Figure 1.--The ad here was more for underwear than "T"-shirts, It appeared in 'Life Magazine' May 24, 1948, p. 142. Theonly reference to the boy's striped T-shirt is, "Junior is wearing a Hanes Basque shirt, $1 to $1,15." |
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We notice stripped T-shirts were very popular for playwear. They were done in many didderent colors and wide or narrow stripes. And some boys wore them to school. There were both short- and long-sleeved versions. Retailers refered to them as basque shirts, a name that disappears in the 1950s. Here are striped 'T' shirts offered by Haines in a Life Magazine ad. These striped T-shirts were very popular for boys in the late-1940s and 1950s. They continued to be worn after the 50s, but there were more alternative styles than earlier.
The P.H. Hanes Knitting Company was one of the principal makers of men and boys' union suits. The Hanes Knitting Company was located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, but the Hanes brand was widely advertised all over America and sold in most local shops and department stores. We are unsure when the company was founded, but we note magazine adverts in the 1920s. One of the first is a 1922 ad in Good Housekeeping. We note more ads in the 1930s. The principal underwear companies in America by the late 20th century were Hanes and Fruit of the Loom. Hanes has been given considerable visibility as a result of television ads featuring basketball star Michael Jordan.
Life Magazine is one of the iconic American periodical publications. It was a weekly news magazine founded in Henry Luce (1936). There was an earlier Life, but the only connection between the two magazines is that Luce wanted the name of the magazine. The magazine was primarily a vehicle for photojournalism. There were of course articles, but they were illustrated with photographs. In the days before television, people wanted to see pictures to go with the news they were hearing about over the radio. Life was the first all-photographic American news magazine. It was emensely popular and dominated the market American market for over 40 years. The publication run peaked at 13.5 million copies a week. President Harry S. Truman, Sir Winston Churchill and General Douglas MacArthur serialized their memoirs in Life. Some of the most famous phiotographs of the 20th century appeared in Life, including the Marines raising the flag on Mt. Suibachi and the sailor kissing the girl on VJ Day. Life was published weekly until until (1972). Interest began to decline as Americans could now see the news on tekevisdion. Special appeared intermittent until (1978). The magazine was revived as a monthly (1978-2000). Even after regular publication ended, photo issues on special themes continue to appear.
"T"-shirts and jeans are some of the most commonly worn clothes worn by modern boys. In is interesting to note that neither were commonly worn by American boys until after the Second World War (1945). Until the 1940s boys almost always wore shirts with collars, although collar styles had changed greatly over the years. These clothes did not reach Europe and Engand until the 1960s-70s. T-shirts became popular in America during the 1940s. The inital ones had bright horizontal stripes. There were both short and long sleeved styles. There popularity gradually spread overseas. During the 1970s it became stylish to put logos on T-shirts. At first sport logos were popular. Corporate logo followed as did logos with social or a variety of other messages.
The ad here was more for underwear than "T"-shirts, It appeared in 'Life Magazine' May 24, 1948, p. 142. Theonly reference to the boy's striped T-shirt is, "Junior is wearing a Hanes Basque shirt, $1 to $1,15." There was no information about colors and patterns as well as sizes. Hanes only made the T-shirt, not the short pasnts.
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