Beanie (seamed cap)
A beanie is the name for two distinct types of cap or hat. The name "beanie" probably comes from the early-20th century slang term "bean," meaning "head".
Woven variety
A larger variant of the skullcap such as the Jewish kippah or yarmulke, the beanie historically was blue-collar laborer's working hat, worn by welders, mechanics and other tradesmen who needed to keep their hair back but for whom a brim would be an unnecessary obstruction. Beanies do sometimes have a very small brim, less than an inch deep, around the brow front. The baseball cap evolved from this kind of beanie, with the addition of a brim to block the sun.
Beanies were popular among schoolchildren in the early to mid-20th century. Some hat historians believe schoolchildren began wearing beanies in imitation of their working-class fathers. It is probably due to this infantile connotation that some university traditions require each freshman to wear one as a rite of passage. Ray Nelson made a whimsical addition to these caps with a plastic propeller attached to the crown. The propeller beanie increased in popular use through comics, and eventually made its way onto the character of Beany Boy of "Beany and Cecil."
Today, computer geeks and other technically proficient people are sometimes pejoratively referred to as propeller heads thanks to the one-time popularity of the propeller beanie. Professional Speaker Rich DiGirolamo wears his beanie everywhere to shift the thinking of his audiences and remind them to poke fun at and embrace organizational change.
The construction of beanies varies. They are usually structured from triangular sections of twill, leather or felt, joined by a button at the crown and seamed together around the sides. Less often, like a yarmulke, the cap is simply a flat circle of cloth with a section cut out to the center and then sewn into a three-dimensional shape. The "crown" that Jughead Jones wears in Archie Comics is a form of beanie, as is the cap often worn by Spanky of Our Gang (The Little Rascals). These were also known as whoopee caps and dinks.
Goober Pyle a fictional character from the television show The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry RFD wears a dark brown beanie with crown-like spikes distinguishing him from his cousin Gomer Pyle.
A "technical beanie" is thin and seamless for comfortable use with a helmet, thus is popular among cyclists.
Knit variety
The second is a close-fitting knit or crocheted cap which is usually made of wool, synthetic material, or fleece. They can be worn by either sex, but historically have been more commonly worn by men. These hats protect the head and ears from cold and wind chill, or are worn as a fashion item, often heavily branded with the name of the designer, sporting team insignia or colours, or with other logos or slogans.
In Canada, where such hats are almost ubiquitous, they are called a tuque (or a toque: there is debate on the proper spelling). The term beanie is used mainly in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. Some English-speakers, especially military, refer to beanies as watch caps. In the United States, this kind of headgear is variously known as a beanie, knit hat, knit cap, sock cap, stocking cap, toboggan, boggan, skull cap, skully, ski capor, or ski cap depending on the region. It is worn low on the head, covering the forehead, and can be pulled down over the ears as well, though normal usage keeps a turned-up cuff. There are two main varieties of beanies, those that hug the top of the head, and those that leave the top couple of inches of the hat unstretched on top of the head. In India it is usually called a monkey cap.
They are also called woolen or wooly hats, or bobble hats if they are topped with a pompon, which is common. A variation of this type of hat, which is pulled down and worn over the face, with appropriate holes for the eyes and mouth is called a balaclava (or a ski mask in the U.S.). A visor beanie is a relatively new variety which foregoes the cuff for a cardboard-spined brim.