Made the mistake of trying to argue with a Morgbot that the Mormon church makes a profit and should not be tax exempt. Not here to discuss how the argument came out, but to ask a question I thought of after it ended.

I implied that the church makes money off of the magic underwear. The other guy said the underwear was sold at cost for about $3.00. 1) Is he giving the correct current price for both the top and bottom piece combined; and 2) If so, anyone here know if that's really "at cost" or if, considering that the church could get the clothes made cheaply in bulk, they could be making a profit off of selling garments at the current price?

I don't know the answer, but I do know they don't last very long. Cheap material.

Probably made in China. By some worker who is payed 25 cents a day and lives in a slum. Therefore increase their profit margin.

I could be wrong since I never got that far in the morg to have to wear the magic under pants.

$3.00 would only cover a top or a bottom. A full set is around 6 dollars (maybe even a little bit more) if I am remembering correctly. I always wondered if they were making a profit on them, as well. It wouldn't surprise me.

At $3 a piece. Hell I just paid a $9 for a 3-pack of Hanes boxers ($3 a piece). And I'm inclined to believe that Hanes isn't a non-profit organization.

And when you factor in the tithing needed to be able to get to the temple in the first place, they are making BOAT LOADS on G's.

Yup Mick, as I was typing out my previous message, those were my thoughts exactly. LOL!

When I went and bought a pack of 7 Hanes super comfy panties for only $9.99, I was in heaven. Cheap comfy panties with COLORS! Woohoo!! :) And the 7th panty in that pack, was a free bonus one! That doesn't ever happen with garments. hehe

I bought some of those lovely underwear for my soon to be wed daughter 2 years ago. They were $7.00 a set. I wonder if exmo's give their used ones to the DI?

I wish. I was instructed to cut the symbols out or burn them. I am planning to have a bonfire of the my Mormon laundry as part of my healing process. I have a decade of my life sitting in a pile in my bedroom right now, taunting me. At least it's fall and I can enjoy such a fire. Do you think the Temple matron would find it irreverent to roast marshmallows over my burning Gs?

I'd go "garment" your bishop's lawn with those old garments :) Put them all over the lawn, drape them over the bushes, hang them from tree branches. That'd be funny.

If doing it to the bishop's house would be too obvious and they'd figure out it was you, go to some other stake's meeting house and put them all over the church's grounds at about 6:30 a.m. on Sunday morning :)

loveskids Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I bought some of those lovely underwear for my
> soon to be wed daughter 2 years ago. They were
> $7.00 a set. I wonder if exmo's give their used
> ones to the DI?


This is off topic, but I LMAO'ed at your username in regard to this thread.

Love Skids! Hahahaha! (I know its 'Loves kids', but heck, thats how I read it)

That's pretty funny!

I suspect that the labor might be volunteer.

I worked at the ward welfare cannery from the time I was 13, all through jr. high, high school, and college.

Who knows--school kids in some Latin American country might be working hard for Jesus, or, most likely, the elderly.

Garments show very poor workmanship, and the material is really weird. I try to connect it with the Mormon cattle business, sugar beet industry, or the oil business. Isn't nylon made from petrolium?

This is another well-kept Mormon secret. Someone should investigate....

They are made in Utah. When I worked in American Fork, I worked with a woman who's neighbor made garments. Those marks are sewn in and then the extra pieces of string, which are thicker than thread, are clipped off. Tons of these 1-2 inch spaghetti thick pieces of string fall to the floor and are thrown away each day. Except my friend's neighbor would sweep up all the strings and take them home and give them out to people in her ward because they make the BEST filler for pillows - and you know how crafty those Mormon women are. I got 2 big bags of it myself and we made a pillow for my son but the little strings got all over our house - worse than confetti - and DH got annoyed having to pick them up all the time. So he threw the rest of it away before I could make any more "projects."

My point is - they are made in Utah.

Do the people who make the garmies have to have current temple recommends in order to gaze upon the sacred markings? Are the garments "blessed" or "dedicated" before they are put on sale?

I remember when I was getting ready to do my endowment, I was instructed to bring the garments in their sealed package because I wouldn't be "worthy" - my favorite Mormon word - to look at them until I had been through the initiatory - creeped me out to think of wearing underwear that hadn't been washed. Blechhh

Creeped me out, too, having to wear them unwashed in the temple. Gross.

