Chapter 13 4. Modern stripes (19th-20th century)-3

funny zebra The association between children and stripes has a long history.In some portraits of the Middle Ages, newborns wrapped in swaddling clothes can already be seen, and the thin straps outside the swaddling clothes are formed into strips to fix the swaddling clothes［87］.Later, in the aristocracy of the old regime, it was popular for adults to wear striped clothes, and children were no exception.It was the same during the Revolution: several engravings depict little patriots in striped shorts, vests, skirts or blouses.But the evidence is anecdotal, and the special relationship between stripes and children wasn't really established until the second half of the 19th century, and it's been solidified ever since.

Children, whether babies or teenagers, are probably the ones who wear stripes most often in modern society.Gone are the sailor suits so cherished by the young Proust and the young Sartre, but another stripe has taken over.Today's archetype is no longer the sailor but the athlete.They are two different types of "zebras", but equally difficult to integrate into the social order. This special relationship between stripes and children must first be considered in terms of social signs.For historians, it is still tempting to travel through the centuries to find the last vestiges of the stripes that demeaned or repelled them in the Middle Ages in the striped clothing worn by children today.Like lepers, charlatans, and prostitutes, children are in many ways an excluded class, and stripes have long been a distinctive sign of exclusion.Perhaps such an association is a bit far-fetched?Because there is an equal relationship between stripes and light colors on children, and the concept of hygiene stripes.Little girls and boys are dressed in clothes that won't get them dirty when dressed in white, pink, blue or stripes, the exact opposite of medieval stripes!

Nineteenth-century children's stripes were not just a sign of exclusion—but any sign is a sign of exclusion because they emphasize belonging to a class and therefore not belonging to an opposing class—but also a sign of hygiene, a guarantee of cleanliness and wholesomeness [88 ].Plus, striped clothes have long been thought to get less dirty than other clothes.This idea is obviously wrong in terms of chemistry and materiality, but not quite so in terms of feeling.Stripes always act as a cover-up.It both shows and hides, so it helps cover up blemishes.We'll come back to this visual role of stripes later.

It is hygienic and clean, so it belongs to the "bourgeois" children's stripes and also contains the meaning of games.Either because of what children wear, or more because children's stripes here resemble two other types of stripes we've already encountered: one for leisure, vacation, and seaside; The stripes of actors, of all those who "act" in one capacity or another.Striped clothing is sometimes sought for a "momentary," parodic, or even disguised effect.A representative example of this is the sailor suit of our ancestors.It's clean, unassuming, and "chic," but at the same time cheerful, even "funny."It's second-class attire, sympathetic, amusing, even ridiculous.Its streaks are as happy as it is associated with makeup.Just as the stripes of clowns and comedians are joyful, it is no accident that stage stars like Colluche, not so long ago, were funny in striped children's overalls.And it's no accident that characters like Obelix (a sidekick of Asterix's comic strip of the same name) wear a pair of blue and white vertically striped shorts.Coluche and Obelix are different types of people, but both are comedians, "funny zebras."However, like Buffon in the eighteenth century, modern society has an irresistible tenderness and affection for zebras-generally only seen in books[89].This is a peculiar animal, "out of the ordinary", lively and active, especially as if it is wearing makeup.Therefore, it always looks very young.There is no "old zebra," either literally or by extension.For a grown-up of a decent living, wearing beaming or brightly striped clothing is a grotesque gesture, a sign of grandstanding or eccentricity.Such stripes belong only to young people, to clowns, to artists, and usually appear on clothes, or other vehicles related to children, festivals, games: sweets (such as fruit gum), toys, temporary wooden sheds for market traders, Circus and theater props [90].

Today, children's stripes are all hygienic and bright, play-related and full of energy.Commercial companies rely on these properties to market products for use by young people and all those who wish to remain youthful.A typical example of using stripes for commercial purposes is the famous Jie Nuo brand toothpaste, which is a white toothpaste mainly aimed at young people in the late 1960s. It is surrounded by red stripes. When the toothpaste is squeezed out of the tube, The effect is fantastic [91].And the efficiency is absolutely high.The presence of the stripes accentuates the hygienic character of the toothpaste, making it a hybrid product that seems to speed up the extrusion of the toothpaste while making the process seem joyful, fun and inviting, turning brushing into a game.This white toothpaste with red stripes makes people want to swallow it!In fact, people consume this toothpaste more than regular toothpaste.Toothpaste goes away faster because with this toothpaste brushing is no longer a chore but a pleasure.So people put more toothpaste on their toothbrushes.From a marketing standpoint, developing such a product was a stroke of genius.Once put on the market, this Jienuo toothpaste has occupied the number one sales position.Other companies followed suit, but none were able to achieve the success that this trailblazing brand has enjoyed.The name itself, Signal (Signal), combined with the stripes, becomes a truly iconic badge: all stripes are first and foremost a signal [92].

The most representative example is the sports stripe, whose purpose is to be seen from a distance, and which shares many characteristics with the children's stripe: it is not only iconic, but also hygienic (it is in contact with the body), play youthful, summery, youthful, and full of vigor [93].Like children, the athlete who uses stripes extensively is the "ludicrous zebra," the fringe of society where there are clowns, buskers, actors, all those who perform in public.Striped clothing on the sports field can be seen, if not as a sign of exclusion, at least for isolation and disguise purposes.In many ways, athletes are the modern day comedian.

But athletic stripes have another important role, a subtle symbolic role in children and comedians.By using this stripe and not that, the player is placed on a certain team, which belongs to a certain club, a certain city, a certain region or a certain country.Sporting stripes obey similar rules to coats of arms and flags.At all major competitions - such as major football matches, or, more typically, the most spectacular sporting show: the track and field finals in the Olympic Games - the players on the field wear colorful costumes with a distinctive heraldic pattern The characteristics of the episode are reminiscent of medieval jousting.On the vests and shorts of the track and field athletes, the colors of the designs varied as much as on the shields and ensigns of the knights.These patterns are often composed of horizontal, vertical and diagonal stripes, reminiscent of club or country flags.Like knights, athletes also wear their own flags [94].

Sportswear is still waiting to be studied by its historians.One would hope that there would be not only comprehensive treatises on the subject but also pattern collections similar to those possessed by historians of military uniforms, which are worryingly numerous.One also wonders why in some sports (softball, basketball, ice hockey, boxing) most referees wear the stripes that belonged to them to begin with, and why in others (e.g. soccer, rugby) this visually Clothing that clearly distinguishes referees from players is not used.One is particularly interested to know how the stripes and colors vary on the jerseys of the different teams (pro, amateur, youth, prep) in various sports within a certain club.How they form a system, how they are incorporated into the symbolic system of the city, how they are used by supporters, what are their origins, history, meanings.Aristocratic (sky blue and white like the Racine club in France), college students (purple and white for the Université de Paris), corporate (ASPTT, ASPP, etc.), military and workingman, how sports stripes are symmetrical to each other of.Even a soccer club as prestigious as Turin's Juventus, despite its famous black and white vertical stripes sweeping across all European football pitches, is almost completely blank.This is regrettable, not least because, for historians of signs and social rules, sports are rich in written and graphic sources and represent a promising field of study.