secret santa cruz: mystery t-shirts or t-shirt history, not t-shirt history or …
You are reading: Berkshire books concord ca
Now that we have our website back (finally) it seems like the right time to recommend a few things (usually books) for our fans to enjoy. in this case, I want to enthusiastically recommend an unusual website/blog run by a friend of mine. Jim (his full name is Jim Jones, but not that Jim Jones) has always had some unusual interests, although we originally met and became friends due to a mutual enjoyment of science fiction and pulp fiction, especially the good old stuff. I’m talking about true old pulp fiction published in the early to mid 20th century. we both collected the old magazines, the cheesy paperbacks and, when we could afford them, the rare collectible hardcovers.
jim and i went from there, me eventually to a career in book selling, my friend jim to the early sprawling tech industry, and later to the university of california at santa cruz. we are both older now and one of us is retired. Jim has published several books of his own writings, some of which I will introduce later. but jim’s blog features one of his current interests that i want to promote. His website dedicated to T-shirt culture, Tees of Mystery, is a remarkably informative (I might even say “educational”) and amusing examination of a much-overlooked sociological phenomenon: the American graphic tee. We’re all familiar with t-shirts that promote products, events, rock shows, social groups, sports, etc., but Jim is the first person I know who has bothered to examine the origins of some of these as well. so many t-shirts dedicated to more arcane interests, like biker gangs, petrochemical colonial outposts in the third world, drugs and alternative culture (some might say “hippie” or “surfing”), and so much more. one of his recent posts analyzed various promotional t-shirts produced by bookstores. Our store’s 15th anniversary t-shirt is among those featured, *ahem* I mention modestly.
See Also: Perri O&039Shaughnessy – Book Series In Order
jim’s interest in t-shirts began, as these things often do, as a form of collecting. Here were all these really weird T-shirts available for sale for a dollar or two at local thrift stores, sometimes dedicated to organizations or events Jim had never heard of before. over time, the jerseys accumulated. and accumulated. hundreds (thousands?) of t-shirts later, jim realized that many of the t-shirts were related by certain interests or themes. There was a real story here, and thanks to the relatively new data repository called the “Internet,” Jim was able to investigate the causes or obscure events (or sometimes the once-famous but now-forgotten ones) that these shirts commemorated. Jim’s hobby of collecting has morphed into a very unusual and, in my opinion, fascinating cultural/historical project.
tees of mystery is a nice and easy to navigate blog with many featured t-shirt categories. Below is a partial list of t-shirt categories:
- Santa Cruz specific t-shirts dedicated to cannabis, surfing and…banana slugs? of course!
- unusual business t-shirts, including tattoo shops and bizarre grocery stores. you’ll have to read the entry to find out why they’re weird.
- science/tech t-shirts produced by the American satellite program and a biotech company that sells cloning supplies.
- ed t-shirts inspired by “big daddy” roth. Revell’s classic model monsters are still alive!
- t. rex t-shirts what could be more “t” than t. rex?
- and many, many more. Jim’s site is a veritable cornucopia of the t-shirt tradition.
so, if you’re tired of the same old instagram/twitter/tiktok stuff and want to do some interesting reading on the under-discussed American subculture (as expressed in t-shirt graphics), check out the site by jim: tees of mystery.
for those interested in our bookstore’s 15th anniversary t-shirt: independent bookmakers.
See Also: 60 Community Helper Books for Preschool – Pre-K Pages
We still have a few left, by the way. and tote bags with the same design! (shameless plug)
-lk
See Also: Best 5 Books on Filmmaking and Directing You Should Read – Raindance
See Also: Best 5 Books on Filmmaking and Directing You Should Read – Raindance