This iconic organization was founded 132 years ago when Clara Barton and a circle of her acquaintances rallied for the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 1881.

Barton first heard of the Swiss-inspired global Red Cross network while visiting Europe following the Civil War. Returning home, she campaigned for an American Red Cross and for ratification of the Geneva Convention protecting the war-injured, which the United States ratified in 1882.

Since then, The American Red Cross has been supplying relief efforts globally and nationally for human kind. Please join us in supporting The American Red Cross, and thereby the recent tornado victims by donating time, money or blood.

You may donate by visiting http://bit.ly/12v1fq8, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. These donations help provide food, shelter and emotional support to those affected by disasters.

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Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, Attempted Murder, and the History of the T-Shirt

If it weren’t for Marlon Brando, the U.S. Navy, and America’s working class during the 19th Century, the T-shirt as we know it today may have never existed, especially after Clark Gable came very close to killing any chance the T-shirt had of ever achieving the success it boasts today.

It all started in Utica, New York in 1868, after a patent was filed for a type of one-piece underwear known as a “union suit.” The union suit originated as women’s wear during the late 19th Century United States clothing reform efforts, which pushed to popularize clothing that was more rational and comfortable than the constricting, Victorian fashions of the time.

A Union Suit Ad From A 1902 Sears, Roebuck Catalogue

Originally, the union suit was made of red flannel with long arms, long legs, buttons up the front, and a button-flap in the rear. It wasn’t until the tail-end of the popularity of the union suit that it became a piece of working men’s wear. Until the ‘50s, it was commonplace for rural men to wear the same union suit continuously all week.

However, it wasn’t convenient for those working in hot environments. The solution? Cut the one-piece union suit into separate top and bottom garments to enable better aeration, which is exactly what the workers did.

Shortly after this division, miners and dockworkers adopted the top garment (with and without buttons) as a convenient covering for hot environments, which consequently kick-started the evolution of the T-shirt as we know it today from undergarment to outerwear.

Despite this fact, it wasn’t until the U.S. Navy issued T-shirts as slip-on garments sans buttons in 1913 that they became nationally popular and not just a pillar of the work wear donned by miners and dockworkers.

A U.S. Merchant Marine Sailor In 1944

These military issue T-shirts were a crew-necked, short-sleeved, white cotton undershirt intended to be worn under a uniform. Naturally, it became common for sailors and Marines to remove their uniform jacket during work parties, within submarines, and in tropical climates, thereby exposing only the undershirt to soiling.

As pictures emerged in newspapers of America’s military men clad in T-shirts as they worked, the popularity of the T-shirt as a bottom layer of clothing for workers in various industries increased exponentially.

The reason? The T-shirt was easily fitted, easily cleaned, and inexpensive, and for this reason it became the shirt of choice for young boys and working men alike.

Then it happened. The darkest day ever for the T-shirt. The day it came dangerously close to losing all the success it had generated over the past two decades. The day it almost died. And it was all Clark Gable’s fault.

A Bare Chested Clark Gable Trying To Kill The T-Shirt

In 1934, Gable starred in the romantic comedy It Happened One Night. At the time of its release, Gable had already solidified his position as a sex symbol in American pop culture. So, when he ditched the T-shirt in It Happened One Night in favor of sporting a bare chest to display his masculinity, American males took notice. So much notice that T-shirt sales in the United States plummeted 75%, almost entirely erasing the popularization of the T-shirt by military men during the two decades that had passed since 1913.

17 years later, and a mere six years after World War II, the film adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Streetcar Named Desire was released, starring a 27-year-old Marlon Brando, who — like Gable — was an American sex symbol, although not to the same degree as Gable… not yet, anyways.

Marlon Brando in “A Streetcar Named Desire”

The movie, which went on to win four awards at the 24th Academy Awards and became the 5th biggest hit of 1951, featured Brando sporting a white T-shirt for much of the movie. It was because of this that the T-shirt finally shook its status as work wear and took on the status as a piece of fashionable, stand-alone, outerwear. In fact, by year’s end, T-shirt sales totaled $180 million.

Despite roughly 60 years since Brando starred in Streetcar and over a century since the last stitch of the first union suit was sewn, very little has managed to suppress the popularity of the T-shirt. Through conquest and compromise, war and peace, and life and death, the T-shirt has remained steadfast as an American icon.

We don’t know about you, but we think that’s pretty damn cool.

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Giving credit where reblogged credit is due! Many thanks to our friends at Hank!

Many know Greg Lauren for his time spent with the cast of The Young and the Restless, for his marriage to super model Elizabeth Berkley or perhaps for his fine artwork. We know him for fantastic clothing designs. And, of course, for his unbelievable video featuring the 2012 Fall Collection. 

Click here to learn more about the history of the Thermos.

“…the thing is, I see the vacuum bottle as a very symbolic americana treasure. The thermos is undoubtedly linked to workwear and america’s blue-collar roots. It’s also closely linked to road trips, outings, football games, the fall, booze and the enduring spirit of adventure for generations. That’s why I love it.”

Kyle the Cleveland Thermos (amongst other things) Collector is seen above, at his Cleveland home. 

Our goal is to make AT-95′s product as accessible as possible for you and your business. So, we’re working to reduce barriers like high shipping costs. To start, we’re offering $30 flat rate shipping on orders of $250 or less.

This leaves you with more cash to walk away with more great AT-95 products, or perhaps take your sweetheart out to a nice dinner. Enjoy!

Best Regards,

The AT-95 Clan 

(The above picture of the man with the amazing ‘stache is from our family photo albums. This is great-grandpa Barney Blankemeyer. You can read more about the AT-95 family history here. No need for cool vintage stock photography when you have the real deal in your family album!)

*$30 flat rate shipping applies to orders placed online only, totaling $250 or less. Applied automatically at checkout. 

But today is not most of the time!

In the coming months, you’ll be seeing new product and a new way to shop on the AT-95 website. While we’d like to act as if great feats such as this are simply done with a band saw and some glue in about 30 minutes – the truth is, it’s really hard work!

Here are some shots of our creative team hard at work on the AT-95 website refresh in our improvised creative studio.

The story begins with four brothers:

William Russell (W.R), Jean, John and Andrew Case began designing and producing knives to sell along one of the prominent wagon trails in upstate New York in 1889. As the case family grew, so did their knife business.

Eventually, W.R.’s son, John Russell (Russ) Case, a former salesman for the Case Brothers brand, launched W.R. Case & Sons around the turn of the 20th century. W.R. served as a mentor to his son as Russ helped to stabilize the company’s early finances while building a reputation as a dependable supplier of high-quality cutlery. To learn more about the Case family business, check out their website’s interactive timeline.

Today, W.R. Case & Sons still maintains a message of quality, estimating ‘that it takes 125 pairs of hands to create just one knife’.

As of late, David has been working on some exciting textiles-related projects. Parson Gray is the epitome of folk modern fabric designs.

Sneak peak at the Parson Gray fabrics for his upcoming Spring Collection, titled WORLD TOUR.

Being married to the ever-loved textile designer Amy Butler, David had spent many years behind the scenes watching and learning and gaining inspiration from Amy’s experiences in the print and fabric design scene. So, it seems quite natural that David would connect his design expertise with the textile and print industry to create a unique medium that can further act as a megaphone for his view on the world.

We’ve been mildly obsessed with the Parson Gray fabrics since released – so when we laid our eyes on the newest Parson Gray project; Military Bag designs for Kalencom, we had to share.

Parson Gray ephemera.

You can find more on Parson Gray here.

These items will only be available for purchase through January 25th.Because these pieces are all quite popular, there are limited quantities and finishes available.

The Acme Bench

The Console Table

The M2 Leg

The M2 Leg

*sold in pairs

The Peg Leg Cart

The Schoolhouse Bar Stool

The Schoolhouse Chair

The Workhorse Table

While we’re fond of each of these pieces, they have to find a home. It is our hope that you’ll find a place in your home for some of our legacy pieces.

You can reserve your favorites by ordering online today, or by emailing our sales team at holler@at-95.com or simply calling 1-614-885-8585.