#35: Family Tee

I think that every “collector” must have at least a few of those otherwise forgettable items (either because the item is so simple or it came into their hands so easily) that they wouldn’t let go of for anything, come hell or high water. Here’s one of mine, a vintage Porsche tee shirt, also featured in one of my favorite photos of my dad.

The photograph was taken in 1978-1979, and the shirt was given to dad by a pre-Mom-era girlfriend. The car is a 1964 Porsche 356C, the last of the 356 family, replaced by the triumphant 911 which is still going strong. The 356 was Porsche’s first production automobile, made between 1948-1965.

The shirt itself dates to the early 60’s, easily definable by the following: a. skinny band at the collar without skinny banding at the sleeve (a symptom of the 70’s tee shirt); b. a cotton textile label at the neck (I think it was the later in the decade that nylon tags came into use); and c. the RN number! The be-all end-all method of dating. The RN number is 19621 and after a few calculations we can conclude that this piece was produced sometime between 1961-1962. Admirably, the tee was actually manufactured during the 356 generation.

48 years later, a little bit of schmuts aside, still going strong. I wish I could say the same for my dream 356 parked out in front of my dream garage.