The history of New Era caps starts with a $5,000 loan and ends with a logo on the back of every cap in Major League Baseball. That is the whole arc: a German immigrant cap-maker in Buffalo, New York borrowing money from his aunt in 1920, and roughly seventy years later his family company locking down the exclusive on-field rights to all 30 MLB teams. The 59FIFTY you own today is a direct descendant of that bet. Here is how a third-floor workshop on Genesee Street became the default crown of American baseball and hip-hop.
1920–1934: A Buffalo Cap Shop Becomes a Baseball Company
Ehrhardt Koch learned the trade the hard way. He cut caps for Miller Brothers Cap Company starting in 1902, then borrowed $5,000 from his aunt in 1920 to open the E. Koch Cap Company.
A year later he renamed it New Era Cap. Production ran out of the third floor of 1830 Genesee Street in Buffalo with 14 employees, including his sister Rose. That first year they made 60,000 caps. None of them were for baseball yet.
The baseball chapter opens in 1934, when New Era manufactured caps for the Cleveland Indians. That is the hinge of the entire story. A regional cap shop walked onto a major league field and never left.
1954: The 59FIFTY Is Born (And Nobody Agrees Why It Is Called That)
In 1954, Harold Koch, the founder’s son, redesigned the fitted baseball cap into something more structured and uniform: solid crown, defined brim, the silhouette you still buy. He called it the 59FIFTY.
Here is the part New Era cannot fully explain. The name probably comes from the cap’s internal catalogue number, 5950. One theory says it was the roll of fabric Harold used. When New Era documented its own history, it basically shrugged. Nobody at the company knows for certain why that number stuck.
By the 1970s, 20 of the 24 MLB teams were already wearing the 59FIFTY on the field. The structured crown and flat undervisor became the on-field standard a full two decades before any contract made it official.
The 59FIFTY won the field before it won the paperwork. Players chose it, then the league formalized what was already true.
1992–1993: The Batterman Logo and the MLB Exclusive
This is where the modern fitted hat gets its authentication mark. The MLB Batterman logo started appearing on the back of caps in 1992, embroidered directly into the sweatband area rather than glued on like earlier stock.
Then, after the 1993 season, New Era beat out competitor Sports Specialties for the exclusive on-field license to all MLB teams. That Batterman patch on the rear of your 59FIFTY is the receipt. It means the cap is on-field spec, not a fashion knockoff with a fudged crown.
If you want to read that authentication mark like a collector, our breakdown on how to spot a fake 59FIFTY walks through the Batterman, the sweatband, and the undervisor stitching that fakes get wrong.
1996: Spike Lee, a Red Yankees Cap, and the Culture Shift
The 59FIFTY’s biggest moment was not on the field. It was in the stands at the 1996 World Series.
Spike Lee asked New Era for a red New York Yankees cap, nowhere near the team’s navy. George Steinbrenner and MLB signed off, New Era made it, and Lee wore it to Game 3. That single non-standard colorway flipped the 59FIFTY from sports equipment into a fashion object overnight.
Hip-hop was already there. Wu-Tang rotated Yankees and Mets fitteds through the decade as a borough statement. But Lee’s red cap is the moment the color-blocked, team-mixed fitted became a New Era product line instead of a one-off favor. The grey bottom and pink bottom undervisor obsessions that drive resale today trace straight back to that crack in the on-field rulebook. And here is something a brand could never print: most “limited” colorway drops are only limited to that one retailer, not actually scarce.
2024 and Now: A $2 Billion Headwear Company
New Era is still family-controlled, led by fourth-generation CEO Chris Koch, with ACON Investments holding a minority stake. Headquarters never left Buffalo.
In August 2024, New Era completed its acquisition of ’47, the brand best known for clean unstructured dad hats and clubhouse caps. The combined company runs around $2 billion in annual revenue. New Era owns the structured on-field 59FIFTY lane and now owns a big chunk of the relaxed-fit lane too.
A current MLB Authentic Collection on-field 59FIFTY runs roughly $45 to $52 at retail. The shape Harold drew in 1954 is functionally the cap you buy in 2026.
Bottom line: New Era went from a 14-person Buffalo cap shop in 1920 to the exclusive MLB on-field supplier by 1993, and the 59FIFTY won that field two decades before the contract made it official.
How the History of New Era Caps Breaks Down
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1920 | Ehrhardt Koch founds E. Koch Cap Company in Buffalo with a $5,000 loan |
| 1921 | Renamed New Era Cap |
| 1934 | First baseball caps, made for the Cleveland Indians |
| 1954 | Harold Koch designs the 59FIFTY |
| 1970s | 20 of 24 MLB teams wear the 59FIFTY on field |
| 1992 | MLB Batterman logo embroidered on cap backs |
| 1993 | New Era wins exclusive MLB on-field license |
| 1996 | Spike Lee’s red Yankees cap sparks the fashion era |
| 2024 | New Era completes acquisition of ’47 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who founded New Era and when?
Ehrhardt Koch, a German immigrant cap-maker in Buffalo, New York, founded the company in 1920 as the E. Koch Cap Company using a $5,000 loan from his aunt. He renamed it New Era Cap in 1921. The company is still controlled by the Koch family today.
When did New Era become the official MLB cap?
New Era won the exclusive on-field license for all MLB teams after the 1993 season, beating Sports Specialties. By then, the 59FIFTY had already been the dominant on-field cap since the 1970s, so the contract formalized a standard players had chosen decades earlier.
What does 59FIFTY mean?
The name most likely comes from the cap’s internal catalogue number, 5950, assigned when Harold Koch designed the style in 1954. Other accounts point to the fabric roll he used. New Era itself admits the exact origin is unknown, even to the company.
Where are New Era caps made?
New Era is headquartered in Buffalo, New York, where it began in 1920. Authentic on-field MLB 59FIFTYs are still produced for the league, while much of the broader catalog is manufactured overseas. Check our guide on where fitted hats are made for the full breakdown.
Why was Spike Lee’s cap a big deal?
Spike Lee’s red Yankees 59FIFTY at the 1996 World Series was the first high-profile non-team colorway. It pushed the cap from on-field equipment into a fashion product, opening the door to the alternate colorways and undervisor variations collectors chase today.
That is the short history of New Era caps: one Buffalo loan, one structured silhouette, one red cap that changed everything. If you want to see how that 59FIFTY is actually built, start with our anatomy of a fitted hat guide, then dig into the MLB team catalog to find the colorway worth chasing.
