The origin of the surf t-shirt, or "surfer t-shirt" if you prefer, can be traced back to Europe in the early 20th century. During World War I, U.S. soldiers noticed that European troops were wearing comfortable, lightweight cotton undershirts in the hot summer months. It didn't take long for the Americans--who were wearing heavy wool uniforms--to catch on. Because of the simple shape that resembles the letter "T", these undershirts soon became known to Americans as "t-shirts".
At about this time surfing was enjoying its first renaissance in Hawaii. Surfing had been popular with Hawaiian natives until missionaries showed up in the mid-19th century. They disapproved of surfing and consequently, most natives had given it up by 1890. But thanks to guys like Duke Kahanamoku and other early surfers like George Freeth, the sport was re-born. We all know Duke as the father of modern surfing, and Freeth is credited with introducing the sport to Southern California in 1907.
But the t-shirt was still considered underwear, and it took such Hollywood notables as James Dean, John Wayne and Marlon Brando to help change that. In 1951, Brando shocked moviegoers when his t-shirt was ripped off his chest in A Streetcar Named Desire. A few years later, the t-shirt became not only accepted as a stand alone outer garment, but actually very cool when James Dean starred in A Rebel Without A Cause.
In Matt Warshaw's Encyclopedia of Surfing credit is given to Gordon & Smith for having invented the surfer t-shirt. To promote his new brand of surfboards in 1961, Floyd Smith of Surfboards by Gordon and Smith invited local surfers to bring white t-shirts into his San Diego surf shop. There, he had the now-familiar Gordon and Smith logo screened on the t-shirt backs at no charge. Everyone owned several white t-shirts in the early '60s. The surf culture was gaining popularity and many wanted to be identified with it, whether they surfed or not.
Others have disputed the claim that G&S was the first to do this, or even to make available to the public a t-shirt with their logo on it, but certainly they got the ball rolling and helped drive the product into the public awareness.
Dave Sweet, the "father of foam", was one of the first to see the value in this sort of low-key advertising. Dave quickly picked up on the surfer t-shirt trend and began printing his arrowhead logo on surf t-shirts.
From this simple start, the surf t-shirt has gone on to become the sport's most long-lasting contribution to the world of fashion. The surfer t-shirt is so popular that in 2002, an estimated 300 million surf-related t-shirts were produced worldwide.
Surfing t-shirts have found their way onto the silver screen as well. Remember Mackenzie Phillips in the 1973 movie American Graffiti, wearing a Dewey Weber Surfboards t-shirt that was way too big for her? And how about the 1979 classic Apocalypse Now, in which Robert Duval sported an army green Yater Surfboards t-shirt as Colonel Kilgore?
Dewey Weber, Renny Yater and many other fledgling surf entrepreneurs took the example of Gordon and Smith to heart as they launched their businesses and made sure they had t-shirts featuring their logo, or that of a particular model, available at all times in their shops. A lot of people couldn't afford a new surfboard, but just about everyone could afford a new surf t-shirt.
Paul Holmes, an editor for Surfer magazine during the '80s, once wrote that surfing t-shirts were "symbols of the casual and free-spirited surfing lifestyle." In the '60s, competition team surf t-shirts with names like Weber, Hobie, Jacobs, Greg Noll and Velzy were especially popular. Team riders often had their name printed above the pocket. T-shirts from high profile surf contests such as the Duke Invitational and the World Surfing Championships were also the rage at the time.
There is a surf t-shirt available called the "Old '52", which features Dale Velzy's original logo used on surfboards beginning in 1952 and continuing for about three years before he changed to his now iconic oval logo. However, to the best of anyone's recollection, that logo never appeared on a t-shirt until the last few years before Dale passed away. Many who are very familiar with the history of Velzy Surfboards have never seen this logo. Now it could be considered a desirable surf t-shirt because of its history and limited availability.
Today many "surfing" t-shirt brands exist, Quiksilver, Hurley, Volcom and others, put out by companies that have never manufactured a single surfboard. But many consider only those brands that were, or still are, actual surfboard makers the only ones worth having.