Editing Jockstrap (section)

== History ==
[[File:Jockstrap Ad 1941 01.jpg|thumb|Jockstrap ad, 1941]]
[[File:Vintage JayBee Jockstrap.jpg|thumb|right|150px|JayBee jockstrap]]
The jockstrap was invented in 1874 by C. F. Bennett of a [[Chicago]] sporting goods company, Sharp & Smith, to provide comfort and support for bicycle jockeys working the cobblestone streets of [[Boston]]. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Maoui |first=Zak |date=2023-08-25 |title=How the jockstrap took over men's fashion |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/jockstrap-trend-menswear-2023 |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=British GQ |language=en-GB}}</ref> The original incarnation of the jockstrap resembled a [[thong]], as it featured a strap that went between the buttocks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The surprisingly unisex history of the thong |url=https://www.mic.com/articles/180413/the-surprisingly-unisex-history-of-the-thong |access-date=2022-11-26 |website=Mic |language=en}}</ref> In 1897 Bennett's newly formed Bike Web Company patented and began mass-producing the Bike Jockey Strap.<ref>{{cite book |title=Cultural Encyclopedia of the Penis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bHytBAAAQBAJ |first1=Michael |last1=Kimmel |first2=Christine |last2=Milrod |first3=Amanda |last3=Kennedy |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2014|isbn=978-0-7591-2314-4 |page=97}}</ref> The Bike Web Company later became known as the [[Bike Company]]. Bike, until 2003, was a stand-alone company. In that year, the company and its trademarks were purchased by Russell Athletic. Russell Athletic continued to produce jockstraps using the Bike brand and logos until 2017 when they retired the brand. Russell had become a Fruit-of-the-Loom subsidiary, and Fruit-of-the-Loom is owned by and part of Berkshire Hathaway. On April 15, 2021, the brand's website reopened for online sales, featuring a modernized version of their trademark "No. 10" jockstrap, as well as active apparel.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} 

The jockstrap was also influential in early 20th-century medicine with the invention of the Heidelberg Electric Belt, a low-voltage electric powered jockstrap that claimed to cure [[kidney disorder]]s, [[insomnia]], [[erectile dysfunction]], and other ailments. Today, jockstraps are still worn in the US by adolescent and adult men for sports, weightlifting, medical purposes, and for recovery from injury or [[surgery]] for such conditions as [[hematocele]], [[inguinal hernia]], [[hydrocele]], or [[spermatocele]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

In the early 2020s, jockstraps saw a renewed popularity as underwear for men with jockstraps finding favor in place of more conventional underwear as wearing them became a fashionable trend.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Criales-Unzueta |first=Jose |date=2022-06-03 |title=With Jockstraps Hitting the Runways, Fashion is Saying Gay Loud and Clear |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/fashion-jockstraps |access-date=2022-11-26 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}}</ref> The trend was reflected with the inclusion of the garment in the runways of various major designers including, [[Calvin Klein]], [[JW Anderson]], [[Gucci]], and [[Rick Owens]], alongside other large brands like [[Adidas]], [[Diesel (brand)|Diesel]], and [[2(x)ist]] making multiple styles.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Toumazou |first=Aaron |date=2021-02-06 |title=The manifold reasons to invest in a jockstrap |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/fashion/gallery/best-jockstraps |access-date=2022-11-26 |website=British GQ |language=en-GB}}</ref>