During the late 1980’s there was a sudden rebirth of interest in
Charles Manson as the 20th anniversary of the Tate/LaBianca
slayings approached … major networks were scrambling to get
interviews with the aging convict and a wide variety of Manson
novelty items began to circulate … comic books, trading cards,
records, videos and, most notably, Tee-shirts , many with sardonic
captions and clever designs. I lived in Hollywood at this time and
was one of Charlie’s closest penpals, so I felt an obligation to pick
up any little trinket or nik-nak that surfaced with his image on it …
this ultimately proved to be a rather costly undertaking, as the
Manson fever began to boil over and the tie-in items, particularly
the T-shirts, began popping up everywhere … from the trendy
boutiques to the downbeat punk shops, Manson T-shirts were
the rage and there was a spirited competition among all the
hipster havens to out-Charlie one another with wilder and
more outrageous styles of Manson Tees. The average price
for any one of these goodies was between $20.00 and $30.00,
which was then a lot to pay for an undershirt with some ink
on it, but I was undaunted and handily purchased one of every
style I encountered. Now, another two decades down the road,
I’ve decided to cut loose my massive T-shirt collection …The
majority of the pieces are Manson related but there were
occasions when I would pick up clothing items featuring other
infamous killers, provided the artwork was devilishly clever.
All of these items are unworn and most are in pristine shape
due to having been lovingly stored for all these years. Some
have silkscreen graphics, some are heat transfer style shirts
… As many illustrated T-shirt enthusiasts know, the heat
transferred graphics tend to develop mild cracks over time,
even when they are simply folded and stored … any such
visible stress to the graphics on the shirts I’m offering is
born of honest aging and isn’t actual “wear”, as I only
collected the shirts as art pieces and never used them as
clothing. I’ve learned that most collectors don’t mind if
the shirts show a little age, anyway … it tends to lend
the items a bit of earthiness and character … like pre-washed
jeans. I’ll be taking care to give an honest account of the
condition of each shirt and will be posting nice, clear photos
of any of the graphic-bearing portions .
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