Confessions of a souvenir cap addict
When I saw the Wall Street Journal mention the low-key rise of people wearing dad caps from vacation spots bought at souvenir stores, I felt like my cover had been blown. I didn’t read the article because it’s behind a paywall and I don’t support the Rupert Murdoch empire, but the gist is that the souvenir hat can be a subtle flex for those to discretely show their travels.
I’ll admit to amassing a growing collection of such hats in the past few years, however, my focus remains squarely upon the niche of museum souvenir cap. To be even more specific: art museums.
I love a gift shop. Most of it often has nothing to do with the artwork contained within the museums themselves. At times, the gift shop can feel like an Amazon recommendation: “People who liked the works of Donald Judd also liked to buy these minimalist day planners!” But to me the ideal art museum gift shop purchase falls within three categories.
First, if there’s a special exhibition, and I really enjoyed the exhibition, then I’ll often get the catalogue or book. For me, it’s more of a reference material to revisit what I saw in depth and learn more beyond gallery labels.
Second, I enjoy a good print or poster. What I don’t particularly care for is a generic poster of the more notable pieces of the museum’s collection. It can feel very college dorm poster. Also, my wall space isn’t unlimited. Sometimes an exhibition has a great poster, however, that’s sadly not always the case — especially for some shows I really enjoyed.
Finally, the souvenir cap. If I could offer one point of criticism to art museums: please, have someone talented do your merch! I’m not big into graphic T-shirts, and I’ve seen so many terrible ones for museums. Sometimes, it’s the design, other times it’s the fabric and construction. Tote bags are always a safe bet, but I don’t need more of them. But a good quality dad cap? Sign me up every time. They’re surprisingly rare, however, when I find one I get excited.
The collection has grown over the past few years. My first was from the Whitney Museum. It’s plain white but with the museum’s line-art logo on the back, offset to the side. The coolest one is probably the collaboration the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago did with Joe Fresh Goods (arguably the best set of museum merch ever done). As much as I love the logo of The Met, their hat is smaller than others and doesn’t sit as securely on the head. My newest acquisition: a faded black cap from The Rubell Museum, which I got at their opening week at Art Basel in December. It’s perfect for winter.
Why do I collect these hats? As a child, I had a decent collection of caps from sports teams growing up. I wore a baseball cap all through college. It was only when I entered the professional workforce that I stopped wearing hats regularly. I also stopped following sports as religiously, so I didn’t feel connected enough to a team to wear one. (It’s also why I passed on picking up the cap at the MoMA, which is co-branded with the New York Yankees.)
These hats are functional enough, comfortable on the head, and I’ll likely never see anyone else wearing them on the street. But most importantly, these caps are a fun embroidered memento of my visits.