How many of you are into fashion? Wikipedia states that the term “fashion” originates from the Latin word Facere, which means “to make.” I think of fashion as the way people make a statement with the clothes they wear and how they look. Most people wear a style or have a look they portray. Pilots have a specific look with their pilot jackets and aviator sunglasses. Pontooners have a look with shorts or swimsuits, flip flops, ball caps and sunglasses. It’s all a version of fashion. Whether you are making a fashion statement or not, fashion is a part of our lives. We wear clothes that we see and feel comfortable in while doing the activities we enjoy doing.

Personally, I’ve always been a blue jeans person. Currently my favorites are Wrangler cowboy cut jeans. Plus, blue jean modern technology has added moisture wicking, temperature control and stretch fabric. I don’t know how I ever lived without stretch fibers in my clothes.

Anyway, a few years back my standard attire was cargo shorts or cargo pants. Cargo pants’ popularity started in the mid 1990’s and I’ve heard cargo pants are actually making a comeback. For me it’s not a comeback because they never went away. I still wear my cargo shorts and I think I have some cargo pants from the 90’s still in my closet!

Of course, this got me thinking about when cargo pants/shorts actually started. With a bit of research I discovered what’s considered the original “cargo” pants (pants with pockets on the legs) came from “British Battle Dress Uniform” in 1938. Then in the Second World War, the cargo pant became a standard design for the U.S. military, specifically for U.S. paratroopers.

If you were jumping out of a plane, you needed to carry all kinds of stuff in your pockets and in your backpack. The more pockets the better. Cargo pants, or in this case “paratrooper pants,” had pockets big enough to hold things such as maps, ration packs or even radios. One article I read even called cargo pants the “SUV” for your legs.

So why am I talking about cargo pants?

Because like so many other things we use, they came from the military. If it wasn’t for the military, we wouldn’t have cargo pants. Like we wouldn’t have aviator sunglasses or Ray Bans. Talking fashion again, I have a few Ray Ban Wayfarers, so where did Ray Ban sunglasses come from? Story goes that Colonel John Macready of the U.S. Army Air Corps worked with a company to develop the first set of aviator sunglasses, called Ray Bans because “that’s what they were for: banning the sun’s rays from a pilot’s eye.” The military was at it again. Coming up with new products for the rest of the world to use.

And if you are wondering, cargo pants can carry more things the military developed, such as Cheetos. The dehydrated cheese powder that gives Cheetos their flavor was originally developed by the Army to reduce the weight/volume of food being shipped overseas. The army sold dehydration technology to other manufacturers and Frito-Lay developed Cheetos in 1948.

One more: Pringles. Somewhere I read that the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps collaborated with the USDA to develop dehydrated potato flakes. Because of these flakes, Pringles were born.

Right now, you are probably thinking: “Cargo pants? Why is this lunatic talking about cargo pants in a pontoon magazine?” Well, this is really about how many of the things we use start in the military. And this time of year, it is always important to remind people how important all of the service people are. Air Force, Navy, Army, Marines, Coast Guard, police, other emergency responders and more. If it weren’t for these groups, we wouldn’t have the things we have and be able to use the things we use.

And it’s also a reminder of how a pontoon is like cargo pants. Pontoon boats carry people and a lot of stuff. They can pull skiers and wakeboarders. You can use a pontoon boat with your kids, or take your buddies fishing. It can even be a romantic getaway dinner on the water. Like cargo pants, it can take everything you need and still look good at the dock party.