Certain things Americans do daily might be considered weird in other cultures. Some things one may never think about.

The existence of underwear is as old as time itself, but underwear is definitely most popular in America. Up until recently, some Europeans were under the belief that underwear was "optional." Since Europeans were behind in the underwear field, American underwear is very popular over there, in fact it is hard to find a brand of European underwear.

"I had trouble finding underwear when I was over in Europe for World War II," Elmer Schroeder, 83, said. "Lady's underwear was common, but men's underwear was a rarity." Schroeder, a former highway patrolman, collects underwear. He has cases filled with underwear from Europe, the United States and other places. His collection dates back to pieces from the 1890's.

The origin of a distinctly American underwear is shrouded in mystery. Which underwear company came first? Some say it was the Indiana based Union Underwear Company. Some say it may be BVD, which stands for Bradley, Voorhees and Day, the three guys who founded the company. Some say the Canadians actually beat the US to it when they introduced their Stanfields underwear, direct from Turo, Nova Scotia. "When I was young, underwear was far less comfortable than it is to- day," Schroeder said. "It was painful to wear underwear, very itchy. It was a wonderful feeling at night when I could finally take them off."

Schroeder was not alone. Everyone's underwear was enormously itchy until the late 20's when they first started carbonizing wool. This process removed the sticks and burrs from the wool producing a much softer fabric. Over time cotton completely replaced wool as the industry standard.

All these advances have made underwear what it is today. Problems such as heat and moisture buildup have been all but solved. Companies offer not only simple briefs any longer, they've added all sorts of styles to their rosters. Classic briefs, boxers, boxer-briefs, long-underwear, socks, undershirts, tank-tops and thongs are the result of a hundred years of intense development.

Specialty underwear companies for women such as Victoria's Secret have also stared to pop up within the last few decades.

Marketing to your specific target audience is important in the underwear industry. Popular cartoon characters are often found on children's underwear.

"My first pair of underwear had He-man all over it. Now I like a good pair of boxer's or maybe the occasional boxer-briefs," junior Tyson Moore said. "I probably have about 15 different pairs."

Aside from this, such things as fabric texture, fabric content, color, product presentation and styling are key factors to success in the marketplace. Cotton tends to dominate underwear today. Although no underwear is perfect a cotton one will sometimes fall apart in the wash.

"That's why I take my underwear to the dry cleaner's," exclaimed senior Linda Ewell. "Not all of my underwear, but certain things I don't want ruined by the washing machine."

Underwear has undergone quite a change from the early days. Just think where underwear will be in the year 2000. Where will you be in the year 2000? Whose underwear will you be wearing in the year 2000? All these question and more will be answered, in the future.<<