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by: KathyAustin
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Riding waves on boards. Ancient Hawaiian tradition called it "The Sport of Kings". And it was in Hawaii that surfing was first seen to be practiced with unsurpassed skill. Captain James Cook was stunned by the way the surfers managed to stay erect on their surfboards and ride the waves at such velocities. The entry of Christianity led to the decline of the sport because the missionaries of those times frowned upon the scant way the surfers were dressed. But the sport did not die out completely and the art of riding the wave was acknowledged as a blend of athleticism and the understanding of the beauty and power of nature by the Reverend Henry T. Cheever, who documented it in 1851. Mark Twain tried it and failed in 1866.

Alexander Hume Ford introduced the sport to Jack London when London and his wife Chairman visited Hawaii in 1907. Together with George Freeth, an intrepid surfer, they brought the art of riding the waves to it own. Subsequently Duke Kahanamoku, a Polynesian, brought it to California in 1912. From then on the popularity of the sport grew exponentially.

It was in 1907 that Jack London and his wife Chairman went to Hawaii and was introduced to the joy of surfing by Alexander Hume Ford and together with George Freeth, breathed life into the Sport of the Kings. This was further followed up by duke Kahanamoku, a Polynesian known for his prowess on the waves. It was Duke who introduced it to the Californians in 1912 and since then the sport has never looked back.

Meanwhile, as stated previously, the T-Shirt had come into its own rights and everyone, man, woman and child, people from all walks of life and all ages - from the youngest to the oldest - were wearing t-shirts. It had graduated to a National Phenomenon. Printing on T-Shirts had boosted the popularity of the T-Shirt to such heights and it had become a medium of expression of just about anything and everything.

The first Surfing T-Shirt was invented, according to Matt Warshaw's Encyclopedia of Surfing, by Gordon & Smith in 1961 to promote his brand of surfboards in 1961. Gordon and Smith asked people to bring white t-shirts and had the logo of his company printed on them free of charge. Undoubtedly, as surfing was gaining popularity, everyone was happy to sport the logo. Thus came the first surfing t-shirt.

The surfing t-shirt gained more popularity when Dave Sweet, the father of the foam surfboard printed his arrowhead logo on surfing t-shirts. This humble start, kick started the surfing t-shirt on the road to becoming the sports enduring gift to the world of fashion. As the sport of surfing gained international recognition, the surfing t-shirt also rode on its reputation and became accepted throughout the world. It is said that in 2002 an estimated 300 million surfing t-shirts were manufactured throughout the world.

Then came along Mackenzie Phillips in her Dewey Weber Surfboard Surfing T-Shirt in the 1973 movie, "American Graffiti" followed by Robert Duval, as Colonel Kilgore in "Apocalypse Now". Needless to say, Hollywood had done it again. The rating for both the sport and the shirt shot up. Incidentally, surfing t-shirts were then made by surfboard manufacturers and purists still consider them as the true ones.

Purist consider only those t-shirts put out by actual surfboard makers as the true "Surfing" T-Shirt. So whether you know how to surf or not, get yourself one surfing t-shirt and be considered a practitioner of the manly sport. The fairer sex can ignore this and get themselves one also.

About the Author

Kathy Austin is a writer for an online gallery.Red Bubble enables you to buy surfing t-shirts, crazy t-shirts and more.

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