T-Shirts in the 1930s - 1940s

[Bassman]

My dad grew up on Amboy Street in B'klyn during the '20s & '30s.

 

[just_me]

Wow, so you were one of the "wayward youth in Brooklyn" (from the paperbacks front cover)! I was amazed by how true to the book the movie was - some pretty controversial stuff there! Have you read Cry Tough! - "Further revelations of the blazing hates and loves of "The Amboy Dukes"?

SNORK!! I grew up in the Sheepshead Bay and Coney Island sections of Brooklyn. We were a bunch of wimps. We thought we were really tough when we would sneak a smoke under the boardwalk. lol

 

[SamMarlowPI]

'streetcar named desire' maybe...

definitely 'rebel without a cause'...

maybe even 'american graffiti'...set in '62 there are a couple of scenes with the teens and the hat-wearing business-type men...

even 'to sir, with love' comes to mind...leather-clad teens contrasting with poitiers suited character...?

 

[carter]

About as iconic as it gets

There's always this guy from 1953's The Wild One.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm277125120/tt0047677
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1348638720/tt0047677
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3427506176/tt0047677
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3410728960/tt0047677
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1365415936/tt0047677

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Oh, man, I love that pic of the gentleman wearing the fuschia slacks and white belt!

Slightly OT: I'm pretty sure that if I were in my 30s back around 1969-73, that I'd be wearing those "neo-Edwardian" fashions, like ascots, white belts, safari jackets, ruffled shirts etc. like some kind of incandescent Roger Moore...

 

[FedoraFan112390]

Oh, man, I love that pic of the gentleman wearing the fuschia slacks and white belt!

That's my great uncle. I never met him, as he died in 1979 and I was born in 1990. As you can see, he tried to keep up with the times--you can also see he had long sideburns.

 

[FedoraFan112390]

How common were T-Shirts?

How common in the Golden Era, and even for those who grew up in the golden era (Let's say those between between 1910-1929 or so), was the wearing of just a T-shirt as the top attire, the way we do today?
My mother says her father would, most of the time around the house wear just a white t-shirt and slacks, and there's picture of hm from around 1949 where he's wearing exactly that; later in life in the 70s he would wear in the summer a V-Neck shirt and shorts; Yet my step-grandpa who was around the same age never wore just a T-Shirt or Tank top--to him that was a form of underclothes and worn under a button down, even in the summer, and never wore shorts, always long slacks.

Here's my maternal grandpa on the right (1920-1975) in just a tee-shirt and slacks in 1948 or 1949:

Here's my maternal step-grandpa (1917-1998) wearing what he ALWAYS wore in the summer, August 1997:

 

[Widebrim]

This is a good question. I'm not certain about before the '40s, but from what I have seen in old photos and movies, it was pretty common after WWII, perhaps due to servicemen wearing them during said war. In fact, I recall reading somewhere that it was the Navy that revived the wearing of T-shirts, after said garment was abandoned by many men upon seeing Clark Gable with nothing under his dress shirt in It Happened One Night (1934). I have photos of my dad wearing T-shirts around the house (not outside) in the '50s, and since he was pretty much up-to-date when it came to "fashion," I think he would be representative of a large section of American men (at least after the war).

 

[Tomasso]

I meant T-Shirts as a premier form of outerwear.

I'd say it was those 50's rebels Marlon Brando and James Dean who ushered the look into popular culture:

 

[FedoraFan112390]

And here finally my Grandpa and his brother vacationing in Thousand Islands NY, August 1973, ages 53 and 61 respectively:

 

[Tomasso]

said garment was abandoned by many men upon seeing Clark Gable with nothing under his dress shirt in It Happened One Night (1934).

"Then in 1934, Clark Gable took off his shirt in "It Happened One Night" to appear bare chested. The undershirt industry took a temporary nose dive. Before long, however, Gable had reappeared on the silver screen in a classic athletic undershirt ... and men started buying them in droves again." Vintage Skivvies

 

[FedoraFan112390]

"Then in 1934, Clark Gable took off his shirt in "It Happened One Night" to appear bare chested. The undershirt industry took a temporary nose dive. Before long, however, Gable had reappeared on the silver screen in a classic athletic undershirt ... and men started buying them in droves again." Vintage Skivvies

What movie is that from?

 

[Tourbillion]

My dad was GI generation and he wore t shirts, both v neck and round neck as a kid. I have a photo of him in a v-neck striped T next to his mother in a silk afternoon dress, from the late 20's. He didn't wear them as much as an adult though, he preferred polos for casual wear.

I have photos from the 30's and 40's where striped t-shirts (sometimes plain colored T's) were common teen apparel. They are wearing them to school.

I also have a photo from around 1939 of a relative wearing a colored pocket T and slacks in his yard, he was born in 1889. In the photo his wife and niece are in halter sun suit and shorts. I don't know if he would go anywhere but the beach dressed like that though. Here it is:

You still can't wear t-shirts to work in many businesses today though. So it isn't like they are totally accepted everywhere yet.

P.S. My earliest female photo in a t-shirt is my mom in a white one with jeans in the late 1940's or early 1950's. There are other girls in the photo are wearing mostly dark or striped ones.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Well I also think T-Shirts were not worn in public until the 1950s. There are a few exceptions for sport and such...




Brassai, Le Baiser ca 1936

Boxer Marcel Cerdan, jump roping. 1948

A man demonstrating a back approach rope tie. 1942

Fashion designer Norman Hartnell looking very dapper while relaxing on balcony w. a book during a brief vacation. 1937

 

[Fletch]

Hartnell's getup is definitely an example of resort wear, which used to be a strictly upscale thing. It meant you had leisure time enough not only to travel, but to buy clothes for it. As yet there was not much sport clothing for the mass market.

According to this article, the modern cotton tee dates only to 1932, when USC approached Jockey to develop an absorbent undershirt for football uniforms. The term T-shirt had been in use before that, but must have meant a short-sleeve version of conventional woolen or wool-cotton underwear.

I suspect the 1932 tee took a few years to catch on as a civilian undershirt, and a few more yet to become a staple of resort wear.

 

[repeatclicks]

Those life photos are great! I plan on wearing alot of t-shirts with my hollywood waist trousers this summer.

 

[flat-top]

I plan on wearing alot of t-shirts with my hollywood waist trousers this summer.

A KILLER look!

 

[Fletch]

It's a great look as long as your belly is flat. If not, it requires some VERY high-waisted pants.

 

[repeatclicks]

Yep im good in that dept.

 

[Widebrim]

Those life photos are great! I plan on wearing alot of t-shirts with my hollywood waist trousers this summer.

I'll second that. With or without suspenders, though?