T-SHIRTS! Celebrating and understanding the cotton canvas
Travis Nicholson
Issue date: 3/6/07 Section: Focus
Today's T-shirt comes from a much more recent time frame, however. Like many inventions, the first prototypical T-shirts were created out of necessity during wartime. Requiring a "light undergarment" for the hot summer months, European troops in the first and second World Wars donned garments resembling the T-shirt we know today. But it was not until almost two decades later when it took hold in popular style, becoming prized fashion treasures on the campus of the University of Southern California (USC) in 1932.
Requiring a cheap, breathable garment to absorb player's sweat and prevent chafing from shoulder pads, football coaches for the USC Trojans asked Jockey International Inc. to develop such a garment. While a great success on the football field and in the locker room, the shirts soon became prized fashion finds and status symbols for those lucky enough to wear the rugged rags around campus. In fact, the demand for these shirts became so high that school officials began emblazoning these shirts with, "Property of The University of Southern California" to prevent theft and unwarranted use of these reclusive shirts.
Gaining slowly in popularity and ubiquity in the following years, it was not until the '50s when the T-shirt once again became hip. Iconic images of Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire and James Dean in A Rebel Without a Cause demonstrated that, once again, wearing a T-shirt could be making a statement in itself.
Of course, mainstream adult culture picked up on the trend as well. In 1948 and 1952, political supporters of New York State Governor Thomas E. Dewey and American President Dwight D. Eisenhower wore shirts declaring that they would, "Dew It for Dewey" and, "I Like Ike" respectively.
Around that same time, Walt Disney commissioned Mickey, Minnie and his other beloved animated characters to appear on merchandise to be sold to the public. (Of course, Ralph Steadman also put Mickey Mouse on a T-shirt yet again decades later, but for an entirely different purpose).
Requiring a cheap, breathable garment to absorb player's sweat and prevent chafing from shoulder pads, football coaches for the USC Trojans asked Jockey International Inc. to develop such a garment. While a great success on the football field and in the locker room, the shirts soon became prized fashion finds and status symbols for those lucky enough to wear the rugged rags around campus. In fact, the demand for these shirts became so high that school officials began emblazoning these shirts with, "Property of The University of Southern California" to prevent theft and unwarranted use of these reclusive shirts.
Gaining slowly in popularity and ubiquity in the following years, it was not until the '50s when the T-shirt once again became hip. Iconic images of Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire and James Dean in A Rebel Without a Cause demonstrated that, once again, wearing a T-shirt could be making a statement in itself.
Of course, mainstream adult culture picked up on the trend as well. In 1948 and 1952, political supporters of New York State Governor Thomas E. Dewey and American President Dwight D. Eisenhower wore shirts declaring that they would, "Dew It for Dewey" and, "I Like Ike" respectively.
Around that same time, Walt Disney commissioned Mickey, Minnie and his other beloved animated characters to appear on merchandise to be sold to the public. (Of course, Ralph Steadman also put Mickey Mouse on a T-shirt yet again decades later, but for an entirely different purpose).
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