| Until
a few decades ago,
the shirt off your
back was nothing
like it is today.
Not only did they
not resemble today's
T-shirts, T-shirts
of yesteryear were
clearly considered
something to be
worn underneath
clothing, the second
generation of union
suits. But, most
importantly, T-shirts
hadn't become a
vehicle for advertising,
nor were they a
stand-alone industry.
According to
The T-Shirt Book
by noted screenprinting
industry expert
Scott Fresener,
the beginning
of the T-shirt
is credited to
the navy.
No one, says
Fresener, really
knows when the
first T-shirt
was produced.
But the U.S. Navy
adopted a crew-necked,
short-sleeved,
white cotton undershirt
as issue to be
worn under a jumper
as early as 1913.
The purpose: to
cover sailors'
chest hairs. It
wasn't until the
late 1930s that
companies including
Hanes, Sears &
Roebuck, and Fruit
of the Loom earnestly
started to market
the T-shirt.
This was an undergarment
meant not to be
seen. Fresener's
all-encompassing
study of the T-shirt
claims it was
Clark Gable who
set the T-shirt
(and most certainly,
his leading lady)
back several paces
in 1934 when he
stripped off his
dress shirt in
the movie "It
Happened One Night,"
to reveal no T-shirt
at all. Women
swooned at the
bare-chested Gable.
Men were quick
to follow suit.
Nonetheless, T-shirts
remained an item
to be worn underneath
a proper dress
shirt, or under
a work shirt,
for that matter.
Sailors, Fresener
reports, got the
credit again in
1938 when Sears
introduced a T-shirt
called a "gob"
shirt (after sailors)
costing 24 cents
apiece. For the
first time, the
T-shirt was pronounced
appropriate to
wear as an undergarment
or as an outer
one. The marines
followed suit
with a white issue
that soon was
re-issued on sage
green for camouflage
purposes. And
in 1944, the army
conducted its
own survey on
T-shirts to which
enlisted men reported
they preferred
sleeves over sleeveless
because of absorption
under the arms
and a better appearance,
among other things.
And while Clark
Gable may have
set the T-shirt
back, other movie
stars such as
Marlon Brando
(A Streetcar Named
Desire), James
Dean (Rebel Without
a Cause) and a
young Elvis Presley
made the T-shirt-as-outerwear
sexy.
WWII brought
about international
upheaval and the
first printed
T-shirts. The
Smithsonian Institute
displays the oldest
printed shirt
on record, emblazoned
with the phrase
"Dew-It with Dewey"
from New York
Governor Thomas
E. Dewey's 1948
presidential campaign.
T-shirts were
changed forever.
Nonetheless,
T-shirts were
still meant for
men. That is,
until marketing
gurus including
Walt Disney began
to "flock" letters
and simple (often
peelable) designs
onto T-shirts
to be sold as
souvenirs. Then
came the '60s,
when hippies abandoned
traditional dress
for tie-dye. T-shirts
became one of
the easiest, and
cheapest, forms
of clothing to
buy and dye.
Plastisol, a
stretchable ink
invented in 1959,
was the first
revolution in
T-shirt design.
Then came the
iron-on transfer.
And finally the
litho transfer.
An industry was
born.
And it has grown
up. More than
one billion T-shirts
were sold in 1995.
Editor's note:
This quick history
lesson on the
T-shirt was compiled
with the help
of The T-Shirt
Book, by Scott
Fresener, Gibbs
Smith, publisher
(c) 1995.
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