Poll: Should Zazzle censor Obama Psalm 109:8 T-Shirt

Zazzle have just announced they won’t be allowing users to sell goods connecting President Barack Obama to Psalm 109:8. Here is an excerpt from their announcement:

after great thought that we have determined that these products, in the context of the full text of Psalm 109, may be interpreted in such a way as to suggest physical harm to the President of the United States. In deference to the Office of the President of the United States, and in accordance with federal law prohibiting the making of threats against the physical wellbeing of the President of the United States, Zazzle has therefore determined that these products are in violation of the Zazzle User Agreement and not appropriate for inclusion in the Zazzle Marketplace. We have begun efforts to remove them from our website, and we will be vigilant to the publication of similar products moving forward.

What do you think?

Congratulations President Obama

While there are some disappointed today, clearly there are more people celebrating than not. I’m not American but I did and do support Barack Obama for President.

Wear a Tuxedo on Election Day

Cafepress have just released a video telling you not to wear your political t-shirts and flair to the polling booths. They are trying to make your that your vote gets counted as in some parts of the county wearing your flair may be considered electioneering and you will get turned away. I am not American but I urge you to vote if you are.

I never expected to hear Cafepress tell you not to wear their products but it makes sense and even makes you smile. “Choose something safe to wear, like a button-down or a nice tuxedo.” Perhaps they mean something like this tuxedo t-shirt from Vintage Cotton.

Joe the Plumber at Tee Fury

T-Shirts for Joe the Plumber sprang up unbelievably quickly. I waited for the debate, where Joe the Plumber was introduced to the world, between Obama and McCain to end before I put mine up but I was beaten to the punch by many at Zazzle.  I will probably post a larger list of Joe the Plumber t-shirts later but for now you have only about 4 hours left to get your hands on one of these sweet tees from Tee Fury for only $9. Tee Fury sell their shirts for $9 and they are available only for 24 hours. If you click on the image and you see a different shirt, it’s too late. Sorry.

Local Celebrity Sale

Local Celebrity is a pretty cool t-shirt store selling a selection of tees with retro stylings. They are having a sale on their election t-shirts and I think that this is something we are going to see more of day by day as the election is coming up quick and once it is over the market for these tees will decline faster than the US Sock Market after the collapse of Lehman Bros. To be honest I am not all that impressed by these shirts and I really don’t think that they will become collectors items like they say in their email but you never know.

Fukuda ASCII T-Shirt

It seems that Japanese PODs are picking up on the fact that there is money to be made in political tees. In Japan the latest Prime Minister has announced his resignation which was no big surprise really and in a  press conference he said  「あなたとは違うんです。」 which translates as “I’m different from you.” I guess this statement riled a few people and the video was posted on youtube and the infamous ni-channel where it is said this gun-toting ASCII version of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda appeared first. Then it was quickly snapped up by ClubT to become one of their best selling t-shirts. The t-shirt is pretty cool and the design is available on a selection of items and shirts.

Back on the Campaign Trail

In a previous post we reviewed some shirts from Retro Campaigns. It was a glowing review simply because the products were flawless. (See previous review.) Retro Campaigns have a special niche and that is politicians and politics of yesteryear. They have recently added about seven new designs to their collection so if you want to be political without being… err… political that is the place to get your shirts. The designs are simple with few and muted colors that just give the impression that the tees were taken from a chest in your parents attic. Except, of course, they are in mint condition with no mothball smells. Quite the opposite in fact. You’ll understand that comment when you get the shirt (or you could check my previous post).

Below are two new shirts featuring the Kennedy brothers. I especially like the JFK shirt as I can really imagine people wearing a shirt like that 40 or 50 years ago. There were no JFK is my homeboy t-shirts back then. (*Light bulb goes on, opens up Photoshop*)

The next two though are my favorite of the new t-shirts. I especially like the first t-shirt. It is a one color design but the detail is great and the message is pretty cool too. I almost thought the draft was going to come back to the US too. The next is a very cool campaign shirt for Lyndon B. Johnson.

If you are looking for an American retro political t-shirt there is no reason to look at any other site. The shirts are designed and printed in the US by US designers and printed on American Apparel. When you are going to buy your cool retro political t-shirts at Retro Campaigns be sure to stick around a little to read about American political history. You might just learn something too.

Paris Hilton for President

It’s been a while since I promoted one of my own shirts here but I thought these were pretty funny so I thought I’d share. Those who have seen the recent Paris Hilton video will understand the designs. If you haven’t seen it though, don’t worry. We have included the video below.

Hillary Clinton’s $50 T-Shirt

I almost thought it was a joke. $50 for a campaign t-shirt after the campaign has ended with the candidate a loser. What could it possible mean? I wouldn’t pay $50 for an Ed Hardy t-shirt much less this. The purpose of this overpriced t-shirt is to help Hillary Clinton pay off her campaign debt and she is asking her supporters, whom she let down by not getting the nomination, to cough up even more cash for her failed campaign. I find it incredulous. The audacity of greed.

