Burnley Grammar School

Barry J on 12th February 2021 at 12:44

Barry, men swimming naked was the norm in times past. While women in Victorian times went down to the sea in their bathing machines, men went further along the beach, stripped naked and went for a swim. Trunks in relative terms are a recent invention. Other countries particularly in Germany and Scandinavia still quite commonly have naked swimming, I've certainly done it in Germany and Finland both in pools and outdoors - on a beach in Berlin and in lakes in Finland. In Germany it is often mixed, in Finland single sex is the norm at least IME.

Sam
a boarding school as I have mentioned before so it was an independent school or ‘public school for boys’! There between 1968 and 1976 so almost contemporary with you

Suddenly, it appears to have become National Jockstrap Month here. I can only say again at our school until the age of 16 you were not allowed to wear anything under your shorts officially BUT it was made known, quietly, that when you got to 14/15, you could wear your Speedos under them if it made you feel more comfortable, but this was not to be advertised by exposing the top of them over your shorts. At best a blind eye was drawn.

So many of you complain that boys these days are "feminized" because they no longer have to run through the February streets wearing only shorts, but you can't have it both ways. If boys are that much more shy these days (and possibly they are), I very much doubt they are rocking up at JD Sports to buy a jockstrap. I can't prove that, and I am certainly not going to risk arrest by standing outside the local comp or SportsWorld to find out

Even professional footballers don't wear them these days (the number of "d*ck slips" on social media prove that). There is currently a vogue for ridiculous underpants which have no backside in them, and are described as "fashion jockstraps", but at the sort of working class school I went to, such garments, and the original version, would have been regarded as a bit "gay", as this strange garment forms a fetish for gay men.

If boys are wearing track suit trousers, and according to many of you, virtually anything else they like, refusing to shower etc, I very much doubt that very many of them are risking undressing to put one of those things on.

We had a few jack the lads at school who jumped into fashions in shirts and underwear etc, but not even the most sporty ever wore an athletic support, and they were never mentioned by our teacher

Fred
I also tried the nylon version and, like you, didn't find it comfortable and went back to wearing the cotton version. It was really comfortable to wear. It was a pity that it seems that Litesome ceased making jockstraps. But as you say, there are so many different ones available nowadays particularly online. It seems that it might be just you and me wearing them nowadays !

Thanks for sharing four. The boys are barefoot too are you ok with that? Girls were still allowed shoes? What kind of sports is done like that and what about swimming class?

Is the British teacher doing punishments as well?

Martin - a boarding school - 1966 to 74 - Litesome was the only jockstrap brand I remember - modern kids are spoilt for choice today - what about you what school? Also independent school if you’re talking about ‘fagging’ I presume

Roy
Like you, we all had Litesome jocks. I don't think that there were any other makes in the sixties. Most of us had the standard cotton ones, a few, mostly the keener types had nylon ones. I had one for a time but found it rather uncomfortable after a while and I reverted to the cotton ones. There is, of course, there is a huge variety available today.

Four thanks for your reply. They were all ok with being barefoot even outside but were struggling for just being shirtless? Also he made them 4 hours standing outside? Honestly that sounds highly unbelievable.

Hi Jason,

Yeah we were all barefoot but nobody cared about it. We only hated being barechest. Girls got to wear shoes.

Actually we only needed to be shirtless for calisthenics exercises. However, our weekly P.E was 2 hours, the 1st hour is calisthenics. We were expected to already be shirtless in the classroom before the P.E teacher arrives. After he came, we would line up then follow him to the field. All of us left our shirts in the classroom. In the first few lessons, some boys went back to put on a shirt after calisthenics. After a while most just finish the 2nd hour shirtless. We don't have swimming lessons.

We were quite obedient so he doesn't need to punish us. Although in the first lesson a few boys were hesitant to take their shirts off and one even cried. He punished them to stand outside the school gate shirtless with their arms up in the air for 4 hours.

