History
Jockey was originally named Coopers Inc., and was founded by Samuel T. Cooper in 1876 as a hosiery business. Cooper began the business when he learned that lumberjacks were suffering from poorly constructed wool socks. In 1900 Cooper began making undergarments. Although business was good enough to merit expansion in 1902, by 1934 Coopers Inc. was nearly bankrupt due to hardships caused by The Great Depression. The company recruited Harry H. Wolf, Sr. to re-structure the company.
On January 19, 1935 during a blizzard, Coopers Inc. sold the world's first briefs at the Marshall Field's State Street store in downtown Chicago. Designed by an apparel engineer named Arthur Kneibler, briefs dispensed with leg sections and had a Y-shaped overlapping fly. The company dubbed the design the Jockey, since it offered a degree of support that had previously only been available from the jockstrap. Jockey briefs proved so popular that over 30,000 pairs were sold within three months of their introduction. Coopers, having renamed the company Jockey, sent its Mascul-liner plane to make special deliveries of masculine support briefs to retailers across the US. In 1938, when Jockeys were introduced in the UK, they sold at the rate of 3,000 a week. In 1982, Jockey introduced the Jockey For Her line of intimate apparel and underwear.
Divisions
In 2000, Jockey began selling products directly on-line at jockey.com.
Jockey manufactured Life and Formfit brands temporarily for Wal-Mart and Target. Jockey continues to manufacture the Life brand of men's underwear but discontinued the women's line in 2002.
In 2005 Jockey introduced its direct-selling division Jockey Person to Person. The independent sales force, known as Comfort Specialist Consultants, sell products for women. Product lines include active wear, sleepwear, lounge wear, and accessories.
Jockey Being Family
Jockey Being Family is Jockey International's community relations initiative focused on supporting families after they've adopted a child. Through this initiative, Jockey strives to increase awareness of and accessibility to post adoption services nationwide for adoptive families.
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