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How T-shirts Became So Popular In America
In my life, for many years, nothing could be so benign and innocent as a -shirt. All that has changed.
In my life, for many years, nothing could be so benign and innocent as a -shirt. All that has changed.
99% of people in the U.S. claim to have a favorite tee.
Doesn’t seem like such a big thing. Many of us have a favorite pair of shoes or socks.
T-shirts are a different breed of clothing which you will soon discover.
The first promotional t-shirt was for the movie, Wizard Of Oz. Both the movie and the tees (and promotional posters) all fed into each other, making it the biggest movie of its time. Many movies since have associated with licensing partners to produce t-shirts, games, and so many other items. But it all started with t-shirts.
T-Shirts account for important American economics. Cotton is still a huge industry in this country, particularly in the southern states. It takes six miles of yarn to make one T-shirt. An acre of cotton is enough to produce 1200 tees.
Ever wonder if the T-Shirt business is a viable one? How about this for a statistic? About two billion tees are sold annually worldwide.
Even the Salvation Army has gotten into the act and sells them to third world countries by the pound.
The first printed t-shirt was political; and said “Dew-It With Dewey”. It hangs in the Smithsonian.
The film industry was just getting started. When they got wind of what the proper tee could do, they form fitted Brando in both his t-shirt and jeans for “A Streetcar Named Desire”.
Webster’s did not even define t-shirt as a word until the 1920’s.
In 1977 more than 8 million dollars worth of Farrah Fawcett T-Shirts were sold when she appeared on Charlie’s Angels.
The wet t-shirt craze started after Jacqueline Bisset’s appearance in the film “The Deep” in which she is swimming underwater, then surfacing, wearing a white T-Shirt and topless bikini.
The most popular form of designer tees today are silk-screened. But digital reproductions are becoming very popular and blend into the fabric and, to me, have more of a “real” look than a decal ironed-on look, but of course, it is a matter of taste. I decided to manufacture both, as different folks like different looks.
Americans love our tee shirts. A survey done several years ago show that more than 62% of the U.S (all ages) own at least 10 tees and 18-24 demographic group owned over 10 T-shirts and 19% owned over 30 tees. So it doesn’t appear they are going out of style anytime soon.