In the mid 90's, a hat company named "The Game" produced a line of
college hats known for their unbelievable fit and circular logo
design.  For some unknown reason, they stopped making these hats with
this specific soft cottony material and replaced it with harder
synthetic material that proved impossible to break in (even the
netting inside the hats is now made out of solid, sharp platic straws
when once it was made out of a much softer cotton/straw material). 
They also made their famous "bar" hats out of this same soft material.
 A distinguishing feature of all of these hats was "The Game" logo
glued onto the back left corner of the hat to the left of the plastic
adjustable strap.  It was a small square of white fabric smaller than
a postage stamp and they always fell off after a few weeks of wearing
it.

The beauty of these hats was that after a week or so of wearing them,
they formed to your head perfectly and they had every random college
team you could think of.  They also made them in colors, not just
white.  They had black Iowa Hawkeyes hat, red Iowa State Cyclones
hats, blue Kentucky Wildcats hats, green Hawaii Rainbows hats, etc. 
Now, I still see these circle and bar hats around today but like I
said, they are now made with a super-hard synthetic material that just
doesn't break in worth a damn.  In fact, here is a picture of one of
the circle hats that they are producing today:

http://www.collegegear.com/sf/stores/product_images/81961.jpg

Here's another example:

http://www.gatorshop.com/img/productImages/04-197.jpg

And an example of the colored bar hats:

http://www.navygear.com/images/USMC%20bar%20hat.jpg

I'm not sure why they switched materials since this was the difference
between them making an amazing hat and a hat that I'd never buy as
long as I live ... but my guess is that it was much cheaper that way
so they changed their winning formula in for a crap one.  To this day,
I still hunt flea markets, fairs and old sporting goods stores for
possible backproduct that has been forgotten about in the back room
for 10+ years.

I have looked everywhere for some contact information for this
company, The Game, but I haven't been able to find anything online. 
It seems they don't exist on the Internet but I know they are still
making hats because they are everywhere.

What I want to know is this:  What was the EXACT TYPE of cottony
material that was used to make these circle/bar collegiate hats made
by "The Game" in the early to mid-90's?  I need to know the exact
mixture of fibers that they used in production so that it can be
recreated.  Now, I truly need to get this
exact material type or else my question will not sufficiently be
answered.  I'm guessing that only a former or current employee of the
The Game with access to those type of past records would know this
information.

It is my serious ambition to start my own hat company
basing it on the old circle game hats, using my own original designs
of course but making the hats from this exact same soft, form-fitting,
lightweight cottony material that they used to use.  Without this
material, I have nothing worth producing.

I will also say that I haven't seen this material used in any other
hat in my entire life and as you can tell, I'm a hat enthusiast.

Here's a great hint that might help with my inquiry:  I used to buy
all of my hats from a store called "Pennant Fever" that was in the
Natick Mall in Natick, Massachusetts.  They had a whole wall of these
hats for years and then one day, they were all gone.

I know this sounds a bit strage and I appreciate that fact as I'm
rereading what I've just written.  However, I'm just a guy who's
pissed that they just don't make things like they used to ... and I'm
only 25!  I just really want to bring it back and show people what
real college hats are.

I look very forward to your reply, thanks for your time.
Nik Outchcunis

Greetings outchy,

I was able to track down the company's website:

http://www.2thegame.com/

I talked to an employee that worked there around the time you are
interested in.  She told me that there were different companies that
made the hats and that it has changed over time.  She talked to me for
a while about the different changes in the company and materials used.
 She seemed certain that the bar hats made at that time used a 65%/35%
Poly Cotton blend.

Now, the exact hats that you purchased may have been made from
different materials as, like I said the company changed hands and
different hat manufacturers were used at different times.  The hat you
purchased may have been bought by the distributor back in the 80's and
might have been sitting on the shelf for six years before you bought
it.

The employee told me that you should be able to get the exact material
blend by looking on a tag that should be attached inside the hat.  She
says that it is law that such tags be on the hat.  She did also note
that back in the mid 90's she thought some hats may have not had tags
like this in them.

I hope you have found my answer satisfactory.  If you require further
clarification, please let me know.

Thank you for the interesting research opportunity!

Sincerely,

Thinkout

---

Clarification of Answer by thinkout-ga on 23 Aug 2005 08:56 PDT

Greetings again outchy,

I apologise that I neglected to include my search strategy.  Below you
will find the Google search phrase that I used to locate the company:

"the game" headwear company

Thank you once again.

-Thinkout

---

Request for Answer Clarification by outchy-ga on 23 Aug 2005 13:31 PDT

That is great work, thanks for getting a hold of them.  By any chance,
did they mention names of any of the different hat manufacturers that
they used back then?  Perhaps I could get in touch with them as well.

---

Clarification of Answer by thinkout-ga on 23 Aug 2005 14:14 PDT

Good afternoon Outchy,

The person that I talked to was very helpful and informative, but she
didn't mention any of the hat manufacturers from that time period.  I
seem to remember her saying that some of them might have been
overseas.  She also said at one point that the shape of the hats (I
believe she was referring to they way they fit) had probably changed
as well because of different manufacturers.

I was focused mainly on the type of material used back then and what
the blend was.  I would encourage you to give them a call.  You can
find complete contact information on their site.  When I called them I
told them I was doing research, for a fan or collector of their hats
and that he particularly liked the material used in the early to mid
90?s.

I hope this information is useful; I want to exceed your expectations
in answering your question.  Please ask for clarification if anything
else comes to mind.

Thanks again,

Thinkout

I was just searching for "The Game" hats and stumbled upon this
inquiry. Sorry, I don't have an answer to the question, but I would
like to say that I am also a hat enthusiast. However, I don't have any
ambitions to start a company, I am just looking for another hat with
similar head-forming capabilities as the old "The Game" hats. I am an
owner of an orange Florida Gators Circular logo "The Game" hat; I am
assuming that this has the material you are looking for, because it
fits to my head perfectly, and I wore the hat for roughly six years
straight (until there was basically no more material that could be
stitch-repaired, and then I had to retire the hat). The most recent
hat that I have been wearing is not a "The Game" hat. It was made by a
company by the name of "Sports Specialties", and it is a New York
Yankees hat. Out of all of the hats that I have ever purchased, this
hat made by "Sports Specialties" and the orange Florida Gators "The
Game" hat are the only two hats that have perfectly fit to my head. I
am assuming that they were made with the same material. Right now I am
searching for a new hat, because my latest hat (Yankees) will soon
have to be retired as well. I would like to add one last comment
(which is entirely my own opinion). I have purchased a few of the "The
Franchise" hats made by "Twins Enterprise", but these hats do not fit
as well as they say they do, and they take a lot of work to break in.
If anyone has suggestions for a good hat please post a comment.

I was also looking for The game hats because i have a FSU hat i have
had since 92 and it is worn out. The tag says it is made out of 65%
polyester and 35% cotton. It also has the address of the company which
is 2100 Jameson Road  Midland Georiga 31820. I have no idea if this
will help your search. If you ever need anyone to help you recreate
these hats let me know. I would love to see them come back they were
the best.   _JB

im sorry it was 7100 Jamesson Road Midland GA, 31820

let me know when you start your hat company.  i would like to put an
order in for a half dozen michigan state spartan fitted "the game"
hats.