1980s: | ||
| 1988 | ||
 |
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| Sportsman - Lim's | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1997 | ||
 |
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| Sports Specialties - The Twill | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1992 | 1997 | |
|
 |
|
| Starter - RN 67879 | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1996 | 1998 | |
 |
 |
|
| Texace | ||
| 2000s Y2Ks: | ||
| 2004 | ||
 |
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| Twin City Knitting | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1994 | ||
 |
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| Twins Enterprise Inc | ||
| 1990s: | ||
| 1998 | ||
 |
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| Unitog | ||
| 1970s: | ||
| 1977 | 1978 | |
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| Young An - YA Headwear II - That Hat | ||
| 1980s: | ||
| 1989 | ||
 |
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| 1990s: | ||
| 1991 | 1993 | |
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Links To Other Tag Histories:
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