20 Things You Never Knew About T-shirts

20 Things You Never Knew About.. T-SHIRTS 1. Union suits, better known as "long underwear," popular in the early 19th century evolved into what we now know as the "T-shirt." This was achieved simply by separating the top & bottom halves. 2. During WWI European troops wore comfortable, lightweight T-shirts during the hot summer months. American troops wore heavy wool uniforms. Needless to say, once WWII rolled around, T-shirts became standard issue for the Navy & Army. 3. 199 Named for the shape of its outline, the word "T-shirt," first appeared in the Merriam-Webster 4. dietionary in the 20's. During the Great Depression, ranch & farm workers often defaulted to the T-shirt when conditions called for more comfortable attire, since it was considered inappropriate to show the torso. Follow The Yellow 5. Brick Road In 1939 the first promotional T-shirt was printed for "The Wizard of Oz." 6. John Wayne, Marlon Brando & James Dean popularized the T-shirt in movies during the 1950's. Up until then T-shirts were still considered an undergarment. 7. In 1959, plastisol, a more durable & stretchable ink, was invented. This allowed much more variety in designs & a realization that being in the T-shirt business could prove to be a money-making venture. -88 NY 8. 9. During the 60o's T-shirts hit mainstream Out of the 70's emerged a handful of iconic T-shirts that have become a permanent fixture in pop culture. The I Heart NY, Smiley Face & Rolling fashion due largely to Rock & Roll bands & professional athletic teams selling custom screen printed T-shirts. Stones shirts to be exact. 10. Today, T-shirts play a crucial role in commercial messaging as well as being a tool for self expression. I'M KIND OF A BIG DEAL 11. In October 2007, during a six-hour session, Nick Umbs of Burke, Virginia broke the U.S. record for most T-shirts worn at once. He wore 183 T-shirts ranging in size from small to 10XL. 12. 91% of Americans claim to own a favorite T-shirt. 34% say white is their favorite color. 62% claim to own more than 10 T-shirts. That equals 1.5 billion T-shirts. Line them up, & they would circle the globe 34 times! 13. T-shirts are usually made of cotton or polyester fibers. Knit them together and you get something called a jersey stitch. This will result in a soft, comfortable & light-weight texture. 14. While Egyptians are known for their cotton, it was first cultivated by the Aztecs in present-day Mexico over 8,000 years ago. 15. AAA *** China India U.S.A. leads all countries in comes in second place, wins the bronze medal, cotton production, producing a whopping 32 million bales per year. coming in third place, producing 12.4 million bales per year. producing 23.5 million bales per year. 16. 17. It takes 6 miles of yarn to make one T-shirt. But it takes only 1 acre of a cotton field to yield 1,200 T-shirts. There are 35,000 cotton farms in the U.S. creating well over 400,000 jobs. That's enough people to fill 4 stadiums. 18. 19. 2 billion ahie T-shirts made from recycled cotton prevent over five billion tons of textile waste from entering landfills each year. were sold in 2010 in comparison to only 1 billion in 2005 & 500 million in 1985. 20. Several million T-Shirts are donated to the salvation army each year. They are auctioned off by the pound and exported to disadvantaged third world countries. ClassB CUSTOM T-SHIRTS Sources for the above information can be found at www.ClassB.com/20Things 20 Things You Never Knew About.. T-SHIRTS 1. Union suits, better known as "long underwear," popular in the early 19th century evolved into what we now know as the "T-shirt." This was achieved simply by separating the top & bottom halves. 2. During WWI European troops wore comfortable, lightweight T-shirts during the hot summer months. American troops wore heavy wool uniforms. Needless to say, once WWII rolled around, T-shirts became standard issue for the Navy & Army. 3. 199 Named for the shape of its outline, the word "T-shirt," first appeared in the Merriam-Webster 4. dietionary in the 20's. During the Great Depression, ranch & farm workers often defaulted to the T-shirt when conditions called for more comfortable attire, since it was considered inappropriate to show the torso. Follow The Yellow 5. Brick Road In 1939 the first promotional T-shirt was printed for "The Wizard of Oz." 6. John Wayne, Marlon Brando & James Dean popularized the T-shirt in movies during the 1950's. Up until then T-shirts were still considered an undergarment. 7. In 1959, plastisol, a more durable & stretchable ink, was invented. This allowed much more variety in designs & a realization that being in the T-shirt business could prove to be a money-making venture. -88 NY 8. 9. During the 60o's T-shirts hit mainstream Out of the 70's emerged a handful of iconic T-shirts that have become a permanent fixture in pop culture. The I Heart NY, Smiley Face & Rolling fashion due largely to Rock & Roll bands & professional athletic teams selling custom screen printed T-shirts. Stones shirts to be exact. 10. Today, T-shirts play a crucial role in commercial messaging as well as being a tool for self expression. I'M KIND OF A BIG DEAL 11. In October 2007, during a six-hour session, Nick Umbs of Burke, Virginia broke the U.S. record for most T-shirts worn at once. He wore 183 T-shirts ranging in size from small to 10XL. 12. 91% of Americans claim to own a favorite T-shirt. 34% say white is their favorite color. 62% claim to own more than 10 T-shirts. That equals 1.5 billion T-shirts. Line them up, & they would circle the globe 34 times! 13. T-shirts are usually made of cotton or polyester fibers. Knit them together and you get something called a jersey stitch. This will result in a soft, comfortable & light-weight texture. 14. While Egyptians are known for their cotton, it was first cultivated by the Aztecs in present-day Mexico over 8,000 years ago. 15. AAA *** China India U.S.A. leads all countries in comes in second place, wins the bronze medal, cotton production, producing a whopping 32 million bales per year. coming in third place, producing 12.4 million bales per year. producing 23.5 million bales per year. 16. 17. It takes 6 miles of yarn to make one T-shirt. But it takes only 1 acre of a cotton field to yield 1,200 T-shirts. There are 35,000 cotton farms in the U.S. creating well over 400,000 jobs. That's enough people to fill 4 stadiums. 18. 19. 2 billion ahie T-shirts made from recycled cotton prevent over five billion tons of textile waste from entering landfills each year. were sold in 2010 in comparison to only 1 billion in 2005 & 500 million in 1985. 20. Several million T-Shirts are donated to the salvation army each year. They are auctioned off by the pound and exported to disadvantaged third world countries. ClassB CUSTOM T-SHIRTS Sources for the above information can be found at www.ClassB.com/20Things