1930:
During the Great Depression a large infusion of much-needed cash came to Cooper's from Ralph Cooper's brother-in-law, Gilbert S. Lance. Lance was a member of the Simmons family, owners of the Simmons Mattress Company which was also based in Kenosha. Gilbert Lance's money along with Ralph Cooper's passion for the business joined and the heartfelt commitment of the Cooper's employees set the company on a new and successful course.
1930:
Harry Wolf Sr. became an independent auditor of Cooper's beginning a relationship with the company he would one day own.
1934:
Mid-1934 Arthur Kneibler received a post card from a friend visiting the French Riviera. It showed a man in a bikini style swimsuit. A light went off in his head. Kneibler saw not a swim suit but underwear for the common man. Kneibler had been pondering something new and innovative in underwear, and this post card was the inspiration. The underwear industry's biggest breakthrough ever was born - the Jockey® brief. Unlike any underwear before, it provided men with "masculine support," available at that time only through the use of an athletic supporter, sometimes called a "jock strap." To discretely describe the function of the new-fangled underwear, Cooper's branded it the Jockey® (JOCK-ey) brief.
1934:
The Jockey® short was a premium product and needed a premium image to set it apart. Kneibler decided to package Jockey® shorts wrapped in cellophane. He remembered the success of the Singleton; due in part to the attractive, clear package that brought underwear to the front of the store along with belts, hats and other men's fine accessories.
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1935:
In January 1935, Cooper's was ready to launch the Jockey short. Chicago's popular Marshall Field & Company agreed to an elaborate display in the store and windows including posters and a full-size cutout in the window featuring a model wearing the seemingly risquè (for the times) garment. Jockey would definitely attract attention. By noon of the product's debut, the store had sold out its stock of 600 packages and, in the next two weeks, sold 12,000 more. This performance was repeated in many stores across the country. The Jockey® short became an instant sensation.
1935:
The Jockey® Y-Front® brief was invented and became Cooper's hottest item. The Y-Front® brief become another important innovation in the history of underwear. The Y-Front® brief evolved from the knowledge that the main support in the original Jockey® brief, which had no opening (fly), was carried by the seams that ran up the front of each leg. The Y-Front®, in effect, improved upon the support of the original Jockey® brief.
1935:
The success of the Y-Front® brief enabled the design of Jockey products with longer legs - Midway®, Overknees and Long silhouettes. Cooper's coupled this product success with a period of creativity in marketing, merchandising and innovation that the industry hadn't seen since the debut of the Kenosha Klosed Krotch in 1909.
1936:
International markets began to express interest in the company's innovative products and Cooper's signed its first international license agreement with the J.R. Moodie company in Canada. That same year, European export agents began placing orders for Cooper's products.
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1938:
At a retail convention in Chicago, Cooper's hosted one of the first Underwear Fashion Shows, featuring "The Cellophane Wedding." Always eager to challenge convention, but not good taste, Cooper's Cellophane Wedding demonstrated that the well-dressed man - with his bride at his side - had Jockey® underwear on underneath. Pictures appeared in every major newspaper and magazine across the globe.
1938:
Cooper's signed a license agreement with the Lyle & Scott Company in Scotland to manufacture cotton briefs and undershirts. Lyle & Scott implemented the Jockey selling program - fixtures, stride forms, size charts and sales booklets such as Cooper's handout entitled "Retail Selling Made Easy."
1938:
Also that same year, Cooper's signed a license agreement with MacRae Knitting Mills in Australia. MacRae had recently developed a brand of swimwear that itself was destined for greatness. The company's chairman, Alisdair MacRae, knew the look of a winning brand and was immediately ready to sign an agreement with Cooper's.
1939:
A Cooper's salesman invented a countertop dispenser to organize sizes and styles of underwear. It highlighted the array of styles for the retailer. The salesman commented, "Man, did that contraption ever sell Jockey® underwear." Cooper's quickly developed this fixture for distribution to retailers across the United States.
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