T-shirts origins

Factual Questions
1

Where did the term T-shirt come from and what does the “T” stand for???

2

I’d guess that the name comes from the fact that the shirt, when laid down on a flat surface with the arms out resembles a “T”. But then again, I guess any shirt would.

3

I think its origens go back to WWI or II. Up to that point, men wore the traditional tank top “wifebeater” undershirts. They began issuing the T-Shirt to the servicemen during the war, and when they got out of the military the men still wanted them. I believe this is when they went into widespread production.

4

The wifebeater, for example, is now sold on the underwear rack as an A-shirt.

5

It’s from Cajun French. The French word for little is petit. The Cajun slang shortened word is “ti” which is pronouned like the English letter “T”. For example if there is a guy named Bob and he named his son after himself, the son would be called T-Bob (little Bob) instead of Bob Jr.

So, a T-shirt, is a little shirt.

Haj

6

Hmph … I smell something fishy.

7

So if the tee-shirts became popular with soldiers coming back from WWII, when did they start putting pictures and slogans on them? I was born in the early 1970s and can’t remember a time when people didn’t where things like that.

8

I mean, “. . . a time when people didn’t WEAR things like that.”

Stupid Mondays.

9

Probably because a plain T-short looks boring.

10
      • I was told by somebody Pretty Darn Old that he saw T-shirts with stuff printed on them become widespread during the fifties, when companies gave away them away. He thought it was funny today that kids would pay $50 for a shirt with a company logo on it, when back in his day, only poor kids wore free (logo) t-shirts. The companies back then had to give them away, because nobody who could afford to choose would pick them; having an advertisement on you was seen as demeaning. Anyone with money dressed basically like the Beaver family and nobody really ever wore anything with a logo on it, unless it was a work uniform, a school-related item or a motorcycle gang. - DougC
11

I wasn’t alive in the '50s and I prefer not to wear clothing with corporate logos on them. I will sometimes wear something with a sports team’s logo, but only for a team that I personally consider “my” team.