Reginald's Dead

Today I'll be sharing some of my enormous collection of men's underwear ads.

I know, normal, human underwear doesn't really have anything to do with the supernatural, but keep in mind...the people who created these ads and the men that modeled for them are all dead.

Who knows? There could be ghosts of underwear models floating around your house saying "you look terrible in those! Go get new ones!" hahahaha

I really like this one. It's from the 1930's and it's in full color. Granted...quite a bit of dangle but there are a pre-tighty whitey pair in the corner. I don't know what the ad is trying to suggest but the two on the bench seem rather...uhmm..intimate.

Another classic. Perhaps times were different then, but having been in my fair share of locker rooms, I can't recall ever having seen a group of men, in their underwear, just hanging out and chatting.

I'm not sure when this add was published but given the prices, it's certain this ad was pre-1950's..so again...dead models everywhere!

This is just as FTL was starting to make it big in the underwear biz.

This is one of my all time favs. There are several of these out there. Underwear companies were trying to market to university students AND older men. They all seem to picture 1 or more young guys, in their dorms with what I am assuming is their RA? An older man...who is then, also, strangely, in his underwear.

Was this a common practice? If my RA had come to my dorm room in his skivvies...I'm pretty sure I would've freaked out a little. Not that the sort-of homo eroticism is a problem for me, it's more like...dude...I'm a college student...being in my underwear is kinda standard...but uhm...why are YOU not wearing anything???

Why is the door to the locker room standing wide open?

Here's one that the "unintentionally homoerotic ads" crowd missed.

There are a few of these from France...some of them look more like art.

I think this one is from Iran??? Anyway...while many men's underwear ads sought to emphasize the "flexibility" of their product by showing men engaged in various physical activities, apparently this one's going for "so comfortable, you can play in an orchestra" pitch...NOTE: the cartoon man in his underpants does not look Iranian...

I find this interesting because of it's blatant display of the trend turning in ideas of masculinity. The man wearing the boxers is in a ballet-type pose, the man in the briefs has one hand at his side and the other on his hip.

1913!!! This advertisement is old enough to become sentient!

Granted not itself an underwear ad, but literally the print on a pair of modern briefs...UNDERCEPTION!!!!

German..I think 1945?1950? The ad (again) shames men who wear boxers.

(Again, I don't personally have a problem with boxers as a concept...it's just...DANGLE!!!!!!

Now, for those of you who are unacquainted with the goings on of the underwear industry, you should know that Kangaroo is not a brand necessarily. It's a type of brief with a sort of U-shaped pouch on the front of the brief. Apparently they were quite popular until the Y-fronts and a-fronts came along with their to-the-side opening.

I don't know Mike Grover personally, but he did draw this lovely picture of a ghost espousing an equally delightful maxim.

This is great too...in a spoof 50's art style, there's a zombie trying to scare the people into buying underwear. I tried to find the Allen-A ad with the 4 guys in their briefs and there's also some sort of monster, in his underwear, in the locker room...but my collection alas...it is too large...

(*FOUND IT!)

As you know if you've looked around, we're sponsored by a supernatural underwear company called Yokai House! In the absence of other underwear ads for or about supernatural creatures, we had to make our own: