User:DarjeelingTea/Letter

A Letter is a distinction awarded by high schools and universities in the United States to members of the school's athletic teams and, in some cases, non-athletic team activities such as marching band or debate. They are displayed on Varsity Jackets (also known as Letter Jackets, or Letterman Jackets) and their recipients are known as Lettermen.

History
The custom of Letters originated at Harvard University in 1865 when, one day, the Harvard baseball team decided to affix large fabric "H"s to their uniforms. Existing team tradition held that outstanding players were permitted to keep their uniforms upon graduation, meaning that ownership of the Letter became a mark of distinction and the display of the Letter became inseparably entangled with special apparel. By the 1870s other Harvard teams had adopted similar practices.

Early Letter Jackets were actually cardigan sweaters, though the style gave way to Varsity Jackets in the 1930s.

Letter Jackets are "especially significant status symobls" in American high school culture. Sociologist Murray Milner has noted that a student who wore a medal to school daily would be seen as pretentious, however, because the Letter Jacket serves a practical purpose as a functional article of clothing, it becomes a legitimate manner of signaling achievement and status. In many cases the receipt of a Letter entitles the recipient to membership in a formal, prestigious school society, sometimes called the Letterman's Club or the Monogram Club.

Description
A Letter is, literally, a fabric letter representing the initial of the school in question given to a student after meeting a minimum prescribed achievement. The letter is typically constructed of several layers of felt or chenille. Once awarded it is affixed to the front of a Varsity Jacket patterned in the school's colors on the back of which is displayed the school's name. Opposite the Letter, on the front of the Varsity Jacket, the jacket owner's name will be embroidered.

The Varsity Jacket is a type of bomber jacket whose body is made of fabric with sleeves constructed of leather.

It is considered a social faux pas for a university student to wear his or her high school letter jacket.

Examples of requirements

 * In Ohio, letters are awarded to participants on varsity athletic teams who meet a required minimum amount of playing time (e.g. half of all game quarters played in a single season of American football, half of all cross-country meets during a single competition season, etc.). In addition varsity seniors who have flawless attendance at practice also earn letters, even if they do not meet the playing time requirements, as do injured team members recommended by the head coach.