Burnley Grammar School

Andrea - Looking back to my school PE days, I realise my Mum was quite perceptive towards the needs of developing girls, or "young ladies", as she so quaintly put it. So, when I started developing "up top", she lost no time in getting me properly fitted for my first bra, so although I wasn't the first in my class to get one, I was probably the first to get one at the right time! I was also one of the first to go without a vest all the year round but as we had a "proper" PE kit, and proper changing facilities, the only issue there was a certain amount of jealousy from the kids with more conventional mothers.

James & James B,
Yes, I guess talking to parents about supportive underwear was embarrassing at the time. I think my Ex would have preferred the option of buying a supporter at school, rather than going to the local sports shop with his dad.

The timing of us girls getting our first bras varied back then. Some girls seemed to get one almost before they needed one, whereas others needed a prompt from our PE teacher to ask their mums for one.

To answer Andrea and Gavin (although I did mention the same thing quite a long time ago, the PE department at our school sold some items of kit, including jockstraps. My father wasn't the slightest bit sporty and, for some reason I just couldn't see how to bring up the subject of underwear with either of my parents, so I just bought one at school.
As far as washing was concerned, we had a swimming pool at school and many of us would just go through the showers after games lessons with shorts and jocks on and then go into the pool after school. The white nylon shorts did become transparent though)! We had our own lockers so I just left the wet things hanging in my locker to dry off.

Andrea,

Yes, it was exactly the same as your Ex had explained. At the first PE lesson after the summer break we were in the gym and the PE teacher raised the matter. He explained that now that we were older we should consider using a supporter and that these were available from the PE Dept office. There was no mention of this in the School Prospectus. As I say, most boys bought one over the next few weeks.

I agree with your Ex, some boys should have been given the opportunity to buy one much earlier and some boys didn't really need to bother - well, not at that time anyway.

I suppose the same could be said for girls in your PE class. I recall you indicated earlier that the PE teacher needed to speak with girls who should have been in a bra earlier!

James

Hi guys, I was reading these posts and I noticed that I was not the only one who was “tortured” for punishment. Like Jason said, in page 2 of this forum, also in my school there was a sort of pole where we were tied if we did something wrong. It happened to me and it was not a nice experience because my school mate made fun of me. They punched me kicked me and also put on my chest water taken from sewage. Obviously I was bare chested too. I think it is unfair but it is an equal punishment because obviously if you “torture” one of you’re school mate then he can “torture” you so you cannot exaggerate. Have you ever tried an experience like this?

Ross, no doubt you got used to your uncertain routine. We had two PE lessons per week in the gym, which might include a surprise cross country run through local woodland and countryside, but still wearing just our black shorts and plimsolls.In the summer we went outside for athletics or cross country. Plus, we had a double lesson, referred to as Games,for soccer in the winter, when we wore full soccer kit, or cricket in the summer. After all the above activities, apart from cricket, we always had to get our kit off and go in the open communal showers.Times have changed since then and it seems that generally this practice has been discontinued in schools.

James B,
Did the PE uniform list that went to your parents say that supporters were allowed from the 3rd year, or were you told this by your PE teacher (which is what happened with my Ex)?

He said that some boys could have done with one earlier, whereas others didn't really need one at the start of their 3rd year!

Yes John the nylon white shorts did become transparent when playing when pe was outside(football or cross country) At least it was an all boys school and no one seemed bothered, and the playing fields were secluded.

Rob, we were allowed to wear trainers outside. Our PE lessons were 3 times a week and we’d generally do the same activity for a week but week to week we didn’t know what we were doing. One week could have been gymnastics and the next rugby or we could be doing a week of gymnastics and have a surprise cross country. So yeah we had to bring our trainers to every lesson and those that didn’t had to go outside and take part barefoot.

@ James B, my experience exactly!

I attended a grammar school from the mid 60''s and our kit was as shown in the picture. The 'no underpants' rule applied and was monitored. From year 3 we were allowed a Litesome supporter which could be bought from PE Dept. Most boys bought one.

Ross, so did wear plimsolls or trainers outside and did you know when you were going to need them or did you always have to bring them in case?

Rob, our PE kit was white shorts and pumps and nothing allowed underneath the shorts. Black shorts would have been more sensible as the white nylon shorts of the 1970s could become transparent.

Hi Rob, my uniform list actually required a change of underwear not that anyone checked or probably even dared to have checked. We weren’t however allowed plimsolls or trainers for indoor activities inside the gymnasium, it was strictly bare feet.

Ross, It looks very much like the gymnasium at my school at that time.Our kit was just black shorts and plimsolls. We weren't allowed anything under our shorts, which was normal at the time, probably including the lads in the photo.

Looking at the gymnasium it doesn’t look too dissimilar from the one I used in high school and I went in the early 2000s !!! This is from 1959.

The kits were different though as we wore a white polo shirt, navy shorts and bare feet.

