Jockey Y-fronts hit NZ shops

If old-fashioned underwear makes you squirm, switch to Jockey.

After successfully bidding for a licence to manufacture the new Jockey range of men’s underwear, Canterbury firm Lane Walker Rudkin began marketing the Jockey Y-front on 16 March 1940. New Zealand was one of the first four countries to make the iconic American brand.

Before the Second World War men’s underwear was ‘all-wool and all-enveloping’, extending to the ankles and elbows. Made locally, it featured heavy ribbing and reinforced crotches, and came mostly in natural or fawn colours. For the patriotic there was Roslyn’s Dominion brand, with ‘spliced seat and knee’.

Thanks to the obvious disadvantages of the traditional undergarment (especially in summer), the Y-front quickly established itself as a market leader. Newspaper advertisements praised the ‘sleek and fitting scientific designs’, the ‘support from the waist’ and the ‘real masculine comfort’. New Zealand males were relieved that there was ‘no bunching discomfort at the crutch’ and a ‘no-gape opening’. Jockey soon had the market covered.

Despite increasing competition from other brands and styles in the latter half of the 20th century, Jockey products continued to rule the roost in this country. In 2003 New Zealanders bought nearly one million pairs of Jockey men’s underwear – two for every three males aged 16 and over. On a per capita basis, New Zealanders purchased more Jockey products than any other country. Many New Zealand men and boys have woken on Christmas morning to a pair (or two) of Jockeys under the tree. In this regard the efforts of hardworking salespeople such as the legendary Rod MacLenman must be acknowledged. MacLenman scooped the prestigious Golden Spurs award for top-selling Jockey salesperson in 1983, moving 72,000 pairs in the seven weeks before Christmas.