By
A History of the T-shirt
Know the history of the tee? How did the
t-shirt get its start in the beginning of the twentieth century? How did the
t-shirt become an American favorite? We're now into the twenty-first century,
and the t-shirt remains as popular as ever.
T-shirts of yesteryear were nothing like the
t-shirts you know today. It was common knowledge that the first t-shirts, as you
will learn, were clearly considered something to be worn underneath clothing.
Certainly, the t-shirts of old were not part of a stand-alone industry, nor were
they a mode of advertising.
Believe it or not, before the 20th century,
there was no consensus that underwear should be included as an essential part of
one's wardrobe. Most late 19th century folks wore something like an extended
shirt called the "Spiral Bustle." Then in 1901 the predecessor to Hanes
introduced for sale through catalog men's underwear, a two-piece set.
The birth of the t-shirt appears to be
accredited to the navy (and lots of sailors). No one seems to know for certain
when the first t-shirt was made. As early as 1913 the U.S. Navy adopted a
revolutionary new garment, a short-sleeved, crew-necked, white cotton
undershirt. This garment was to be worn underneath a jumper. And what was the
purpose of this undershirt? One must avoid scandalous sights, otherwise known as
sailors' chest hairs. The standard issue shirt had somewhat of the silhouette of
a "T", thus the name "t-shirt" was born.
It is also notable that during WWI while
European soldiers were wearing cooler, comfy, lightweight, cotton undershirts in
the humid, hot summer days, that American troops took notice. These duds were
nothing like the American wool uniforms soldiers wore.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary listed "T-Shirt"
as an official word in the American English language by the 1920's. Around the
late 1930's that companies including Fruit of the Loom, Hanes and Sears &
Roebuck began the marketing of the t-shirt.
As of W.W. II, the Army and 12 million Navy
sailors had t-seasy rider,hirts as standard issue underwear. "Skivvies", these
new, inexpensive undergarments became known as. America saw, began to get
comfortable with, and reveled secretly, daily news images of their wartime sons,
wearing t-shirts (dressed barely, but with pants of course). Underwear was being
worn as outerwear. Rules were flaunted about undergarments. Taboos were violated
with this show of male sexuality.
Still, by and large, the t-shirt was an
undergarment meant not to be seen. In 1934, however, Clark Gable shocked
everyone, as he stripped off his dress shirt in the movie "It Happened One
Night," to reveal no t-shirt at all. Women swooned, and men as well. Still, the
t-shirt kept itself under wraps, to be worn primarily underneath a work or
proper dress shirt.
The idea continued to quickly catch on, and due
to simple design, a few years later, with the leave of many sailors during the
war, the popular civilian "union suit" was reduced to a "singlet" or "jersey."
In 1938, Sears introduced a t-shirt they called a "gob" shirt (named after
sailors). A "gob" shirt cost 24 cents. The t-Shirt would become an empty canvas,
which was allowing men to present themselves in an erotic sense and show their
gender.
The t-shirt was becoming appropriate to wear as
an undergarment or as an outer one. The Marines standard issue white t-shirt was
replaced with sage green for camouflage purposes. In 1944, the Army surveyed
enlisted men as to preference of sleeves or sleeveless. Most preferred sleeves,
due to better appearance, absorption under arms, among other reasons.
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size="2">The t-shirt would never be the same. Along with
worldwide upheaval, WWII brought along as well the first printed t-shirts. On
display at The Smithsonian Institute is the oldest printed shirt on record. This
t-shirt is from Governor of New York Thomas E. Dewey's 1948 presidential
campaign and sports "Dew-It with Dewey".
After the end of WWII, the t-shirt became the
garment able to clearly display and advertise it all: cultural affiliation,
class, and sexual orientation. 180 million t-shirts were sold in 1951. The rise
of the t-Shirt can be traced back to the movies, and of course those big-screen
movie stars: Marlon Brando, John Wayne, James Dean, and a young Elvis Presley
who did their part to make the t-shirt, outerwear appropriate, or sexy to say
the least.
1951's "A Streetcar Named Desire" featured
Marlon Brando's portrayal of Stanley Kowalski, lovelorn, brutish, and primitive,
riveting viewers as his buff pectorals and abs revealed themselves as unveiled
by a stretched, paper-thin t-shirt. Some felt the picture created was one of a
dangerous, incoherent kind of manhood, a sexualized brutality.
1955's "Rebel Without a Cause" showed James
Dean wearing a t-shirt without another shirt overtop. He made the t-shirt cool,
a contemporary symbol of rebellious youth. Still, t-shirts were meant primarily
for men.
In 1959, Plastisol, a stretchable ink was
invented, starting a revolution in t-shirt design. After that came the iron-on
transfer, and finally litho transfer. Thus was the birth of the t-shirt
industry. Now marketing geniuses, like Walt Disney, "flocked" letters and simple
designs onto t-shirts to be sold as souvenirs to both men and women.
Still the advertising evolution of the t-shirt
would be slow. The military was first to stencil company and rank on their
t-shirts. Also, Ivy League Universities made clear advertisement of fraternities
on their tees. Budweiser was the first to do actual "corporate-advertising" in
the late 1060's, when they sported a Bud can on their company tees.
During the '60s, the hippies abandoned
traditional dress for tie-dye. Of course, the t-shirt became one of the cheapest
and easiest garments to purchase and dye. Folks began tie-dying and
screen-printing basic cotton tees, helping it to even bigger commercial success.
In 1969, t-shirt wearing hippies took on the Establishment in Easy Rider. Also,
advances in printing and dying allowed more variety and the introduction of
muscle shirts, scoop necks, v-necks and tanks into modern fashion.
Throughout the late 60's and 70's, the American
Tee was in full bloom. Rock and Roll bands began to realize that they could make
significant amounts of money selling their t-shirts. Professional Sports caught
on and soon the officially licensed t-shirt became hot merchandise. 1977's "The
Deep", helped to form the sexual revolution of the 1970's by means of Jacqueline
Bisset's wet tee.
What about the t-shirt in the '80's and '90's?
Remember Don Johnson's designer-tee and Armani suit combo ala Miami Vice? And
what about the most memorable recent tee-film from 1996 "Mission: Impossible",
just a bit of Tom Cruise, clad in tee, doing some serious hanging from a wire.
The 80's and 90's both saw amazing production of t-shirts with improved
mechanics of printing them in increased volume for increased availability. The
American t-shirt has now become known as a commodity item. More than one billion
t-shirts were sold in 1995.
And now, with the advent of the internet, the
t-shirt continues to become even bigger. Tee art symbolizes the cultural and
social climates of our generation. Tees tell the story perfectly, and now more
than ever, the t-shirt is becoming an even more individualistic mode of personal
expression.