The 59FIFTY is a model of baseball cap made by the New Era Cap Company, a headwear company based in Buffalo, New York. The 59Fifty is the official on-field cap of Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball, and the official sideline cap of the National Football League and the National Basketball Association. It is also a fashion symbol, with the hip-hop community the first to adopt it in the 1980s and 1990s. History The 59FIFTY's wool predecessor debuted in 1934 at a Cleveland Indians game and the 59FIFTY itself came out in 1954. Harold Koch, son of New Era founder Ehrhardt Koch, created the 59FIFTY to make hats more uniform within the MLB. Sources vary on the meaning of its name: it might be the cap's original catalogue number, 5950; its model number; or the roll of fabric Koch used while producing the original design. By the 1970s, the 59FIFTY was being worn by 20 of the 24 MLB teams and became available to the public in the mid-1980s. The Cincinnati Reds became the first team to receive memorial caps following their 1990 World Series win. Hats from the losing team are taken apart and recycled following the game. The 59FIFTY became the official on-field cap in 1993. Early popularity During the 1980s, Tom Selleck popularized the 59FIFTY when he wore a Detroit Tigers cap in Magnum P.I.. Its first major craze came in 1996, when film director Spike Lee requested a custom red New York Yankees cap to wear to the third game of the World Series. New Era's contract with the team stipulated that only blue caps could be produced, but the owner worked with the MLB to make an exception. Lee was photographed at the game and requests for custom orders increased substantially. Several years later, Fred Durst repopularized the red Yankees hat. Design The first 59FIFTY design had a flat visor, with eight rows of stitching, ventilating eyelet holes, and a high rise crown. Koch added a buckram on the inside of the cap to keep the logo centered and pointed forward. This design only underwent minor tweaks until the 1980s, when lighter wool, sweats, and beading were used to make the logos look cleaner, and the stitching was raised. Teams could also choose different colored fabrics for the under-visor rather than the traditional green, which was used "because it was believed the color