Some folks probably think the T shirt was around when manufactured clothing was first invented. Actually, the T shirt was first manufactured for the US NAVY as an

undershirt in 1913, and possibly earlier during the Mexican-American War in 1898. Football teams used them as an undergarment to reduce chafing while wearing shoulder pads. But then in the 1950’s they Came Out!

  Marlon Brando and James Dean wore tight fitting T shirts that became ‘the look’ of that era and from there it was full speed ahead.

  Once T shirts made the jump from underwear to outerwear it opened the door to all types of decoration. It is believed that decorated shirts were first developed in Miami, Florida for locals and tourists. Probably the most massive fashion design occurred in the late 1960’s with tie-dyed T shirts which became a top fashion of the counter culture movement.  They were distributed during the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969 and even without a slogan, the general population knew where the wearers were coming from. Some fashion T shirts even depicted a printed tuxedo, or the logos of famous designers, stating the  wearer’s obvious taste in apparel.  Not to mention free advertising for Calvin Klein and his buddies.

  The first slogan on a T shirt is credited to the 1948 presidential campaign by Thomas E. Dewey stating “Do it with Dewey” but it was not successful because the American people chose to do it with Harry Truman instead.

  Possibly the most successful use of a T shirt in a promotional campaign was “I (Heart) NY” designed by Milton Glaser to revitalize tourism for New York City.  It is still the most copied design in T shirt history.

  So where did all this take us?  People started to make statements by wearing shirts depicting their favorite sports teams, rock groups, beer, cars, Disney characters, tourist destinations and everything else, again providing free advertising.

  But now you can buy or even create a T shirt to make any statement to the world that you want. Who matters, were you do your fishing (salt or fresh), your favorite dog, your political or social views, funny statements or just about anything you want to say can be put on a T shirt.  So in a sense, the first real vehicle for social media was the T shirt, hopefully 100% cotton.