At first I couldn’t find where to buy this $50 Hillary Clinton T-Shirt. (I’ll be ordering a dozen.) I did find it though so if any of you suckers out there want to throw your money away head over here. Of course you could save the $50 for gas or medical bills. It says they are limited edition but I guess the limit is pretty high if she wants them to pay off her campaign debt.

One funny thing about the t-shirt is the text and how inappropriate it is. It says:

For everyone who’s ever been counted out but refused to be knocked out and for everyone who works hard and never gives up, this one is for you!

Really though, this one is just for Hillary.

Interview with Retro Campaigns

A short while ago we reviewed some t-shirts from Retro Campaigns and Christine from Retro Campaigns kindly agreed to tell us more about this unique store. Retro Campaigns is not only her first t-shirt business but her first business of any kind she tells us. What a great way to start. The American Dream is alive and well in the form of cool retro political tees.

What made you decide to start a t-shirt store?

Actually, it didn’t actually start out as a business venture. A few years ago I just wanted to own a shirt from an old campaign for myself. I looked everywhere I could think of but I couldn’t find anything. So I thought, “Why not make some myself?” I created a handful of simple designs and got positive responses from friends who encouraged me to think about selling the shirts. I mulled that over for a while and I thought maybe there are people out there like me who would be interested in this kind of thing, so I decided to give it a shot. I knew a great designer who thought it was a cool idea and we were off from there.

I’m a big political history buff, and America has a rich tradition of interesting and colorful politicians. I think the shirts are a fun way to remember them and maybe also shine a light on some of the candidates who lost the race, like Eugene McCarthy, Wendell Willkie, Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, Adlai Stevenson, etc. I think it’s unfortunate that some of them are remembered now only for losing their election(s).

Wendell Willkie for instance made huge contributions after his loss to Roosevelt. He traveled the world in 1942 as Roosevelt’s representative and reported back to the president and to America in frank terms what he saw throughout a world in the grips of war. “A military victory, as such, will not be enough … We must win the peace,” he famously said. He so firmly believed that it is the duty of Americans to debate and question government that the press dubbed him ‘America’s Private Citizen Number One’.

You include information about the politician featured in the designs with every purchase. Are you trying to educate people too?

That’d be a great bonus, yeah. I’d love to think that in some small way I might be helping to keep the memory of these people alive.

How often can we expect to see new products in your store?

We’re aiming for 3-6 new designs every other month.

Which is your favorite design and why?

I really like the Adlai Stevenson “Hole in the Shoe” design. I think it looks great and I love the story behind it. During his 1952 presidential campaign, a photographer caught a picture of Stevenson with a big hole in his shoe. “Better a hole in the shoe than a hole in the head!” he said to the guy, a remark typical of his quick wit. The Stevenson campaign went on to use that as a symbol of Stevenson’s down-to-earth character, work ethic and frugality. Today that image is part of our political history. There’s even a statue based on that photo at the Central Illinois Regional Airport!

What has been your proudest moment?

It was pretty cool the first time we were contacted out of the blue by a television production company asking to use out shirts for their show. But I’d say the first sale we made via the Web site was the best.

The wait for someone to buy the first shirt seemed like an eternity. I kept doing “practice” buys to make sure the site was working! Basically, I was the geek who calls the operator when no one is calling to make sure the line is working. When I got notification of the first sale it was amazing. The first thing I did was make sure it wasn’t someone that either I or my designer knew! But it was an honest-to-goodness sale. Very cool.

Who is your favorite former politician and why?

Robert Kennedy. His adult life was at first dominated by his zeal to stamp out organized crime; even during the first year or so as Attorney General he offered little but lip service to the civil rights movement. But as he saw first hand the reality of what was going on, particularly with regard to educational opportunities in America, so far removed from his prep school upbringing, he came to believe that racial equality was a key to America’s development as a nation. And he would go on to travel the country and see crippling poverty, leading him to promote social programs.

I guess what I’m getting at is he could have led his life quite happily as a criminal attorney, or as an Attorney General or senator focused on crime, or even a presidential nominee on a crime platform. That was an area he could latch on to. Black students trying to attend school in the south was outside his milieu by a long shot. But he sought out knowledge of what was happening and he listened to real people and learned about their experiences and problems. He actively sought to help people and raise awareness nation-wide. Few people, much less politicians, seek out the realities of inequality in the world, and fewer still change their life’s focus based on what they’ve learned. That’s my opinion anyway. He’s a hero to many people, for many different reasons.

There’s a great biography of him called Robert Kennedy: His Life, by Evan Thomas that I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about him.

If Retro Campaigns is still around in 40 years time and I’m sure it will be, which politician do you think will sell the most t-shirts?

I would love it if we were around for 40 years! I think RFK, but I’d love to see the statistics of whose shirts people are buying over a couple of generations like that. I’m a big statistics nerd!

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