It all started when my daughter was in highschool dating a boy in a band who played the bass guitar.

When she went to his gigs she wanted to show the pride she had in him and let all those other girls know he was taken with a t-shirt.

Seems simple enough to find one on the world wide web, right? NOT! So we had to design a simple one ourselves.

We found a print on demand company who would print one shirt at at time – most other companies demanded a minimum run – so we created a simple text design, chose the style and color of shirt and waited by the mailbox. It was everything she hoped for, and wore it to all his gigs. (The t-shirt lasted longer than the boyfriend!)
 
 
Not to be left out, her brothers wanted t-shirts too. My oldest son Andrew requested a retro style gaming shirt, so I bought the image and added the requested text: “I Eat Noobs for Breakfast.”

The I Eat Noobs shirt is still one of our best sellers!

When I discovered that print on demand companies permitted artists to sell their designs on products to their customers, a switch turned on and Lingo T shirts was born.

I tried four different printers over the years until I found Zazzle, a print on demand company that:

• has an astounding array of high quality merchandise
• permits customers to personalize the shirts!
• offers a secure website for handling purchases
• has a fantastic customer service department that truly supports the no-questions-asked 30 day satisfaction guarantee
• has shipping fees that down make people think twice about buying
• and a shipping department that gets the merchandise out within 24 hours, even at peak seasons

What more could I ask? Zazzle allows me to focus on the creative side – which is my passion – and they handle the printing and customer service which is what they do best.

Another wonderful thing about Zazzle is that they have a marketplace where they showcase designs created by all the artists using their services. We can promote our favorite shirts by other artists, which go into the same cart and are covered by the same no-hassle guarantee as my shirts. That saves on shipping charges and handling for our customers. Fantastic!

Now, all these years later, we are still happily designing shirts. My husband is an avid photographer in his retirement, so you’ll find some of his photos available on shirts and other merchandise. My daughter graduated as a graphic designer and has created some of our best sellers. And me? I’m still creating text and graphic t shirts, but I must admit the baby shirts are my favorite.

It is our hope that you’ll find a shirt for yourself (or for someone you love) that will say exactly what you’d like everyone to know about you. If you know what you want but can’t find it – like our original problem – contact us and let us know. I’ll try my very best to create what you want.

Here are some suggestions on how to give new life to your favorite t-shirts & save the memories.

*We are not associated with these companies, we are merely suggesting a new way of looking at old t-shirts and how to think green.

	Turn Your T-shirt Collection Into a Memory Quilt   Would you like to turn some of your favorite t-shirts into a quilt? For clear step-by-step DIY instructions, visit CraftStylish. If you would prefer to have a professional create your memory quilt, Ross Common Quilts will make one for you out of your t-shirts at a very reasonable price, as shown here.
	Turn Your Favorite T-shirt into a Throw Pillow For clear step-by-step DIY instructions with photos for each step, visit Ruffles and Stuff. If you don’t feel confident in your sewing abilities, Ross Common Quilts will make one for you at a reasonable price, as shown here.
	Hang Your Favorite T-shirts as a Work of Art Amazon has a t-shirt frame so you can preserve your vintage, retro and favorite t-shirts by hanging them on the wall as works of art.
Turn Your Shirts into a Tote Bag
	Turn It Into Other Clothes and Fashion Accessories Do you have a beloved t-shirt that you want to update? Generation T shows you 108 ways to transform your t-shirt into stylish new tops, skirts, leg warmers, hats, handbags, checkbook covers, throw pillows, ipod covers and so much more. . . even a wedding dress! My daughter – who does an amazing job of turning large sized t-shirts into cute little dresses and accessories – has this book & I can vouch that (unlike most books) most of the ideas in here are actually usable. (I hope she doesn’t make the wedding dress when the time comes.  Hmmm.  Could save me $$$$.  Maybe it’s not such a bad idea after all!  Could be better than the swimsuit-wedding-on-the-beach she dreams of now.  Especially if I have to wear a swimsuit!)

How to Wash Your T-shirts

We spend time and money finding just the right t-shirt, so we want that t-shirt to last as long as possible. Here are few tips on how to care for your favorite t-shirts.

• Turn t-shirt inside out to protect the graphic and “bling” that’s on the front.
• Wash in cold water – hot water can cause shrinkage.
• Dry on permanent press cycle to avoid shrinkage.
• Wash whites, pastels and dark colored t-shirts separately to keep colors crisp.
• To keep white t-shirts from yellowing use a bluing agent.

How to Fold a T-shirt

Want to fold your t-shirts just like they do in the stores? Here is a video tutorial that will teach you how to fold your t-shirt like that in just two seconds with the famous “Japanese T-shirt Fold”

In researching the topic, I found that there are many differing opinions.  One is that since the undergarment is the birthplace of the T-shirt, one must ask where the undershirt was first invented. The quick answer is that its always been around.

