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95A country can be known for many things %u2013 success in the pool, excellent co%u00a0ee, an assortment of creatures that can bite you %u2013 but surely creating a pair of ridiculous-looking short shorts is the greatest achievement of all. Stubbies hit the market in 1972 and were an instant success. Men all over the country raced to grab a pair of these elastic-waisted shorts that rode high up the thigh and featured a small, utterly useless buttoned pocket on the front.None of these faults held them back and, according to their advertising, by the mid-1970s they had sold over 3 million pairs, targeting men who %u2018don%u2019t slavishly follow overseas fashion trends%u2019 and wanted %u2018low-cost short shorts%u2019.In those days, fashion-dodging blokes who loved exposing their arse cracks weren%u2019t hard to find, and when you throw in the kids who wore them too %u2013 come on, we all did %u2013 those numbers don%u2019t seem all that fudged.They might have been hot in summer and obviously cold in winter, but they came in a wonderful range of colours including camel, sky blue, green and brown. Miraculously, they even found an export market in New Zealand, where the locals seemed to embrace them even more passionately than we did. It really was a time for %u2018shorts with no frills.%u2019EFCO, the company that made them, changed its name to Stubbies, and at one stage even released Long Stubbies, which were essentially the shorts in pants form, only even more uncomfortable. Despite this incredible innovation, fashion trends changed, Australian men regained their sanity, and sales dipped.The company fell into overseas hands in 1990, but since 2014 the brand has been owned by%u00a0 Wesfarmers. Apparently, Stubbies can still be%u00a0found in old-school menswear stores across the country.It really was a time for %u2018shorts with no frills%u2019.YEAR 1972DESIGNER AND MANUFACTURER EFCO