BVD

BVD is a brand of men's underwear, which are commonly referred to as "BVDs." BVD stands for Bradley, Voorhees & Day, the New York City firm that initially manufactured underwear of this name for both men and women. BVD is now only for men. It was founded in 1876 and named for its three founders.^[1]

History

BVD first manufactured bustles for women. They then became famous for their men's union suits made of heavy knitted fabric. In 1908, that bulky and tight fitting garment was turned into a new kind of loose fitting underwear. They went on to introduce a two-piece and the popular union suit, as well as a lightweight waffle-like fabric with the advertising slogan, "Next to Myself I Like BVD Best."^[1]

At the beginning of the 1930s BVD was purchased by the Atlas Underwear company located in Piqua, Ohio. During the Great Depression they were successful in manufacturing swimsuits for men, women and children. They patented their own fabric, Sea Satin, a rayon woven satin backed with latex for stretch. They also used knits of cotton, wool and Rayon, and cellophane.Their swimsuits featured in major fashion magazines and high fashion stores. Styles included form fitting maillots as well as full skirted swimsuits. They offered suits for men with detachable tops. In 1929, Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller, who went on to become the most famous Tarzan in motion pictures, was hired as a model and representative. He was featured at swim shows throughout the country wearing the BVD brand of swimsuits, handing out leaflets and giving autographs.

In 1951, the brand was purchased by Superior Mills. BVD was first to start packaging underwear in plastic bags for the mass market. In the 1960s and 1970s, they started introducing sportops, a pocket T-shirt, and fashionable underwear made of nylon. In 1976, BVD was purchased by Fruit of the Loom, which brought the brand to a worldwide market. On April 9, 2002, Berkshire Hathaway purchased Fruit of the Loom.^[2]

The term "BVDs" has become, over time, a genericized trademark in reference to any brand of underwear.

In other languages

In Ecuadorian and Peruvian Spanish, the term bividí, pronounced like the English initials, is an eponym for a man's sleeveless underwear T-shirt.

In popular culture

• 1920: BVDs are mentioned to have been worn in F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel This Side of Paradise.
• 1922: George F. Babbitt wears B.V.D. undershirts in Sinclair Lewis's novel, Babbitt.
• 1922: An intertitle in the Buster Keaton silent film The Paleface mentions B.V.D's.
• 1925: In the silent film The Big Parade, a group of Army soldiers sing a song while doing their laundry in a stream. Among the lines of the song displayed via intertitles, the soldiers sing: "We drown the fleas / In our Bee Vee Dees, / We're in the army now!"
• 1927: BVDs are mentioned in the Frankie Jaxon version of "Willie The Weeper."
• 1929: BVD undergarments are mentioned in the film Broadway Melody during a conversation between the characters played by Bessie Love and Anita Page.
• 1931: BVDs are mentioned in the Mills Brothers version of the Stanley Adams song "Coney Island Washboard" (originally published in 1926, and also recorded by Hoagie Carmichael in 1950, and in 1967 by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band).^[3][4]
• 1933: BVDs are mentioned in the film adaptation of 42nd Street in a scene where the characters Billy (Dick Powell) and Peggy (Ruby Keeler) preparing in a dressing room for an opening night performance.
• 1941: BVDs are mentioned by P.G. Wodehouse in the second of his Berlin broadcasts (July 9).
• 1953: Lead BVDs are mentioned in the second verse of Tom Lehrer's song "The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be".
• 1955: BVDs are mentioned a number of times in the book Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis.
• 1955: BVDs are mentioned in some versions of the pop standard song "Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp of Savannah)", including the version sung by Ella Fitzgerald in the 1955 film Pete Kelly's Blues.^[5]
• 1962: BVDs are mentioned in the song "You're So London," which was sung by Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett in their show "Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall."
• 1969: BVDs are mentioned in the lyrics to the song "Guitarzan" by Ray Stevens.
• 1969: "Two changes of BVDs" are mentioned in the song "Legend of the USS Titanic" by Jaime Brockett.
• 1975: BVDs are mentioned by Andy Warhol in "The Philosophy of Andy Warhol": "After I check myself out in the mirror, I slip into my BVDs. Nudity is a threat to my existence."
• 1979: BVDs are mentioned in the book Memories of Another Day by Harold Robbins.
• 1985: BVDs are mentioned in the book Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman.
• 1990s: BVDs are mentioned in the classic song entitled "Old School" by the late Tupac Shakur. BVD was a sponsor of New Japan Pro Wrestling for many years in Japan in the mid-1990s, as their logo was placed on the wrestling mat in the ring.
• 1991: BVD is mentioned briefly in the 1991 song "Things That Make You Go Hmmm..." by C+C Music Factory.
• 1991: BVDs are mentioned by Chris Rock on Saturday Night Live, during a recurring sketch called "I'm Chillin'".
• 1993: BVDs are mentioned a number of times in the book "Stone Butch Blues" by Leslie Feinberg.
• 2000s: BVDs are mentioned throughout Cindy Gerards' 'Bodyguard' series.
• 2002: BVDs are mentioned in Sex and the City in episode "All That Glitters...": "Baseball, Buckets, and BVDs".
• 2004: The Beastie Boys' song "An Open Letter to NYC" includes the lyric: "Get my BVDs from VIM".
• 2005: BVDs are mentioned in the book 'Dark Lover' from the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by J.R. Ward.
• Many children are introducted to the word BVDs through the camp song, "Bye Bye BVDs".^[6]
• 2007: Underground Rapper Boondox releases the song "My Van" on Psychopathic Records' compilation Psychopathics from Outer Space part 3. The song includes the lyrics: "nothin' on but a tool belt and BVD's, a chick tied to a shelf full of DVD's."

See also

Notes