Pop Culture History of Rubber Bracelets

Mainstream popularity happened in the 80's when celebrities such as Madonna and Cindy Lauper wore the trend in videos and performances. Rubber Bracelets became a hot commodity and they were often known as Jelly Bracelets. They were thin with a round cross section and came in many colors, both opaque and translucent. Some of the translucent ones came with glitter embedded in the rubber. You could buy them at stores and out of bubble-gum machines. The style was to pile as many as possible on yourself; sometimes people would wear hundreds of these, all in different colors, all at one time.

Rubber Bracelets faded from popularity momentarily in the early 90's, although there were always a few Rubber Bracelet enthusiasts still sporting the trend.


In the late 90's the Jelly Bracelet's reemerged among the trendy youth and momentarily got some bad press when a rumor scared many parents decreeing that the different colors of the bracelets represented different sexual acts one was willing to perform. Local news channels told parents of a game called snap, which they said was rampant in middle schools, where when somebody snapped off your Rubber Bracelets you were obliged to perform the sex act that the color of said bracelet represented. They became known as Sex Bracelets for a brief period, and then this rumor was largely discredited as pure urban legend and essentially untrue. However, if you simply MUST know, here is the Sex Bracelet code breakdown.

In the later 90's Rubber Band Bracelets became popular. People would take the thick rubber bands that you get wrapped around broccoli and asparagus at the grocery store and wear them as a bracelet. Spotting a potential consumer hit, many companies started making and selling these types of Rubber Band Bracelets printed with a variety of messages. Most of the messages were just "cute" saying things like "Hottie" or "I Love You", but many large companies caught on to the trend and would get them made with commercial messages. This trend didn"t last too long though, because rubber bands are made of real rubber, and therefore kind of uncomfortable: they can snap on you, get stuck to your skin or hair, and over time the rubber breaks down and they fall apart.

The Rubber Band Bracelet trend did last long enough for several NBA players to start sporting them, though. Nike, always with a keen eye on basketball fashion improved on the trend by using the silicone rubber that they had previously used on sports watch bands and creating the Nike Baller Id Band Bracelets. Because you can"t really print on silicone, the messages were imprinted or embossed into the rubber and said sports related things like "Baller" and "Player". They came in sets three, often in specific team colors. Many NBA players, most notably LeBron James were seen wearing the Baller ID Bands on and off the court.

In 2004 Lance Armstrong and Nike, who made all of his cycling gear, teamed up and created the LiveStrong yellow bracelets which were essentially Baller ID Bands that were yellow and imprinted with "LiveStrong", the motto of Lance Armstrong's foundation for cancer research. The bracelets are sold through Nike and Lance Armstrong's website's for $1 each and has raised over 28 million dollars for cancer research. Because of the immense popularity of these bracelets, many other charities, organizations and accessories producers jumped on the bandwagon and began creating silicone rubber bracelets in all colors and with all kinds of messages, some for charitable causes, and others just for fun.

Source from http://rubberbracelets.com/pop-culture-history-of-rubber-bracelets/