They are made at Beehive Clothing in West Valley City - just off of Bangeter Highway. The place is pretty much a sweat shop. They pay workers per piece, constantly raise output requirements and lower what they pay per piece. Workers often have physical problems because of the limited motion, repetitive movements they do all day long.

It's kind of like when a private school sells students their required uniforms "at cost." It's really at cost PLUS tuition. Oooops ... minor detail.

I would expect them to be dealing with higher labor, material, and distribution costs than your typical clothing manufacturer. But they will have zero sales, marketing, R&D, and taxes.

I doubt it is a huge profit on each garment sold, but remember they lowered the price of garments 5-10 years ago. They almost certainly had built in a profit back then. I can hear the singing during lunch breaks, "We thank the oh god for a profit!"

Regardless, I would agree that the big bucks are from the pay-to-play tithing.

It was infuriatingly expensive, because they are also poorly made. They become yellowish after a year.

Another thing, they take up a lot of space in a suitcase or drawer. I couldn't just pack a duffle bag for a trip. It would require a regular sized suitcase.

Bleah, I hate garments.

off the magic underwear. The profit margin might be slim, but I am sure it's there.

And, as mentioned in above posts, the collateral profit is that the faithful garmie wearers are supposed to give 10% of their gross to their morg masters. And that 10% is just the minimum ...

I have seen ads for "piece work" in the past, but was told they pay by the hour now, however, I don't know how to validate that. They have been in business, I believe, since the 30's. They made other items of clothing, such as nightgowns, etc., if I remember correctly.

Over the years, the style, and materials have changed dramatically. It is possible to get to the Specials Dept and have them made without lace (like I did) and get a pattern made that actually fit my body, therefore making them comfortable.

Do they make a prophet? Probably. I don't think they are a non-profit business.

It only takes a Mission Pres. or a Stake President to authorize it.
I don't know anyone that has done that. I presume some have.

I do recall a very funny incident when we lived in BYU married student housing. One of the women, not satisfied with all white undies, dyed hers different colors to match her outer wear. I heard she had red ones and black ones ! I loved it! :-) It caused quite an uproar and she was told not to do that!

I was always infuriated by the cost and poor quality of garments when I was a Mormon, but not enough to go to the trouble to sew my own. My wife at the time just stopped wearing them, and I eventually would have as well had we not left the Church.

But I'd always wondered about those with the ability to sew their own. Would that be allowed? Surely they weren't always made in a Church factory, and the silence on the matter is interesting. I wonder if people would even bother with getting authorization from an SP or MP, and just make their own. There's no interview question that would stop them that I know of, if they just don't volunteer any information.

According to the CHI:
You can sew you own temple clothing.
You cannot sew your own garments.
That is a definite no-no.

Oh man...I wish I would have thought of that. I think you have to live in Utah to be that smart.

My brother was in the Canadian Army about 12 years ago, and he said they had special G's for the army. Not sure what was different. Probably camo or just olive drab.

When it's time to get rid of them, don't just burn them. Use them as rags the next time your toilet overflows!! I used a pair on an oil change once.

I had a good laugh a few years ago when someone here reported seeing them dumped along the interstate in UT and drivers had to run them over or risk wrecking their cars.

I shoulda bought a carload of them, but I already knew I was on my way out.

They subsidize them for the poor Third Worlders, so they're really cheap. I recall they used to be way too expensive in the states, and then one day the price dropped way down. Now's the time to double the price, since the church needs cash. It's like a tobacco tax or something. Them that are addicted to wearing temple garments are going to pay any price for the magical qualities they provide.

Yup Mick, my husband has some of the olive drab g's from when he was in the National Guard. They are just a solid olive color. I was really fascinated with them the first time I saw them. I had thought they only came in white before I married my husband. lol

@ tbirdguy - That reminds me. My husband and I had a little vacation in Park City this summer. On our way back home, we saw a huge dumping of garments in the middle of the highway right in the middle of Salt Lake City traffic. I knew exactly what they were and broke out laughing, glad that somebody else was free of them as well.

Here in the UK, garments are made in Southern America somewhere (I would need to strip to find out exactly where!)

It was interesting that when the UK received all of their Helping Hands bibs (grrrrrr!!!!!), they were made in Hong Kong.

I remember that prices dropped drastically a few years ago. I just checked online and most are ~$3/piece (top or bottom), but some (like the new spandex men's briefs) are more, like $5.60.

But, they used to be about ~$8/piece.

Are these really 'brief'; are they down to the knees or shorter? And why spandex; are they close-fitting? Do they now make 'close-fitting' g's for women as well?