The T-shirt: A History

So, this mostly evolved from when I was writing Taking Chances and I went to mention a T-shirt (I think it was chapter 21...) and then had to think, because pretty much everyone knows I like to try and keep my Oz as realistic as possible.

And surprise, surprise, I found the history of the T-shirt online (seriously, Google and Wikipedia have everything). So here we go:

"The T-shirt evolved from undergarments used in the 19th century, through cutting the one-piece "union suit" underwear into separate top and bottom garments, with the top long enough to tuck under the waistband of the bottoms. T-shirts, with and without buttons, were adopted by miners and stevedores during the late 19th century as a convenient covering for hot environments.

T-shirts, as a slip-on garment without buttons, originally became popular in the United States when they were issued by the U.S. Navy during or following the Spanish American War. These were a crew-necked, short-sleeved, white cotton undershirt to be worn under a uniform. It became common for sailors and Marines in work parties, the early submarines, and tropical climates to remove their uniform "jacket", wearing (and soiling) only the undershirt."

The Spanish-American War, just FYI (because as an Australian I had no idea what that was), is listed as the following:

"The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence. American attacks on Spain's Pacific possessions led to involvement in thePhilippine Revolution and ultimately to the Philippine–American War." 

So there you go. I had no idea it had been around that long!

And because I have my own form of logic as to what era I use to set Oz in (I go by the movie was made in 1939, which in terms of the musical is Act 2 and most people usually agree there's about 2 or 3 years between Act 1 and Act 2, which would make it 1936-1937. I know the Wizard of Oz book came first, but I  use the movie because that's where the Wicked book and musical get their inspiration from), it makes it very possible that certain characters (Fiyero) would have T-shirts to wear, albeit usually as an undergarment.

That's just me though!