vintage t-shirt tags

image from Bundlelovers

I'm a vintage t-shirt fanatic so this is like pornography to me. You would be surprised how little there is on the internet or anywhere for that matter about the history of t-shirts. Yes, there are some books out there, but they are more like coffee table books rather than what i'm looking for- a hardcore guide book for the hardcore vintage freak. My bud Jimmy at Defunk'd has put together one of the most useful guides out there.

Most of the companies that produced vintage t-shirts are long gone or have been purchased by much larger companies. Even the heavy hitters like Fruit of the Loom and Hanes have next to no records of when particular tags were used or when particular model numbers were produced. The raving vintage lunatic is left to stitch together the pieces of vintage t-shirt history through old catalogs, magazines, movies, and by sharing tips with fellow travellers. This kind of stuff really appeals to the historical archivist in me, so I've been working on putting together a cohesive history for the past year or so. Wish me luck!

Kirk Cameron rocks a Growing Pains shirt

This photo just struck me as the penultimate of self referential tomfoolery. We know you're on Growing Pains, dude. We know you're a fan.

This is a bit like Metallica wearing their own band shirts on stage, which they constantly did. Oh, you like YOUR OWN BAND THAT IS PLAYING RIGHT NOW THAT I PAID MONEY TO SEE? I had no idea.

By the way, I'm on a mission to find that shirt now.

X-men t-shirt offer (1965)

Charles Xavier claims that "the whole country is going t-shirt wild!"

That shirt is UNCANNY! I dig the original X-Men in their original costumes. I wonder if Marvel is still at 625 Madison Ave and if they still have any of those tees somewhere?

Margot Kidder is....sexy? (1978)

I never thought of Margot Kidder as sexy, but daaaaaammn, Lois! Come for the nips, stay for the badass Blues Brothers t-shirt!

Madonna in a dope Pittsburgh Pirates t-shirt

I'm not at all interested in Madonna, but she does a good job filling out this righteous Pittsburgh Pirates t-shirt from the "We Are Family" era Bucs! For those uninitiated, the Pirates won the World Series in 1979. Pretty tough to beat the classic Buccos logo! The Pirates used this logo from 1968-1986.

Who the fuck is Mick Jagger? t-shirt (1975)

Mick Jagger leans on his stylist Pierre Laroche during their American tour in 1975. They kicked off their tour in New York City by performing "Brown Sugar" on a flatbed driven down Broadway, and their stage props included a giant phallus.

i hate Wings and Paul McCartney, but this photo rules (1976)

I love the Beatles, but all of their solo stuff blows except for a few solo Lennon songs. I grabbed the photo from some LiveJournal group somewhere.
Ebay seller Vintage Closet has a similar shirt for sale.

handprinted "Kilroy was here" t-shirt (1947)

"Coney Island, 1947" photo by Sid Grossman (look him up, awesome photographer!)

I was just checking out my buddy Jimmy's blog over at defunk'd which features an incredible ebay find you must see- go ahead and check it out, i'll wait- but it got me thinking about the utilitarian beauty of the handprinted t-shirt. I remembered this photo by Sid Grossman that I saw a few weeks ago. It stopped me in my tracks because I thought that handprinted t-shirts were an outgrowth of punk rather than at the very roots of nascent American teenage culture. I shall look deeper into this.

How perfect is it that this young lady took to adding the legendary post-WWII graffiti "Kilroy was here" to her t-shirt? The famous slogan is shrouded in mystery, but it somehow caught the imagination of a generation. "Kilroy was here" is akin to the modern practice of idiotically commenting "first!" to a blog entry or news story on the internet- there's no point but there's a certain thrill to getting there first and having everyone else who follows see that you have already staked claim to this turf. Supposedly, James Kilroy was a shipyard inspector in Quincy, MA, during World War II and would chalk "Kilroy was here" on every bulkhead he inspected. GIs were baffled by this ubiquitous slogan, but took to spreading this simple and mysterious image throughout the world. The joke is not so much what the phrase says, but where it would turn up. A perhaps apocryphal story claims that an outhouse was specially constructed for only the world leaders at Pottsdam. As Stalin emerged from christening the outhouse, he supposedly queried an aide, "Who is Kilroy?"

Not to be confused with:

Debbie Harry - vintage t-shirt icon

Barry Manilow loves beagles

Just so you know.
Christ, the Seventies sucked.

1930s Wisconsin embroidered gym shirt

Sexton Athletic Togs! I love the ring to that.

New York magazine t-shirt offer (1975)

$3.95 for a shirt is quite a bargain, but please don't cut out this coupon as the offer most likely expired 33+ years ago. I wonder how the t-shirt model is holding up...

Animal House t-shirts from National Lampoon magazine (1977)

click to embiggen.

My kingdom for that yellow one in xlarge! That drawing of Bluto Blutarsky with the orange peel in his mouth is blowing my mind!

James Brown t-shirt advertisement (1969)

from Jet Magazine 1969.
Hello, Black Enterprises, Inc. ? I'd like to place a sizeable order....

Heavy Metal t-shirt (1977)

"From Heavy Metal, naturally, come the most beautiful t-shirts you will ever see or wear. They are find 100% cotton with Franch-cut sleeves for both men and women. They come in black or red with the Heavy Metal logo in silver metal that's flacks as thick as your finger. There's never been a shirt as spectacular as this. "

Boss Hog t-shirt (1995)

from the absolutely brilliant "my life in t-shirts" post on the absolutely brilliant Secret Fun Blog

Them t-shirt as flyer as art as design (1965)

"In 1965 Colin Fulcher – as he was then - won a national design award for the poster, which stemmed from a photo session the previous year with his girlfriend, fellow student and artist Lorry Sartorio."

from Reasons to be Cheerful 's blog about rock and roll designer Mr. Bubbles

Hullabaloo t-shirt (1966)

Founder of Teen Club Inc. John Angel, with members during 'TV's Hullaballoo Scene'. July, 1966.

Davy Crockett t-shirt (1954)

Sitting Bull t-shirt (1953)

Ask your Pops if he still has this one in the back of the closet somewhere!