The Early Years
 The
first time that the political t-shirt was most notably used in electioneering
campaigns was the 1948 presidential campaign of Thomas E. Dewey which produced
a “Dew It for Dewey” t-shirt.
And the 1952 campaign of Dwight D. Eisenhower which produced the
“I Like Ike” t-shirt.
The political t-shirt has formed a major part of electioneering
material for politicians
ever since. And not just in America but all around the world.
It may be as simple as a candidates name or so repugnant that
the wearer may be advised to employ a bodyguard.
Anti
War and Anti More T-shirts
Besides electioneering, the t-shirt has been used to carry every major and many
minor political messages since the middle of the twentieth century.
The Vietnam War, 1959 to 1973 and more recently the ongoing war
in Iraqi resulted in the manufacture of 100s and 1000s of anti war t-shirts.
Anti abortion t-shirts and the right to life t-shirt, the list
is never ending.
Political
T-shirt – Controversial!
January 1986 - Just a day after banning t-shirts with paraphernalia displaying
“any viewpoint” of a political nature, The Law and Order Minister of Cape
Town revoked the order.
Philadelphia October 1988 and a very enterprising Ann Bruewer
strings a line and 14 political t-shirts between a tree and lamp-post to bypass
city ordinance limiting her to one sign. Good try by Anne but city officials
made her remove the Republican t-shirts.
Beijing July 1991 and the Chinese Government bans "I’m
fed up! Leave me alone!” – in Chinese characters – t-shirts on the grounds
that they are “spiritually unhealthy”.
T-shirts
The Courts and The President
 Courts
have upheld the rights of students to
wear clothing that conveys a message that
others deem controversial – 2001 a t-shirt
depicting a confederate flag and - 2003 a
t-shirt with picture a of President Bush with
the caption “International Terrorist”.
T-shirts and
The State of Union Address
“ I did not come voluntarily” – said the t-shirt - January 2006 and two
women are ejected from President Bush’s State of Union Address - a formal
function.
Removed because of the slogans on their t-shirts. Now I love
T-shirts but not at a formal event.
So perhaps these two women were ejected for the wrong reason –
the actual slogans should not have been the issue.
Legalize
The Irish T-shirts
Dressed in “Legalize the Irish” t-shirts 3000 lobbyists flooded the National
Mall in support of the estimated 40,000 undocumented Irish residing in the
United States.
Say what you wish but put it on a t-shirt and you will be
dammed.
Cleveland and to the disappointment of the crowd, an African
beat band whose members wore t-shirts with a picture of President Bush with a
line through it, had the sound pulled during an appearance. Sign of the Times?
I'm
a Coglione T-shirt
Politics don’t differ much from country to country and the poor t-shirt
cop’s the brunt of it again. From a recent Italian Election -
The Italian word ”coglione” has a variety of meanings. For
the conservative Italian it may mean something like idiot or moron. However,
from the mouth of an irate driver or hooligan it may refer to any number of body
parts but particularly the “c” word.
So when Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi branded anyone who
would support the opposition as “coglione” a political t-shirt soon
followed. Italians who opposed Berlusconi wore “I’m a coglione” t-shirts
and posters carried the rhyming “Better coglione than Berlusconi”.
T-shirt
Slogans
-
Some of the political t-shirt slogans as a result of recent events:
- Weapons of Grass Destruction
- Who Would Jesus Christ Bomb?
- We Hate Everyone Equally
- Visit Guantanamo Bay
- 10 out of 10 terrorists agree: Anybody but Bush
Politicians have their day and in turn so do t-shirts. Have you ever wondered
how many warehouses of politically dead t-shirts there are?
At least two t-shirt online suppliers have received death
threats due to the political slogans on their respective t-shirts.
Café Press has a one stop shop for virtually every political
view. They boast in excess of 20 million products overall and during an election
season political t-shirts are their number one seller.
Hillary
Clinton T-shirts
As you can imagine there are numerous political t-shirts available for purchase
online and offline. One of the most popular – anti Bush t-shirts – a new
President can change that.
Hillary Clinton for president in 2008? Don’t know, but she
sure as hell has had her face put on a lot of t-shirts since 2004. In fact,
Hillary has her ID on almost half of all candidate t-shirts. Polarization or popularisation?
That's the question. March 2008 and the answer looks more like polarization.
Return to
t-shirt history.
Go
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