History of the Henly T-Shirt?

[Major Matt Lewis]

So most folks know I took my persona from the movie "55 Days at Peking."  In a scene of the movie, Major Lewis is wearing a Henly T-Shirt.  I figured that it would be comfortable in hot weather.  Also, I have a picture of Marines in Guantanamo Bay in either Henly's or Unionsuits.  So can anybody tell me or point me where I can find the history of the Henly T-Shirt.

Thank you

[Lone Gunman]

Henley has a collarless ring neck that is split in front to allow two or more vertical buttons. Derived from crew racing shirts worn for the famous rowing regatta established in 1839 at Henley, England (south west of London).

I've made a note to put that question on the entrance exam.

These answers really aren't that tough to find...you should try it sometime 

[Chantilly]

I couldn't resist this one -

Victorian Times

In Victorian times men's undergarments were in two pieces and all undergarments were made by hand. Materials used were cotton through linen and even silk. In America, before the Civil War, from the waist down "drawers" were worn which were usually made of wool flannel, but could be of any fabric. The most common were knee length with a simple button overlap in front and a drawstring at the waist in the back. The preferred upper garment was a wool flannel shirt worn next to the skin.

The Industrial Revolution with the invention of water-powered spinning machines and the ¹cotton gin¹ made cotton fabrics widely available and saw the beginning of mass-produced underwear. For the first time, people began buying undergarments in stores rather than making them at home. The standard undergarment of this period for men, women, and children was the Œunion suit¹, which provided coverage from the wrists to the ankles. The union suits of the era were usually made of knitted material and included a drop flap in the back to ease visits to the toilet. Because the top and bottom were united as a one-piece garment it received the name Œunion suit¹. Hanes opened several mills producing 'union suits'. Originally made with ankle length legs and long sleeves, later versions were available in knee length versions with or without sleeves.

The 20th century opened with men, women and children all in drop seat equipped union suits. These were full body long-johns usually covering from the ankles to the wrists... cozy in the winter and unbearably hot in the summer.

Advances in material and design began to offer wicking technology wherein an inner layer of cotton was used to draw moisture away from the skin and help to keep the body cooler.

And along the way, advertising mirrored the changes. Oil paintings of men in their Kenosha Klosed Krotches by Saturday Evening Post artist J.C. Leyendecker were daring for 1911 and made history as the first national print ads for men's underwear. Most of the men shown in early underwear advertisements were fellows who "Put hustle in the tussle!" as the Superior Underwear Company put it. Men who were likely to put a lot of "strain" on their undergarments.

During the first decade of the twentieth century Americans traded their full body union suits for separates. Chalmers Knitting began offering mesh fabrics and two-piece suits that were cooler for summer. This separation into pieces for top and bottom heralded the beginning of the modern age in men's underwear design and fashion.


http://www.mensunderwearportal.com/index.php?cat=mensunderwearhistory

[Chantilly]

More than you ever wanted to know -

T-Shirt

The T-shirt is one of the beacons of American casual fashion. Popularized by U.S. Navy sailors during the first two world wars, the T-shirt has become an essential element of the American wardrobe.

In 1913, the U.S. Navy issued short-sleeved, white cotton crewneck undershirts to sailors. Sailors returning from World War I (1914–18) had grown to prefer the T-shirt to the woolen undershirt that had been the most typical undergarment since 1880. The popularity of the garment grew. By World War II (1939–45), twelve million men were wearing the shirts. News photographs and newsreels showed sailors and soldiers working in only pants and T-shirts. Underwear was exposed to the public for the first time. America had become quite used to the display of American muscle under a thin layer of white T-shirt by war's end.

Although the military persuaded America to embrace the T-shirt as an essential element of a man's wardrobe, films turned the T-shirt into an American cultural phenomenon. In 1951, the sculpted muscles of Marlon Brando (1924–) bulged under his T-shirt in A Streetcar Named Desire; his character Stanley Kowalski's powerful masculinity was reflected in Brando's physique and perfectly displayed under his T-shirt. In 1955, James Dean (see entry under 1950s—Film and Theater in volume 3) brought a youthful, anti-establishment attitude to the T-shirt in Rebel Without a Cause. This anti-establishment theme continued into the 1960s with Peter Fonda (1939–) in Easy Rider (1966). The sexual and rebellious characters that actors portrayed in films translated into the behavior of American youths. T-shirts became associated with youthful, American attitudes

Tee-Construction a brief history of the T-shirt
by Ian Grey

It all started with sailors. A century before Calvin Klein, the idea that underwear was an essential part of one's wardrobe didn't exist. In 1880, one Dr. Gustav Jaeger convinced what must have been a rather fragrant nation that regularly washed underwear might be a good thing. Still, most late 19th century folks got by with the "Spiral Bustle" not much more than an extended shirt.
In 1901, P.H. Hanes Knitting Company (now just Hanes) introduced two-piece men's underwear for catalogue sale. But it was the Navy, 12 years later, that inadvertently accelerated the evolution of underwear by issuing a revolutionary new item to its sailors. Seeking to avoid sexually scandalous sights exposed by its V-necked uniforms the Navy issued a garment that featured short sleeves, a "crew" neckline (hence "crew neck") and a vaguely "T"-shaped silhouette (hence "T-shirt").

A few years later, the influx of sailors on leave during World War I brought about the truncating of the popular civilian "union suit" into a "singlet" or "jersey." The price: 24 cents. The trend soon spread, and by World War II 12 million men were wearing the Navy's newer, less expensive tee, which quickly became known as "skivvies." The nation grew accustomed (and secretly thrilled) to newsreel images of wartime patriots barely dressed in, what writer Valerie Steele described as, the "most significant and pervasive example of underwear as outerwear. Not only [did] it flaunt rules about hidden clothing, but it also [violated] taboos ... against male sexual display." Even at this early point in its existence the T-shirt became an empty canvas upon which anyone might project his or her sexual fantasies. In the words of Guggenheim magazine's Deborah Drier, it allowed individuals to indulge in "showing gender" and the "erotic presentation of the self."

By war's end, the phenomenon of the T-shirt — the one garment capable of displaying class, sexual orientation, cultural affiliation and the advertising of same — was born. Though 180 million were sold in 1951, the T-shirt's meteoric ascendance can be traced to, like many things American, the movies.

http://www.vintageskivvies.com/pages/archives/articles/readersubmissions/historyofthet-shirt.html

[Grizzle Bear]

And here I thought a "Henly t-shilt" was a premium you got for buying a new Henly Lifle...........




Grizzle Bear

[Jax Orebetter]

Didn't they get the name from that singer that made them so popular? I think his name was Don something.   

[Ol Gabe]

Nah, yer thinkin' about Don Henways, and of course, everyone knows what a Henways...




















wait for it...

























about 3 lbs.

Best regards and good stitching!
'Ol Gabe

[Silver Creek Slim]

Great info, Chantilly. Thanks.

Slim