Ball Cap Nation. Jim Lilliefors

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Lilliefors, Jim

      Ball cap nation: a journey through the world of America’s national hat/by James Lilliefors.--1st ed.

      p. cm.

      ISBN-13: 978-1-57860-340-4

      ISBN-10: 1-57860-340-4

      1. Baseball caps--United States. I. Title.

      GT2110.L55 2009

      391.4’3--dc22

      2009009873

      Edited by

      Jack Heffron

      Interior designed by

      Stephen Sullivan

      Distributed by Publishers Group West

      For Janet

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      Special thanks to Helen Zimmermann, who took on this project, helped to shape the proposal, and found a good home for it.

      I am indebted to Jack Heffron, the editorial director at Clerisy Press, who steered this book through the writing, editing, and production phases, and whose editorial suggestions were always on target. I am grateful to the team at Clerisy Press, including Howard Cohen, marketing and publicity director, and Donna Poehner, production manager. And Richard Hunt, Clerisy’s president, for deciding to publish it.

      The National Baseball Hall of Fame provided valuable assistance with research and photos for the book. Thanks to Senior Curator Tom Shieber, who gave me a tour of the Hall of Fame; Photo Archivist Pat Kelly, for all of her help with photos; and Freddy Berowsky, researcher and head of the reference desk.

      Dana Marciniak, corporate communications manager at New Era, was very helpful in arranging interviews, providing photos, and answering questions.

      I much appreciate the assistance of Ellen Roney Hughes, Ph.D., curator, and Jane Rogers, associate curator, for the Division of Music, Sports, and Entertainment History, at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

      Myra Janco Daniels, CEO and founder of the Philharmonic Center/Naples Museum of Art, inspired me to pursue this project and allowed me the freedom to do so. And I again thank my father and Liliane.

      Numerous other people shared their stories and thoughts about ball caps, giving me perspectives on the subject that I hadn’t imagined. I am thankful to all of them, and to those who agreed to be interviewed for this book.

      I owe a special debt of gratitude to Janet Johnson, who happened to notice one night that so many of our fellow restaurant patrons were wearing ball caps. This book was her idea and I am grateful for her support and contributions along the way.