Fred

Yes like you I remember going to the local sports shop to buy my first jockstrap. I cannot remember the price but it was a Litesome make. Most of the other boys in my class were wearing one for sports and so I wanted to join them. As others have said earlier "a rite of passage". I found them very comfortable for all gym and sports. Like you I still wear one for activities and under shorts in the summer.

Thanks for sharing four. The boys are barefoot too are you ok with that? Girls were still allowed shoes? What kind of sports is done like that and what about swimming class?

Is the British teacher doing punishments as well?

Four: I think that this proves we have/had more perverts in the British system, and as an end has been put to their queer ways in the UK, they have emigrated to countries where they think they can still get away with it. I hope not for too much longer

Hi Charles,

I guess none of us ever told our parents about it, most of the boys found it weird and disliked it but none of us dared objecting it. During my first year, I was shocked to find out I have to be shirtless during P.E, there were a lot of shy boys but we all took off our shirts once we saw other braver boys take off.

The P.E master did say when he was in England he made boys do P.E shirtless as well so we won't be having it any different. I did ask around and found out there are maybe only 1 or 2 other schools like mine and coincidentally, they all have a head or P.E master from Britain.

We all have 2 hours of P.E every week, its mixed, so technically all shirtless sessions were mixed. The girls wore shirts and shorts. They did tease the boys by saying "we will be seeing you shirtless soon!" or something like that.

Four, what did the parents have to say about the imposition by the British teacher? Did no one object or find it weird? Do you know if this is a rule in any other Taiwanese school?

(How often) were shirtless lessons mixed sessions? What did the girls wear? Did they tease the boys?

I started at an all boys prep school in 1962. We played football and rugby in the winter months and cricket in the summer term, we wore nothing under our shorts, I don't remember it being a rule and I think it was just custom. There were certainly no "inspections". There was a communal shower which held about 30 of us at a time. We were usually covered in mud and certainly sweat, so showering was essential. I fail to understand those who would ban showers, how else could you get 100 or so muddy and sweaty small boys clean in less than hour?
I moved on to a much larger school in 1967 at the age of 13 and the usual games were played as well as more running and gym. It soon became obvious that the older boys were wearing jockstraps as the changing rooms were open, and after a short time most of us had them and wore them for all games, gym and other activities. I seem to remember that they cost 6 bob in the local sports shop.
I started wearing a jock again in my 30s after a bit of back trouble and found it a big help and still wear one for work and all physical activities.
,

Sam
Not all indelible inks were as good as others, so there was some interchange of kit I seem to remember ... and picking up sodden kit from the changing room floor wasn’t an easy task for us ‘fags’ as we known! The laundry system left a lot to be desired but hey ho we have all survived. Which school did you go to Sam?

Hi Martin

Most boys at my school used indelible ink to mark their jockstraps as most didn't involve their parents in the purchase. As for the laundry at my school - non existent lol

James,
My Ex said that he and his classmates were relieved when they were recommended to start wearing a jockstrap at the start of their 3rd year at secondary school (so aged 13 / 14).
The local sports shop must have done quite a trade as he said most of the boys were wearing them within a couple of weeks.

Having read various postings about lads having to swim without trunks in the school pool, I often wondered why? But now having read Nic's comments saying that as you were wearing just shorts and plimsolls, I can see the logic in just stripping of and plunging into a pool even with ice on top. Certainly it would save all the hassle of taking off one piece of clothing to replace it with another. I suppose even in winter you would be warm after a run and going into the icy water would be no different to the Scandinavians plunging from a sauna into an icy water.

Hello everyone, my English is not that good as I come from Taiwan.

Just wanted to say in my middle school which I just graduated from in 2018, all boys had to do gym calisthenics during P.E shirtless. Our school hired a retired British P.E teacher to be our head P.E master and he mandated all boys to be barechested. Needless to say all my male classmates hated it and felt uncomfortable. The females loved it though haha.

