Retro Scan of the Week: Vintage Computer T-Shirts
May 7th, 2007 by Benj Edwards
What — you think cheeky nerd T-shirts are a recent invention? They’ve been here from the start, my friends.
Early personal computer magazines typically carried at least one ad for computer-themed T-shirts somewhere in each issue, usually in the back. These particular examples from 1983 tout apparel plastered with phrases such as “Byte my Bits,” “User Friendly,” “PC Compatible,” and the perennial classic, “Have You Hugged Your Programmer Today?”
Hey look — it’s Linda! Alternatives to the shirts pictured above include “Software” and “Hard Disk Driven.” Early computer enthusiasts were a desperate, sad lot indeed.
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May 7th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Wow, “Byte my Bits.” Risqué!
Even though it’s not “vintage”, I treasure my old Be, Inc. t-shirt. It’s coming up on 10 years old now…
May 7th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
I still wear a T-Shirt I got when I was interning with IBM (back in 1992 or 1993, so it’s over 10 years old). On the front it says “Nice Try” with the N and the T in really large font. On the back, it says “OS/2 Warp, up and running, not up and coming.” They were given out to IBMers who attended Comdex. We all grabbed strategic seats in the audience during Bill Gates’ keynote speech that year.
Nothing says true Geek like an outdated tech shirt supporting the losing technology!
Layne
May 7th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Great stories. Anybody else have a t-shirt story to share?
May 7th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
http://digitize.textfiles.com/items/1983-sweetgum-catalog/
Specifically, http://digitize.textfiles.com/items/1983-sweetgum-catalog/.m/1983-sweetgum-catalog-02.jpg
May 8th, 2007 at 12:19 am
That’s awesome, Jason. Thanks for the links! (and the scans)
May 8th, 2007 at 9:31 am
I loved the microchip puzzle!
Layne
February 3rd, 2011 at 8:22 pm
Linda looks cute!