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What your proposing isnt logical however, otherwise people would use the minimum caster level for every magic item they could concieveably make. Some items demand the caster level be several times the plus offered by the item and that CANNOT be lowered than this listed minimum of 3 times the plus offered by the item (look at Bracers Of Armor, Cloaks Of Resistance, and any Magic Weapon and Armor)
You cannot have wondrous items 'exploit' a loophole that seems evident in the text, because look through the whole book, and any 3.5 supplement, you WILL NOT find any magic items who have caster levels lower than 3rd, especially in the Wondrous Items sections but you WILL among low level potions and scrolls. The whole idea of lowering the caster level is for more powerful items, that let you reduce the caster level to the minimum for the spells you require to enchant the item, so its for saving a little money.
But what your proposing is horrendous for the world of Pathfinder, where everyone will have constantly active (AND CHEAP) 1st level spells on items, Shield, Entropic Shield, Protection From Evil, Sanctuary, Disguise Self and many many more. You'd end up with every player character and NPC running around in (broken) cheap and powerful magic items. The whole idea behind the minimum caster level of 3rd is that it makes having these items plausible, theyre worth the money but bad guys all over the game world wont be able to afford them either. Whats good for the goose is also good for the gander after all.
No items other than expendable items tend to have caster levels of 1 or 2 (such as potions, low level scrolls, etc). Its common sense/logic to prevent this from spilling over. What may seem restrictive for you is restrictive for the bad guys too...if a DM was to houserule that a character can make magic items with a caster level of 1, the every bad guy should be tooling up with them and thats a self defeating strategy since AC would outstrip peoples...
Princess,
I must respectfully disagree.
In a fantasy world where every first-level wizard has the ability to cast Mending at will all day, every day (or some other cantrip), it's only logical that another wizard who has invested lots of time (ranks in spellcraft), effort (the craft wondrous items feat) and expensive special materials should be able to cast a first level spell all day long as well via a magical item.
Of course, my opinion isn't necessary when the Pathfinder rules are clear on this subject.
A Hat of Disguise is perfect example of what you say doesn't exist in Pathfinder or DnD 3.5. It is a CL1 magic item, crafted with a 1st level spell, that costs 1800 gp to buy (or 900 to make).
Here's a link for reference . . .
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/magicItems/wondrousItems.html#hat-of-dis guise