I went back to the school to help out last year and boys are still shirtless. I have some pics to show and I'm open to any questions.

https://imgur.com/a/YmEURsT

Andrea,Jason,we weren't allowed to wear any form of underwear under our shorts at our secondary school and went right through school without wearing any.I felt awkward with this custom and would have been happy to put up with my mother's"giggles"if she had allowed me to wear a jock strap under my shorts.

Did anyone else see the piece on BBC Breakfast this morning about the men who are out running at the moment in trainers and shorts in this rather cold winter. It's termed bare skin running and seemingly a growing craze along with wild swimming.

Of course for many of us here, it's nothing new though some have better memories of it than others. For me as a boarding school boy we had a 'bare skin' run every morning followed by a compulsory dip in the outdoor pool even when there was ice floating on it. The run was shorts and plimsols, both came off to jump in the pool and indeed trunks were never worn.

Andrea

Mum knew what a jock-strap looked like from Dad's earlier Rugby playing days. She said it was the sight of her little "pride and joy" in one that threw her into giggles.

Hi Andrea

Name-tags or some boys used indelible ink pens to write on surname or house number! Wasn’t unknown though for some boys to use someone else’s.

Yes, I had a jockstrap ‘with pouch’ for cricket. The ‘cricket-box’ was a a communal one for the batsmen. Otherwise boys wore a standard jockstrap, i.e. ‘without pouch’, for all other sport!

Martin,
Presumably you had to have name tags sown on to your jockstraps at boarding school so the laundry staff knew who was who's?

My son didn't wear one for PE at school, but he did have to have a jockstrap and 'box' when he started playing junior cricket at 11. It did make me smile when I first saw them - so small compared with the adult ones his dad wore. But I suppose it was only like seeing one of my 28aa training bras on the washing line next to one of my mum's full size ones when I was growing up!

Andrea
I would say definitely a 'right of passage' a jockstrap! As Sam said some boys wore swimming trunks but in the boarding houses at least l reckon practically every boy was wearing a jockstrap for whatever sporting activity by the time they reached the end of schooling.

For boarders jockstraps like other clothing went to the laundry. My mother thought a jockstrap a bit of a giggle on seeing it for its first time wash at home, but afterwards never really mentioned the subject again. Don't really now counts for a right of passage for boys these days. But for us it was a statement of manliness!!

Jason and Martin,
It sounds like getting a jockstrap was a bit of a 'right of passage' similar to girls getting their first bra.
It caused a bit of a stir when one girl started to wear one at the start of our last year at primary school, but by the end of our second year a secondary school only one or two weren't wearing one.

Jason, did your mum know what a jockstrap looked like before she saw you wearing yours? The first time I saw one was when my husband's appeared in the washing basket shortly after we were married!

Alan from what I remember the teacher never came into the changing room. As for the ropes I never gave it a thought. The first few times we were in pairs doing handstands it was a bit odd holding another boys legs up in the air meant a lot was on show also when we had to sit feet to feet and rock back & forward in a rowing motion. But then after a couple of lessons no one worried. After all we all stripped off in the changing room prior to a shower.
No never gave a second thought to what the teacher may or may not have seen.

Andrea, Jeff, Martin
It definitely wasn't a pre-planned modelling session!
Dad bought me my first jockstrap when he was shopping in town one Saturday morning. I think he got it in Boots, but I haven't seen them there for many years now. I took it upstairs to try on, and was standing and twirling in front of my bedroom mirror admiring the view (!) when Mum came back in from walking the dog, came upstairs and happened to glance into my bedroom as she passed the door. She knew Dad was going to get me one, but thought that the only place she would ever get to see it was in the laundry basket.

Jason, Martin, Sam
It was similar at my school regards support. It usually started if we were selected for the rugby team. Then we were told to turn up with clean kit and to wear a pair of swimming trunks as they would keep us 'comfortable'.
It usually followed that we started wearing them for PE, cross country and so on. Jock straps were not specially mentioned but later on some boys started wearing them.
If anyone wants to email me about any of this please do. Fun days as was said.