Company founder Dave Rochlen[1] was a beach lifeguard and surfer, originally in Santa Monica, California, then in Hawaii.
[2] After reading a Life magazine article showing Russians looking comfortable attending the beach in bathrobes, Rochlen bought some brightly colored floral fabric and asked his wife Keanuenue to make a short, baggy pair of pajamas with a sewn-up fly and cut-off at the knee.
[2] Rochlen quit his job as a systems analyst and started his new company Surf Line Hawaii, Ltd. to make and sell his new product; its name, Jams, was a shortening of pajamas.
It's part of the word 'pajamas,' of course, and it was what I wanted – short, quick, jargon, hip, young, one-syllable.
"[citation needed] Soon after his first commercial pairs of Jams were worn at Mākaha, Hawaii, Life magazine ran a two-page spread on Rochlen and a group of his surfing friends in the June 1965 issue.