Everyone needs hosiery, and because of this, there is a pair of socks suitable for every person, every situation and every interest.
From compression socks and ankle socks to line training shoes, there is also a wide variety of socks with all kinds of different patterns, frills, designs and even cartoon characters on them.
Whilst a pair of socks based on a person’s favourite toy, TV show or computer game is a common and fairly beloved gift, which character was the first to appear on a pair of socks.
The answer is remarkably difficult to ascertain, but there are a few contenders as well as one obvious and likely confirmed set.
The First Ever Character Merchandise
Over a century before the birth of cartoons and the likes of Barbie and Mickey Mouse, the first character to have a line of merchandise was the rather less endearing schoolmaster Doctor Syntax.
Originally featured in the poetry series The Schoolmaster’s Tour, Doctor Syntax was an absurdist satire of so-called “picturesque hunters”, or people who would flock to beautiful landscapes to sketch and “improve” the natural scenery.
Conceived by artist Thomas Rowlandson and prolific writer William Combe, Doctor Syntax quickly became a very popular character and by 1812 the original serialised poems and sketches were collated into a book.
Not only were there two sequels, In Search Of Consolation in 1820 and In Search of A Wife in 1821, but it also inspired an astonishing amount of merchandise in an era when such a concept was unheard of.
Prints of the art were available as would have been expected, but so were puppets, crockery, wigs, mugs and even wigs available that were inspired by the character.
More importantly, there were also clothing items such as his signature hat, coat and tops based on the character.
It is also possible, although unfortunately there is no proof that has been found of this, that Doctor Syntax was the first character to have a line of socks, given that embroidered socks existed for centuries beforehand and the Industrial Revolution had made it quicker to produce elaborate sock designs.
The Earliest Confirmed Cartoon Socks
The Victorian era brought with it a wide variety of firsts when it came to both socks and merchandising opportunities.
Jules Verne’s Around the World In Eighty Days was the first work of fiction with product placement, the Mudie’s Circulating Library created a new tradition of mass-market literature and magazines such as Punch created highly popular characters who would often be sold with additional merchandise.
However, one of the earliest cartoon characters that is confirmed to have embroidered socks is possibly the most well-known character in all of fiction.
Just a couple of years after Steamboat Willie, Mickey Mouse was already appearing in merchandise, including officially licensed socks with paper labels by the 1830s.
Somewhat ironically, Walt and Roy Disney had not planned to merchandise any of the popular characters, but in 1929 they allowed the character to appear on a writing slate that children would use in school.
By 1939’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, this necessity to fund the studio became a standard part of how they presented their films, and it proved so influential that you can buy socks with almost any design, character or logo on them.