# T-shirts origins **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 3, 2002, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-origins/112164 "2002-06-03T15:30:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![scdreaming](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@scdreaming](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scdreaming)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-origins/112164/1 "2002-06-03T15:30:09Z")
Where did the term T-shirt come from and what does the “T” stand for??? ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-origins/112164/2 "2002-06-03T15:34:35Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![WIGGUM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WIGGUM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WIGGUM)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-origins/112164/3 "2002-06-03T16:31:44Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-origins/112164/4 "2002-06-03T16:34:56Z")
The wifebeater, for example, is now sold on the underwear rack as an A-shirt. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-origins/112164/5 "2002-06-03T20:43:23Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-origins/112164/6 "2002-06-03T21:01:52Z")
Hmph … I smell something fishy. ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-origins/112164/7 "2002-06-03T23:39:29Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-origins/112164/8 "2002-06-03T23:40:58Z")
I mean, “. . . a time when people didn’t **WEAR** things like that.” Stupid Mondays. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-origins/112164/9 "2002-06-04T17:59:06Z")
Probably because a plain T-short looks _boring._ ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-origins/112164/10 "2002-06-04T20:13:38Z")
- - - 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 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirts-origins/112164/11 "2002-06-05T13:57:33Z")
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.