BLE Feature

Winter 2002
Volume 109 - No. 4

Hats off to Stormy

One hundred years ago, a BLE member invented a legend after he got angry when his hat blew off in the wind

Brother Kromer, in the cab, kept working as a locomotive engineer even after his business took off.

George "Stormy" Kromer invented a hat - a really famous hat - nearly 100 years ago. His hat would prove to be a hit around the world, and Kromer, a locomotive engineer and member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, would be forever remembered for his innovation.

But Kromer was more than just a man who invented a hat. On top of being a locomotive engineer, he was an avid baseball fan, player, team owner and manager. He was an entrepreneur and an innovator. In short, he was always trying to do something different and better than the next guy.

However, it is the hat that made him famous. The Kromer is still worn around the world today. The cloth cap is known for its warmth and its ability to stay on in extremely windy conditions - the very reason for its creation.

Stormy Kromer was born on August 25, 1876 in the sleepy town of Kaukauna, Wisc., where his parents owned and operated a hotel. In his early years, Kromer could often be found throwing and catching a baseball with a makeshift glove, which he fashioned out of an old ladies boot and some black string - showing an inventiveness that would be further evident later in his life. He attended elementary school and went work in a paper mill, but at the age of 17, he left that life and became a semi-professional baseball player in Sterling, Ill.

Stormy Kromer would never have become a locomotive engineer (and thus, never invented the famous cap) if he had not fallen in love with his future wife, Ida Homan. He loved playing baseball and probably would have continued the vagabond life of a semi-professional baseball player had Ida's father not insisted that he get a job.

So, at the age of 21 in 1897, Kromer joined the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad as a fireman. He was promoted to locomotive engineer in 1902 and joined the BLE on January 17, 1904.

He continued his passionate love of baseball, however, after he married Ida and began working for the railroad. Over the years, he would play for approximately 30 semi-pro teams in Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois.

There are two versions of the story regarding the idea behind the famous hat. In one version, Stormy's hat blew off for the umpteenth time when a stiff wind blew through the cab of his locomotive, and he decided to invent a hat that would stay on. In the other version, it was his head brakeman's hat that blew off. Either way, Stormy was inspired to create a hat that would withstand the winds of the locomotive - and the test of time.

So in the autumn of 1905, Stormy modified one of the hats from his baseball career with the help of his wife, an excellent seamstress. The all cloth cap with the soft canvas visor was a departure from the traditional fedora-type hats of the day and resembled a baseball cap with a bubble on top. Best of all, it stayed on in the wind.

Other workers on the Chicago & Northwestern began to notice Stormy's distinctive cap and wanted ones for themselves. When Ida could no longer handle the workload, they hired some employees and their business was born.

Today, Stormy Kromer caps (above) are made from 13 component parts, just like the originals from 1918 (above). The caps were so popular that their inventor, BLE member Stormy Kromer (left), founded a cap manufacturing company. His company also made many other caps, such as the classic striped engineer's cap worn by Brother Kromer in this undated photo.

The business grew and in 1919, Kromer moved to a large manufacturing facility in Milwaukee, followed by subsequent moves to increasingly larger facilities in 1930 and 1945.

It would be modified over the years and a wool version that Stormy perfected is still made today.

It seems, however, that Stormy would always return to baseball and he made his mark as an owner-manager. In baseball, as in cap-making, Stormy was an innovator. He preached such things as good balance for his players long before this training method was popularized. He also was an advocate of the "take-two" strategy of hitting - meaning for batters to take two called strikes before they swing the bat. He believed this made them better, hungrier hitters.

He did not always hit home runs in the baseball arena, neither literally nor figuratively. He once hit 18 foul-balls before striking out with the bases loaded. In 1925, his Blytheville, Ark., team lost 35 consecutive games. In spite of these struggles, the hat he invented was certainly a homer.

Through it all, Stormy fiercely believed in "new" ideas, according to a 1967 interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He told the newspaper that most of his new ideas - including that of his famous cap - came during his runs between Kaukauna and Antigo, Wisc., while working as a locomotive engineer.

The hats would continue to be made even after his death on November 20, 1970.

The rights to manufacture the hat were recently sold, saving the classic cap from extinction. More information is available on the Internet at: <www.stormykromer.com>.

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