With the popularity of Internet shopping, classic toys that were hard to find, have now started to find a whole new audience. These classics, which sold very well after they were introduced, never seem to go out of style and can still bring a smile to any child’s face.

Let’s step into the past and take a look into the history of one of these classic toys.

In 1943, a Naval engineer accidentally knocked some springs off of a shelf while he was working on a meter designed to monitor horsepower on battleships. He marveled at the way they “walked” instead of falling and the odd movement of these springs gave Richard James an idea and an instant toy was born. That toy: The Slinky.

Richard James then spent the next two years testing and refining the best steel gauge and coil to utilize for his new toy. His wife, Betty appropriately found the perfect name for this new toy- a Slinky; which is the Swedish word meaning traespiral or sleek.

The couple borrowed five hundred dollars and James designed a machine to coil eighty feet of wire into a two-inch spiral and manufacture their new toy. Sales were slow at first, but soared after the Slinky was demonstrated at Gimbel’s Department Store in Philadelphia for the Christmas season in 1945. The first 400 sold within the ninety-minute demonstration and a new fad had begun.

Around 1960, Richard James suffered what some called a mid-life crisis and left his wife, their six children and joined a Bolivian religious cult. He also deserted the Slinky toy he worked so hard to produce and left the company in debt and ruin. Betty James took over as CEO of James Industries and introduced other toys for the “Slinky line-up” including: Slinky pets, crazy eyes Slinky (glasses with Slinky-extended fake eyeballs), neon Slinky, and also replaced the original black-blue Swedish steel with American steel. Additionally she moved the company headquarters from Philadelphia to Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania and began an aggressive advertising campaign, complete with the now famous Slinky jingle:

“What walks down stairs, alone in pairs, And makes a Slinkity sound?
A spring, a spring, a marvelous thing, Everyone knows it’s Slinky…
It’s Slinky, it’s Slinky, for fun it’s a wonderful toy
It’s Slinky, it’s Slinky, it’s fun for a girl or a boy”

However, the Slinky is not just an entertaining toy for children. It is used in schools in physics classes to demonstrate wave properties, forces, and energy states. The Slinky still continues to sell (250 million have been sold to date) and are still manufactured in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania using the original equipment designed by Richard James.

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It is embroidered sportswear that distinguishes one player from another in team sports such as football. The numbers on their jackets serve to identify each player. The embroidery can also promote teams, clubs and events. Team logos and promotional messages are often embroidered into the sportswear.

Sportswear is worn by non-sportspersons as when fans of a club wear replicas of their team uniforms. Standard sportswear such as tracksuits and polo shirts might be worn as casual wear by persons who might not even be interested in sports.

This kind of widespread and varied use of sportswear has made it a good medium to promote businesses, in addition to teams and sports clubs. This is particularly true in the case of businesses that produce sports goods. For example, an Adidas sports shirt promotes the Adidas brand and its range of sports products.

What is Sportswear?

While all of us would be aware in a general way what sportswear means, many of us might be surprised at the kinds of wear that falls under this category.

In general, sportswear is tailored to the sport. Some kinds of sports require tight body-hugging wear to reduce drag; others require loose clothing for easy movement; many might require moisture absorption to remove perspiration; yet others require protective devices to be incorporated into the wear.

Distinctive uniform-like team sportswear serves to distinguish between the two teams in a game. Numbers sewn into each piece of uniform distinguishes each player in the teams.

Tracksuits are worn over athletic clothes, and are taken off when the wearer is actually participating in an event.

Shorts, pants, shirts, helmets, shoes are all sportswear when designed for particular sports.

Why Embroider the Sportswear?

Well-done embroidery adds a touch of style and quality to your branding exercise. When the embroidery is stitched into the cloth, it is more permanent than painted material, which can become indistinct over many washes.

With the aid of computers, embroidering is not the kind of time-consuming manual craft it was in earlier times. Your logos and designs can be transferred to jacquard tapes, which are then used to control the sewing of the embroidered patterns into the sportswear.

You will thus be able to get your embroidered sportswear in bulk quantities without undue delays.

Conclusion

These days, even non-sports persons wear sportswear. For example, fans might wear replicas of their team uniforms. Comfortable wear like tracksuits might be worn as casual wear by the general public.

Such widespread use makes embroidered sportswear a good medium to promote teams, clubs and businesses. Embroidered logos and messages are more permanent than painted ones, and embroidery can also add a touch of class to your branding exercise.

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A polo shirt is a t-shirt with collars, and a tastefully embroidered polo shirt has greater appeal. Remember that alligator across your left breast? The polo shirt collars are often button down. The shirt typically has two small slits on both sides at the bottom, and might also have a pocket.

Polo shirt originated as a tennis shirt, to replace the earlier cumbersome tennis wear. Its inventor of this new tennis shirt, tennis champion Lacoste, put the crocodile emblem on these shirts because he was often called 'the alligator' in the tennis circuit.

How this tennis shirt became the polo shirt is an interesting story. Though polo players soon adopted it, replacing their earlier long-sleeved wear, this fact alone could not have led to the fame of the polo shirt. It was when Ralph Lauren's embroidered polo shirts (with the horse-borne polo player emblem) became immensely popular that the erstwhile tennis shirt all but became the 'polo shirt'.

Golf players also adopted the shirt as their own, often with golf cuts to make them true golf shirts. It is standard wear for golf players now.

So the tennis shirt not only became a polo shirt; it became a de-facto sports shirt, by whatever name it was called.

Status of the Embroidered Polo Shirt Now

The polo shirt entered day-to-day lives soon and has become a standard item of clothing worn by both men and women these days. It is even worn to offices that accept less formal wear but are not ready to accept t-shirts yet.

Polo shirts come in numerous styles, with the horizontal striped style being a popular one. The shirts come in different colors, with or without a pocket, in men's and women's styles, made of knitted yarn, cotton or poly-cotton, heavy or light and so on.

Polo shirts are often worn with an under shirt for warmth.

Embroidered polo shirts with a neat little emblem on the breast add a neat touch. The emblem is typically tailored to specific themes or needs, such as golf tours, corporate events, business branding and even a stag weekend.

Conclusion

The embroidered polo shirt started out as a tennis shirt, with the Lacoste's famous crocodile emblem on the left breast. Designed as an alternative to the uncomfortable tennis wear, it was soon adopted by other sports such as polo and golf. The tennis shirt had become a de facto sports shirt, with the name polo shirt stuck to it.

These days, both plain and embroidered polo shirts are worn in non-sports environments, including offices that accept some informality. A tasteful little emblem adds a touch of class to the polo shirt, which can come in many styles.

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