I agree with Chris G about wearing them under shorts, and even trousers, in the summer. They are a lot cooler to wear than briefs. I still go to a gym a couple of times a week even though I gave up playing actual sports long ago, and I still wear a jockstrap under my shorts there. I am possibly the only one who does - but who cares? I also agree with Chris that it is sad that shops such as Debenhams and sports shops no longer seem to stock them. I bought a couple recently via the internet. There are a few UK suppliers to buy them from without having to import them from the USA - even Amazon seems to have them.

Philip - For everyday underwear, Dad was very much a vest and briefs man, as were many men half a century ago, but with Singapore having a hot, humid climate, and taking the advice of both Mum and colleagues who had been there before him, he decided that he wouldn't need to take any vests but that he would need something less enveloping than his briefs but sufficiently supportive of his lower anatomy. Once back in the UK climate, he instinctively reverted to vast and briefs, leaving half a dozen nearly-new Litesome jockstraps up for grabs. Mum was all for throwing them away (there weren't any clothing/textile recycling oppportunities back then) but my brother and I had other ideas, and rapidly added them to our respective wardrobes. Alhtough we occasionally wore them in more formal situations, we generally wore them under shorts, both for sports and for general use in the summer, until they died of failed elatic, as most jockstraps do in the end. Even now, I prefer a jock to briefs in hot weather, although they are increasingly hard to find in the high-street shops. Until about five years ago, Debenham's had them in their Active Sport underwear range but, sadly, not any more.

Arby and Chris G

Yes unfortunately the lifespan of a Litesome Jockstrap was rather short lived due to wear and tear, often found lying around damp on changing room floors etc. We could have of course just go down to the school outfitters and purchase a new one, but often, being boys, we couldn't be fagged. So often knots were tied in the straps to keep some kind of tension when the elastic went. Wasn't ideal but it worked to some extent. Yes, like you I have never stopped wearing a jock for sport. Like you l wear narrow bands. Youngsters are so spoilt for choice these days.

To ChrisG.
Why did your dad just want jock straps to wear in Singapore and didn't want them any more when he returned?

As with Chris G I too used to wear mine often. I found them to be comfortable. I still wear one under shorts in the summer. Very cool to wear. Although a bit difficult to buy in shops now they are not difficult to find on the internet. As you say Chris, the narrower waist bands are preferable.

Gavin, James - just the question I was going to ask. I think that I wore mine (and Dad's) for most of the first summer that I had them, and fairly regularly from then, until they wore out, which was generally when the leg elastic perished from too much washing. I still wear jocks in the summer when I can get them, although I prefer a narrow waist-band now.

James
Why wouldn't you tell your parents about your wearing a jockstrap? Who washed your sports stuff?

James,
I assume that it was the fact that you wore your jockstrap under your ordinary clothes that you didn't tell your parents? Presumably your mum knew you had one in the first place by the fact that it appeared in the washing basket?

Also, were either of your parents with you when you purchased it?

In answer to ChrIS G, yes once our PE teacher had suggested that some of us would be ‘more comfortable’ if we wore jockstraps i got one. It was so comfortable and different that i would wear it for pe and games but also whenever i could, but i never told my parents.

Danny,
In classrooms slippering was done over skirts, but in PE it was over gym knickers.
As it was an all girls school, we didn't have many male teachers. I can't recall any of them administering corporal punishment, but don't know whether that was because they weren't allowed to.

Likewise - Congratulations on reaching 2000 posts - and half a million views.
I'm not sure when I made my first post ... some years back, I know. This is always an interesting read ...

1999 Posts!
So who is going to be the 2,000th poster?
Unless someone is waiting for his post to be approved I might be the one. :)

Andrea, how were you slippered or otherwise at secondary school, over skirt or some other way?
Were male teachers allowed to physically punish girls in your secondary school?

Danny,
Yes we girls became adept at putting on our PE shorts before removing our skirts!
Mixed changing did start to become an issue for a few girls who started to wear bras rather than vests in our final year at primary. They were allowed to change separately in the toilets. Was this the same in your primary school, or did all your classmates remain in vests until the end of primary?
By the time my son was at primary, boys and girls changed in separate classrooms for the final two years.

Yes we had corporal punishment at secondary school too. Fortunately I was quite well behaved, so it only happened to me on a couple of occasions.

Andrea, it was the same at our primary school, we all changed in class, both boys and girls, into PE shorts and T shirt under the supervision of our class teacher.
It was no big deal for any of us since this was the routine throughout primary school.
It was actually easier on the girls since they put their shorts on under their skirt before taking it off while we boys had to take our pants off to wear our PE shorts.

Slipperings and sometimes the ruler were also more or less common in class, depending on which teacher you had that year. But during PE the teachers would usually just smack your legs or thighs or shorts bottom with their hand for misbehaviour.
The older teachers usually used corporal punishment the most while the younger new ones rarely used it. I think they were already being taught in their teaching course to avoid physical punishment.
Except for the first year or two in Secondary it was subsequently banned. Were you also physically punished in secondary school?