The Tunic

	Now, I don’t know if there has been cave art with tunics, but Ancient Egyptian art shows women wearing tunics to keep warm. It’s interesting to note that since woman stayed indoors more, they were the ones who required the tunic. While the men had many styles of clothing, they didn’t wear an undershirt. These tunics were made of linen.
	Interestingly, in Ancient Roman times it was only the man who wore the tunic. The lower class working man would wear only a tunic made of wool, belted at the waist with the material hitched up to show the knees. In fact, the lower the class, the harder the work, and the higher the tunic to make work easier. Only the two upper classes wore togas over their tunics, with the shoulder of their tunics seen. Their tunics would have a purple stripe, a thin one for the Equestrian (a wealthy businessman who is a Plebian; that is someone who is not an ancestor of the first 100 Patriarchs that founded Rome) & a thick one for the senator (someone who is a Patrician – you guessed it – a person who can trace their lineage back to one of the 100 Patriarchs.) So for the Ancient Roman the undershirt, as with almost everything in their society, was used to denote status and class.
	In Medieval Times they adopted the Roman tunic, but both genders wore it. They both wore a long tunic as an undergarment, then the men wore another tunic with a border overtop. The women wore a ‘super tunic’ bordered at the neck, sleeves & hem, and pulled up just enough to see the bottom of the under tunic. If you were higher class, you would add a cloak. The men added knee-length breeches, while the women added a cloth to hide their hair. Aren’t you glad for your favorite old t-shirt & that’s it!

The Undershirt

After the tunic came the undershirt – we’re getting closer to the classic t-shirt.

There’s a wonderful story told about the history of the undershirt in Britain. The first undershirts were sleeveless & made of wool. It has been said that during the reign of Queen Victoria in the 1800′s a member of the royal family, perhaps even the queen herself, was to inspect the fleet. It was decided that it wasn’t decent for the men’s underarms to be seen while they working, so they were ordered to sew sleeves on, thus creating the famous “T” shape!

Most ‘T-shirt Historians’ claim that the t-shirt was first introduced in America by soldiers of The American Expeditionary Force who were sent to France in 1917, during the first World War. These “Doughboys”, as they were called, were sent overseas with woolen underwear under a woolen uniform – and were very hot! They noticed that the French soldiers wore light knit-cotton undershirts, and soon traded items for it, and return home with these new undershirts. But according to Ingrid Mendelsohn, a researcher with the Smithsonian Institution, these shirts were sleeveless, not tee shaped, and some were even silk. She believes that this was the introduction of a lighter weight cloth, but not necessarily the tee shape. There is another story that the US Navy issued a crew-neck short sleeved white cotton undershirt for their men to wear under their jumpers to “cover their chest hair”. That would pre-date the Doughboys’ t-shirt adventure.

The T-shirt

By the 1920′s ‘T-shirt’ was listed as an official word in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, but it was still considered an undergarment.

In the 1930s companies such as Hanes & Sears Roebuck began to offer t-shirts to the general public.

In 1933 Champion Products sold their first printed t-shirt to a sport shop in Ann Arbor, with the University of Michigan logo on it. It was flock printed, just like their sweaters.

In 1934 Clark Gable removed his dress shirt to reveal a bare chest(!) in the movie It Happened One Night. Women swooned, and men removed their undershirts, too.

In 1939 the first promotional t-shirt was printed for the movie “The Wizard of Oz”.

In 1942 the Navy issued white t-shirts to all of their servicemen aboard ships. The marines were given the same white tees, but they soon discovered it made them targets so they dyed them with coffee grounds! Later they were issued sage green t-shirts. In 1944 the army was offering them to some soldiers for ‘field testing’. They found them to protect better from sunburn.

However, the 40s still regarded the t-shirt as an undershirt. The only people having fun with printed tees were the kids who were wearing Davy Crockett, Roy Rogers & Joe Dimaggio t-shirts. The Smithsonian has a political message printed on a t-shirt – Dew it with Dewey – for Truman-Dewey in 1948, but it is still a kid’s shirt!

In 1951 Marlon Brando wore a fitted t-shirt in A Streetcar Named Desire and overnight the undershirt became an outer shirt for all the young ‘hipsters’. He wore his t-shirt again 1954 in The Wild One, and with James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause in 1955 & Elvis showing how good it looked under a leather jacket, the t-shirt was out to stay.

In the mid 50s the racing culture began putting the same flames and pinstriping from their cars onto their shirts for the ‘cool’ crowd.

From there they began drawing their cars, and then other characters, blossoming into the Kustom Kulture.

They moved from the oil paints they used on cars that cracked to airbrushing.

Then in 1959 Plastisol ink was invented, forever changing the face of t-shirts. There were no dangerous fumes, it was easier to use and mistake proof.

In 1959 Jean Seberg wore a t-shirt in the movie Breathless – but not just a white t-shirt. It was the first printed t-shirt, advertising an English
newspaper in France. Women could wear t-shirts too! Now the t-shirt was sought by more than young rebels & hipsters – the elite were trying to get their hands on them, too.

The 1960s t-shirts were tie-dyed at home, and a whole generation turned to their wardrobe to exercise their freedom of expression.

The tie dye shirt became a symbol of the generation gap and the youth’s search for freedom from the constraints that were put upon their parent’s generation.

Today when we see a tie dye shirt it symbolizes the “hippie generation” of that day.

In 1969 Don Boelter Lithography of Hollywood discovered a way to put a photograph on a t-shirt, which introduced the celebrity t-shirt industry.

In the early 70s the iron on transfer was invented, and t-shirt shops sprang up at the local mall ready to make the t-shirt you chose from a collection.

The late 70′s experienced a ‘T-shirt Boom’ when more than 200,000 t-shirts were printed to promote the movie Jaws, and millions more were printed with a photo of Farrah Fawcett from the Charlie’s Angels TV show.

In 1975 they added titanium oxide to the paint so it could be used on color t-shirts, and for awhile there was hardly a white t-shirt in sight.

In the 80′s people were crazy for t-shirts. Artists joined the fun, and soon there were $2,000 tees!

Today you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t own a t-shirt of some kind, and most people own several t-shirts, including one they claim to be a favorite.