Epilogue

"A Piece of the Action," Part X, the 1968 Star Trek Episode, completes my ten part series of "Undressed Under Duress."  Hope you enjoyed these stories of poor, stressed unfortunates reduced to wearing only their Union Suits. I had fun researching and developing each one.

These features were first introduced earlier this year by four hombres standing in their long underwear, stetsons, garters and boots with arms raised over their heads at gun point.

Were you wondering who they might be and from whence they appeared? Well, my good pal and union suit fan, Joe of New York City, told me these desperadoes appeared in a Republic Pictures series entitled "The Three Mesquiteers."  The 1937 episode was "Wild Horse Rodeo" about a beautiful horse called "Cyclone" and the rodeo champion who came back home to track down this wild stallion. You'll have to watch the show to find out why these cowboys, played by Art Dillard, Jack Ingram, Henry Isabell, and Max Terhune, ended up stripped to their union suits. 

A further observation before we put this series to bed:

Did you notice some of the men in my postings were wearing faded pink or salmon colored union suits? For instance, Silverado's Paden, Chisum's Deputy Morton, and the High Chaparral highwaymen. Here's one explanation...

With men being men in those days, have you ever wondered why the guys riding the chaparral wore pink or salmon union suits? Doesn’t the idea of pink long underwear seem odd? Well not really. For a start, union suits were most likely dyed red when new. At least, history suggests this. There are several reasons for it.

First, because white underwear would soon go grey and unsightly with the dusty work of the ranch so red would look better. Red dye was commonly found in those days and used for many things.

Another reason union suits were dyed red was because it was believed that red flannel kept a person warmer than any other color. Maybe this is because red is a warm color. Who knows, but that was the general belief. So I suppose we can forgive the fellas of yesteryear for wearing pink union suits.    ... Anonymous

Be sure to buy, rent or stream these movies / television shows. Support Union Suit offerings. I guarantee you'll find them as entertaining as I did! And, keep 'em buttoned... Chris Ayers