Newsboy cap

The newsboy cap, newsie cap, Gatsby, jeff cap, or baker boy hat (British) is a casual-wear cap similar in style to the flat cap.

It has a similar overall shape and stiff peak (visor) in front as a flat cap, but the body of the cap is rounder, made of eight pieces, fuller, and paneled with a button on top, and often with a button attaching the front to the brim (as the flat cap sometimes has).

History

At the end of the 19th century this style of cap was called a "golf cap," worn by both men and boys. Eventually, this headwear became associated with working-class boys, especially newspaper boys. The style was also preferred by middle-class businessmen who disliked the bulkiness of top hats, also popular at the time.

Flat caps were very common for North American and European men and boys of all classes during the early 20th century and were especially prevalent during the 1910s and 1920s, particularly among the working "lower" classes. A great many photographs of the period show these caps worn not only by newsboys, but by dockworkers, high steel workers, shipwrights, costermongers, farmers, beggars, bandits, artisans, and tradesmen of many types. This is also well attested in novels and films of this period and just after.

While they were worn by boys and men of all social classes, they were worn by the "upper" classes primarily for leisure activities, and the style became associated with well-to-do country sportsmen, drivers, and wealthy golfers.

Resurgence

Although traditionally a men's cap, it has seen a resurgence as it has become popular with affluent women and fashion houses in the 2000s.