Men Running Around in Their B.V.D.s

A Stodghill Says So blog:


This is blog number 400 so in honor of that event I will return to a popular topic, men's underwear. I can't be certain, but I believe my interest in this subject dates back to writing a book on that old musical group the Hoosier Hot Shots. One of the boys' most popular hits was "From the Indies to the Andies in His Undies." They explained that this was "a very, very daring thing to do." Well, I should think so.
But today I am writing about the brand B.V.D. When I was a kid back in the late 1920s and during the joyous years of the Great Depression, B.V.D. apparently was a very popular brand of men's shorts. I know this because people were always talking about someone running around in his B.V.D.s. Why this was a popular topic of conversation, I have no idea. It was, though, so I grew up thinking it was a word: beeveedees. You didn't pull up your shorts, you hiked up your beeveedees.
The name seemed to have been a victim of World War II so I had all but forgotten it until I was well into my sixties. Then, while shopping for shorts, I came upon packets labeled B.V.D. I bought one, of course, and once again was able to run around in my beeveedees.
So today I looked it up and I'm right back to where I left off a few days ago: Fruit of the Loom. They bought the brand in 1976. Before that, an outfit in Piqua, Ohio bought out Bradley, Voorhees & Day early in the 1930s. That will be the subject of another blog someday because while visiting the town I have discovered that many of its residents are confused about the pronunciation of Piqua. Adding to the problem is an Ohio county, Pickaway. It's nowhere near Piqua.
Then to further complicate the situation there are the people who own cows, which also have B.V.D. but not as an undergarment. To them, the people, it means Bovine Virus Diarrhea. Not nearly as pleasant a subject as men's shorts.
So I hope this has been informative and clears up any confusion about men running around in their beeveedees. I'm not completely clear as to why that was such a commonplace thing to do in the 1930s unless the Depression left many men without pants.

Never let it be said that the old wardog of an author Dick doesn't know how to milk a topic. In this case it's men's underwear. Now, he hasn't said anything bad, so I don't think he's trying to smear the underwear, but I wonder how many times he might be inclined to visit this subject before it becomes too threadbare to use.

Of course, this may be a subtle attempt on his part to get Mel to give us even more information on her panties, or on her shopping excursions concerning the same, or even about the books she reads, but I tend to think that isn't it at all. I believe he's finally found a topic that he knows he can write about and have his butt covered regardless of what everyone else thinks.

An accomplishment, regardless of how small, still goes in the plus column when we're adding up all the things we've done in this life. Rendering one speechless, even if it is only temporary, is surely an accomplishment, and I shall treat it as such.

Thank ya, ma'am, thank ya very much!

Underwear. It's a bum wrap.

Yep, gotta admit that underwear is right at the seat of our problems.

Shelagh,
I gave you a plus for the "bum wrap" remark.
Actually, a "BW" might be more appropriate than a "BVD"

I'm trying not to remind everyone of the underwear comment I made in the orginal thread.

Ok, Shelagh, what happened to the little green thingies? And the rep points we were building.

It was just one more thing to argue about. I didn't expect that anyone would minus innocuous posts -- but they did. I don't need to know why. It was an experiment that went bad very quickly. It was fun but too easily abused.

Partly my fault - I "redded" someone who was WAY off-topic in a thread
I started (not to mention I was about 4 deep into a 6-pack).

Sorry

Personally, I think giving a plus acknowledges a good post. Giving a minus can also be beneficial in saying that you disapprove of a comment without having to say it in writing.

I don't see the +/- voting system anymore. Is it just my computer or has it been done away with?

Disappeared into a black hole.

Back to the topic. I'm of Dick's vintage, not quite there but could be his little sister, and considered BVDs those long underwear things worn by both men and women, boys and girls, on cold days.

Carol