The Hypercolor T-shirt remains a bizarre icon from decades ago. I had one as a student - a T-shirt whose colour was sensitive to heat and would change from dull to neon yellow while playing road hockey. In essence, it acted as a B.O. highlighter.
Clothing that changes colour fell out of vogue. Even glasses that become darker in sunlight no longer seem to be a thing (maybe as contacts have become far better).
But I occasionally wonder where else this miracle 1970s technology has been applied. Any idea?
The same technology first hit it big back in the 70s with mood rings. It’s thermally activated, the shirts change color as your body temperature changes. It’s been used in various other ways including beer cans and baby bottles.
Leuco dye’s most notable recent use was prolly by Coors when they figured that people were too stupid to know when their beer was cold so they provided them with color-coded help.
They are interesting. Maybe there is a use that is more practical than highlighting B.O. Maybe even Snowboarder B.O.? Seriously, why do you like things that change colour? (I can see raking in the Bucks on my “modern” roulette wheel - sorry, it’s red now…)
Why? As a kid I was fascinated with my mood ring, with my glow-in-the-dark watch face and with fluorescent posters. I find them interesting and pleasing; I really like fluorescent colors.
I also now enjoy the fact that, in my art, it can be used to create multi-faceted works: they appear one way and then they change to reveal something else depending on conditions.
When I was little, before hypercolor shirts even, my family had a stack of single-use thermochromic thermometers for taking our temperature. No doubt my dad swiped these from the infirmary at the factory where he worked.
I was looking up thermochromic thermometers and found this article which explains how thermochromic materials work, and it reminded me of the Duracell batteries that had the thermochromic stickers on them. I don’t feel like those ever worked properly.
They’re still around and pretty popular- they’ve just become a LOT better than they used to be. Now they’re called “Transitions” lenses, and they go from clear to dark very quickly and vice-versa, especially in warmer weather. My kids have them, and they seem to be fantastic compared to what they used to be.
If you don’t know/notice that someone has them, you probably won’t know- they’re that good now. My kids’ glasses look completely normal until they’re out in the sun, and then you look and they’re wearing dark sunglasses before you know it.
I had a pair 20 years ago. They were good for a while. The lenses are supposed to be clear inside and dark when it is bright and sunny. Eventually, the glasses thought it was always sunny. Must of been from Philadelphia?
I have one of those Tardis mugs. It was really neat until I washed it a few times and all the color-changing paint chipped off. Now it’s just a solid black mug.
I have a T-shirt that changes color in the sunlight, but it’s not from heat. I think it is activated by UV. There is a chain called Del Sol that specializes in shirts and other objects that do this, and they are usually found in resort areas. I bought mine on a Caribbean island on a cruise.
