A brief history of t-shirt printing

Looking great in printed t-shirts not only adds flair to your look, but also, depending on the number of printed t-shirts, offers great uniqueness. But have you ever stopped to think about where it all started and how long have people been printing t-shirts?

The modern screen printing process was first patented in Manchester by Samuel Simon in 1907.

A few years earlier, also in Manchester, the first T-shirts began to emerge from the poverty-stricken slums surrounding the textile mills that were the region’s main employers. The shirt was quickly adapted by street gangs known as scuttlers who regularly terrorized the local community.

It was these scuttlers who, as soldiers, wore their shirts under their uniforms in the trenches of northern France. This was quickly adapted by US troops, leading to the jersey becoming a universal item of clothing. Images of Hollywood stars like James Dean and Marlon Brando wearing white t-shirts have made the simple t-shirt a global fashion item found in wardrobes around the world.

Although T-shirts and screen printing originated around the same time in the same area, printed T-shirts did not become popular until the invention of plasticol inks and the youth movements of the 1950s and 1960s.

The Smithsonian museum displays ‘the oldest printed T-shirt’ on record in its collection. It’s a campaign t-shirt for Governor of New York. Thomas Dewey’s 1948 Presidential Campaign,

T-shirt printing quickly became a vehicle for political protest and soon became part of social demonstrations protesting the Vietnam War, civil rights movements, and the campaign for nuclear disarmament.

In the 1970s, the music industry soon learned that t-shirt merchandising was a very lucrative addition to ticket prices and album sales. As the likes of the Stones and Pink Floyd came out in iconic world tour t-shirts like Warhol’s lips, and the dark side of the moon prism became multi-million selling items. This also paved the way for a multi-million dollar “pirate” industry selling copies of official t-shirts outside concert venues for a fraction of the price.

The demand for blank t-shirts for printing created global businesses like Fruit Of The Loom and Gildan. Fruit Of The Loom has 23,000 employees and annual sales of $500 million.

As the cost of t-shirt printing machinery goes down, it becomes easier to get started in the industry and with internet auction sites like eBay, selling small quantities of t-shirts becomes quite easy and cheap to get into business.