FAMU Marching Band hat by Midway Cap Company: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An off-white Florida A&M University Marching Band hat by Midway Cap Company. The round cap features a large F embroidered in gold thread, above more gold thread embroidery showing connected leaf patterns along the lower crown. A gold colored double link metal chain, connected by one vintage silver colored lyre button on each side, hangs snugly across the top of the white, plastic covered bill. The inside of the cap base is a white polyester material. Above the white lining is double stitched faux black leather, layered under padded faux brown leather with ventilating perforation throughout. Half-legible handwriting in white is visible on the proper right inside of the cap, along one side of the faux black leather. There are two white tags inside the cap, one indicating the size, the other reads: [MIDWAY CAP / Company / Chicago, IL / MAKERS OF CUSTOM / UNIFORM CAPS / DEC 2010].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2010
• Manufactured by: Midway Cap Company, American, founded 1941
• Subject of: Florida A&M University, American, founded 1887
• Owned by: William Patrick Foster, American, 1919 - 2010
• Type: hats
• Type: uniforms
• Medium: cotton (textile), polyester, plastic and metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 5 7/8 × 10 5/8 × 6 1/8 in. (15 × 27 × 15.5 cm)
• Place used: Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Education
• Topic: HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)
• Topic: Marching bands (Music)
• Topic: Music
• Topic: Musicians
• Object number: 2019.94.8
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from Anthony Foster in memory of William P. Foster
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.