School supplied and laundered PE uniforms were not all that uncommon until well into the 1970's. Boys were required to provide only clean gym shoes and at some schools their own mouth guard for sports and PE classes. Upon entering the locker room, boys would strip down, remove their shoes from their small locker then transfer their lock to secure their clothes. They then walked by size sorted laundry carts where they grabbed a gym shirt, shorts a jock and socks. After a quick stop on a bench to get attired, it was off to the gym for attendance and class activity. At the end of class, it was first a quick stop at the locker to remove their shoes and strip, then deposit their sweaty gym clothes while walking to the shower.
The greatest benefit was that no boy "forgot" his PE uniform, but equally important in that era of poor locker room ventilation, the putrid aroma, normally associated with locker rooms was alleviated.
I might add that jockstraps were washed at lower temperature and separately from other gym clothes. They were dried at a much lower temperature and with a detergent which supposedly did not insult the rubber and elastic fabric of the jocks. I can relate that as a sales rep. I probably made more commission selling 5 buckets of the laundry detergent than I did selling 40 dozen jockstraps.
The greatest benefit was that no boy "forgot" his PE uniform, but equally important in that era of poor locker room ventilation, the putrid aroma, normally associated with locker rooms was alleviated.
I might add that jockstraps were washed at lower temperature and separately from other gym clothes. They were dried at a much lower temperature and with a detergent which supposedly did not insult the rubber and elastic fabric of the jocks. I can relate that as a sales rep. I probably made more commission selling 5 buckets of the laundry detergent than I did selling 40 dozen jockstraps.
