Vintage T-Shirt of the Day and Why You Should Be Wearing a Helmet

Perhaps you remember or at least have been told about the Chicago Bears' best season ever, one in which Ditka reigned supreme and the Bears turned in a 15-1 regular season record. The bare task (yes, a pun) was so monumental that there arose the distinct and specific need for a song to be written. So the world has hidden copies of the "Super Bowl Shuffle" on LP, sealed in plastic and residing in the corners of basements throughout the mid-west, patiently awaiting their week on eBay in hopes of netting their soon to be former owners a sum upon which the working man might modestly retire.

I am going to cheat on this entry, simply because these two shirts go together entirely too well. Sometime before the actual game was played, the 1985 New England Patriots flirted with the notion the they might indeed be the champions of Super Bowl XX. This idea carried its way into a run of T-shirts that were probably promptly disposed of sometime during the evening of January 26, 1986. This one, however, has survived in fantastic condition with an incredible 50/50 soft feel. Lucky for you, both of these items are in our shop at the time of this posting.

Why You Should Be Wearing A (Football) Helmet
Football season is upon us - which essentially means the safety of proper helmet wear can never be underestimated. Helmets protect their users form head damage and injury of all sorts and kinds. They also happen to look fantastic on an old t-shirt, reminding us of seasons long since past and heroes that we wish had never retired. I think the "football helmet" on a super soft 50/50 blend is probably in the "archetypal vintage t-shirt" top ten, which I shall save for a later post.

Game on, my friends, game on.

Vintage T-Shirts on Etsy.com

A recent search for "vintage tshirt" (in the clothing and accessories category) on eBay returned 130,561 results. Not only would this take about a day and a half to sift through, the quantity to quality ratio is very poor. Many "retro" or "distressed" items are included in eBay's results as well as "vintage style" and "replica" items. I consider myself a patient person, but by page 15 things can get a bit discouraging.

 The same search on Etsy.com returns 4,336 results (as of this posting) and by page 4, I have already spotted 4 items that I wouldn't mind making my own - if the house payment weren't due on Tuesday.

Here are a few of my personal favorites:

Shirt Du Jour: Totally Naked 1980's.

Well sort of naked. This is classic in a way that shouldn't be, yet remains very much so. You can't really go wrong with a heathered light blue shirt - and a ringer at that. As a kid I had a shirt just like this (well, sans naked people) only instead of the Adam & Eve imagery, there was an old school print of mickey mouse. My cool Mickey Mouse shirt is long gone, but I am comforted to know that even if I still had the thing, it definitely would not fit. And even if this shirt only makes you smile, I will leave you with the absolute funniest shirt we have ever had:


www.Thriftstore-Cowboy.com

Shirt Du Jour: Crispy 80's Michael Jackson.

Funny story. Okay, maybe not so funny as ironic. Twisted and gut-wrenching also comes to mind, but I wouldn't be inclined to describe it as such. So let's stick funny - not ha ha - but STRANGE.

We had this shirt (yes, it sold already so quit emailing, you ambulance chasers!) for five years. It languished in our store begging to be bought and was browsed by over 3,000 people during its substantial shelf life. I kinda liked the thing, so I wasn't in a big hurry to sell it and in light of the traffic it was garnering, I didn't really entertain the offers that periodically appeared in my in-box. I generally maintained a congenial "thanks but no thanks" disposition, because again, I was in no hurry to sell it.

Let me pause here to add a brief editorial. Yes, this whole blog is basically an editorial so perhaps that is a bad choice of words. But in any event, get off my case and allow me to continue. I never imagined Michael Jackson would join the ranks of River Phoenix, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis & a host of others whose deaths have become pop phenomenons with the same sort of mysterious connotations and general mystique that surrounds say, the JFK Assassination. Not the conspiracy aspect of it, mind you, but the total strangeness of the whole thing. Put plainly, Michael Jackson wasn't on my list of famous people that might die soon. If asked on June 24th (or prior to noon on June 25th) I would have said he would be like James Brown or BB King (I know the King is not dead) - music legends that never really retired. But such is fate. Now, on with the story.

This shirt sold approximately 10 minutes after Michael Jackson's death was confirmed by various news sources. It seems funny (strange) that Jackson's passing provided added value to this product but in the general course of things, it is completely understandable. I'm sure Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcet (who coincidentally passed on the same day as Michael Jackson - which might add to currently formulating conspiracy theories - stay tuned) merchandise has also seen a similar surge in demand. Makes you wish you saved at least one of those Publisher Clearing House envelopes, doesn't it?

I'm kind of sad because I am going to miss the shirt (and Michael Jackson) but I take comfort in the fact that the shirt has gone to a good home - the buyer's email address made it quite clear that they are a bigger Michael Jackson fan than I could ever be.





www.Thriftstore-Cowboy.com

Shirt of the Day - Cap'n Crunch Country Music 1984

Well here it is, the shirt du jour:

This shirt is a cross between a Cap'n Crunch Cereal Box and the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - all with a spicy taste of some fantastic country acts in the prime of 1984. This post would go on forever If I began to name names - but I would rather you picture the Woodstock of Country Music: a hard rainin', mudslingin', truck ridin', beer drinkin' good time -- back when Kenny Rogers had more pepper than salt and wasn't pushing chicken like the Colonel.

www.Thriftstore-Cowboy.com