T-Shirt Hall of Fame

At my Mom's house in Connecticut in what has historically been my room, safely shut away from the rest of the world, I have a T-shirt Hall of Fame.

In this undisclosed location, I store t-shirts of mine that are far too important to me to ever wear again. Ridiculous? Some think so, but I disagree. I am reminded of the lecture Michael Caine's Lawrence Jamieson gives Steve Martin's Freddy Benson in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels:"

"Now, all of these wines are very old. I bought them to make sure they were cared for properly."
"You got a lot of wine to drink."
"I would never drink them. They're far too valuable."

So too with some t-shirts. T-shirts are, to me and to many men, important. They are comfortable and practical but are also souvenirs of our travels. Many of these Hall of Famers are particularly well-traveled and represent great memories. Each one has a story and has witnessed memorable chapters in The Life Guzilla. I have perspired on the other side of the world in some of these t-shirts, and a few of them are from places that no longer exist -- a t-shirt & memories being in fact the only proof that these places DID exist...

So here they are... The current inhabitants of my T-Shirt Hall of Fame. Clockwise from the upper left they include:

1. Semester at Sea -- My favorite Semester at Sea shirt from sailing around the world in Fall of 1993.
2. Polish Power -- Once my Dad's, now my Polish sentiment. Worn at several New Orleans Jazz Fests.
3. Fighting 31 Tomcatters -- T-shirt from the Fighting 31st F-14 Tomcat squadron & purchased at the 1986 Pratt & Whitney air show. My father, who was in charge of the air show, introduced me to Colonel "Snort" Snodgrass - the commander of the Fighting 31st. After watching him take the F-14 vertical and then shaking his hand, I thought Colonel Snodgrass was the coolest man in the world. The Tomcatters are the second oldest Navy squadron and were the LAST Tomcat squadron as the F-14 itself has been decommissioned, with the 31st transitioning to the F-18 Super Hornet.
4. Olema - the Epicenter 1906 -- Shirt my brother brought me from a geologic expedition early in his career. Olema was the epicenter of the giant 1906 earthquake that leveled San Francisco, and he was there. I wore this shirt non-stop for years until it became pretty fragile.
5. Cream at MSG -- Concert shirt from Cream's historic October, 2005 concert at Madison Square Garden and the newest addition to the Hall of Fame, with the least wearings. The concert was the definition of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
6. Slithy Toves -- Shirt our high school improvisational comedy group, the Slithy Toves, wore at all performances. Far and away the greatest thing I did in high school, and I credit it and those that got me involved with making me who I am today.
7. The Mermaid Lounge -- Was one of my favorite bars in New Orleans, located WAY out of the Quarter, but no longer exists. Went in one afternoon with Gano to listen to the great music they had there at all hours. Wanted to buy a shirt for Gano & myself, but they were out of the ones they had above the bar. The bartender went in a back room and rummaged around and came out with these, that I preferred anyway. When I got home, I had a strange feeling (as I always do returning from New Orleans). I was researching some Polish history and was AWESTRUCK when I realized the same mermaid design on a t-shirt that destiny forced upon me in New Orleans, is the symbol of the city of Warsaw, Poland. Believe in magic.
8. Johnny White's 14, Hurricane Katrina 0 -- I went down to New Orleans after the storm and had to go to one of my favorite Quarter bars, Johnny White's. Johnny White's had achieved international fame as being true to its credo not to close. At all. Ever. At any hour. They even made the New York Times as the only bar that stayed open during the storm. I bought a shirt for Gano, and a tank top for Charity but they were out of my size. The bartender took down the display model and gave it to me, after I told him I knew Sarge. Then he pulled out pictures of Sarge and started getting misty. Another magical New Orleans experience, even though the shirt is yellowed with bar soot... It is a great reminder of the indomitable human spirit - Johnny White's has only closed for one day in 14 years, when the bar's namesake passed away.
9. The Shim Sham Club - Hottest Spot in Town -- Another legendary New Orleans bar that no longer exists. Bethany got this t-shirt for me after our epic Hat Night one Jazz Fest, many moons ago. Our group out-freaked the professional freak show they had, who simply gave up, as we were more amusing.
10. Delaney's Hong Kong -- Souvenir from a drunken rainy day spent with John Bon when I flew from Tokyo to meet him as he was on walkabout through Asia. Spent all day in this bar catching up, waxing philosophical and tag-team writing postcards to friends all over the world. Then we went out on the town in to the wee hours. Also, the design of Chairman Mao sipping a Guinness is pretty funny...