Long live all those subversive T-shirt slogans (re: Voting Is For Old People)

Houston Chronicle ^ | April 25, 2004, 9:43PM | By J.D. MULLANE

[weegee]

Am I the only post-40-year-old who remembers the joy of ticking off old people by wearing a smart-aleck T-shirt?

I wondered about this amid the coast-to-coast grumbling over Urban Outfitters, the Philadelphia-based clothing retailer that recently pulled from its stores a T-shirt that said, "Voting is for Old People."

Imagine. Young people mocking the habits of their elders. Why, next thing you know the young will be making fun of old folks' clothing styles, driving habits and comb-overs. Horrors.

As a kid, I had several T-shirts that caused oldsters to bristle. One of my favorites was emblazoned with marijuana leaves and the words "Ganga University."

Most old people at the time had no clue what ganga was or what a pot leaf looked like, so the joke was on them.

"Where's Gang-guh University?" they'd ask.

"Jamaica," I'd say.

In 1976, when I was 15, America celebrated its bicentennial and the "energy crisis" was still upon us. People scrambled to downsize from four-barrel road hogs to teensy, foreign-made gas-sipping tin cans.

I had a red, white and blue T-shirt that said, "Eat Beans — America Needs the Gas."

It's benign today, but back then old people sneered at the implied gas-breaking humor. It was so impolite, so "common" as my grandmother would say.

We can thank — or blame — John Keddie for reviving the faded art of subversive T-shirt slogans. His Internet company, VintageVantage.com, sells rare old T-shirts and he designs new ones to look like old ones, including "Voting is for Old People."

He's puzzled by the fuss.

"The intent of the shirt was just to be funny. It was a joke. It was never meant to be any political instruction," he said from his home in San Diego. "People are trying to say we are trying to make voting uncool or unfashionable. That's just not the case. Our customers appreciate our sense of humor. Kind of witty, irreverent sense of humor. That's who the shirt was designed for, those kind of customers."

Still, it didn't amuse Dan Glickman, director of the Harvard Institute of Politics, and a Harvard student, Ilan Graff.

"The shirt's message could not be further from the truth," they wrote to the CEO of Urban Outfitters, and suggested the company sell a shirt that "better reflects the considerable social conscience and political participation of today's youth. You might consider 'Voting Rocks!' "

Drips.

Actually, the shirt is accurate.

In 2002, the University of Maryland found that voting by Americans ages 18 to 24 had declined 13 percent in presidential elections between 1972 and 2000. In 2000, only 42 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds showed up at the polls, compared to 70 percent of those over age 25.

Election after election, America's youngest voters cede their political clout to old people. And when you're of an age when T-shirts adorned with snappy slogans and hipster bands define your personality and politics, then anyone over 25 is old.

So, yes, Voting is for Old People.

And if older folks are annoyed with youthful T-shirt slogans, I suggest a way to get even when the youth culture mocks.

Mock back.

For example, getting fleeced with ever-rising property taxes has many grayheads on fixed incomes demanding relief and reassessment.

If you're among them, put this slogan on a T-shirt:

"Property Taxes are for Young People."

Or, "Hey, you lousy kids, get off my lawn!"

Or, "Driving Slow Rocks!"

Or, "Social Security: I Got Mine."

Or, "I keep my turn signal on just to annoy you, punk!"

Or, "Age is just a number and yours is way small, dude."

Mullane is a columnist for the Bucks County Courier Times in Levittown, Pa.

[weegee]

BUMP so as my tagline I've been using for weeks appears.

[stainlessbanner]

Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult

[E Rocc]

Am I the only post-40-year-old who remembers the joy of ticking off old people by wearing a smart-aleck T-shirt?

I'm post 40 and still wear them sometimes....LOL.

-Eric

[Freedom4US]

Ah! The irony of Harvard political scientists lamenting a Tee-shirt from the 60's - episodes from the past they'd rather everyone forgot about and most certainly not remind anyone of what was really going on. Now that the aging hippies have their power consolidated they no longer want to "change the world" - a lot of them want to change it back. Nice try fella!

[DumpsterDiver]

In a few more years I'll be wearing this one: "Social Security: I Got Mine."

I also plan on getting a cane (whether I need one or not) and tripping people with it.

[armyboy]

I have a few good t-shirts myself
one says "celebrate diversity" and has pictues of different brands and styles of handguns.

another says Christian American Heterosexual Pro-gun Conservative any questions?

Another has a pic of Obi-wan and the quote "You will never find a more wreched hive of scum and villany" below the quote is a pic of the U.N. Building

another says Communism has only killed 100 million people lets give it another chance.
there are a few others.

[Graybeard58]

Now, folks, let me show you what I mean
You've got one, two, three, four, five, six pockets in a table
Pockets that mark the difference between a gentleman and a bum
With a capital 'B' and that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for 'pool'

And all week long, your River City youth'll be fritterin' away
I say, your young men'll be fritterin'
Fritterin' away their noontime, suppertime, choretime, too
Hit the ball in the pocket
never mind gettin' dandelions pulled
or the screen door patched or the beefsteak pounded
Never mind pumpin' any water 'til your parents are caught
with a cistern empty on a Saturday night and that's trouble
Oh, ya got lots and lotsa trouble
I'm thinkin' of the kids in the knickerbockers,
shirttailed young ones peekin' in the pool hall window after school
Ya got trouble, folks, right here in River City
with a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P'
and that stands for 'pool'

[Iowa Granny]

I well remember the days when T-shirts with questionable slogans on them were frowned on by the more mature set.

Perfect example: In the fall of 1963 a h.s. classmate was sent home to change his shirt when he arrived for the first day of school wearing a shirt emblazened with: Christine Keeler Fan Club.

A shirt like this wouldn't even cause a second glance today.

[weegee]

Celebrate diversity: Have sex with someone with DIFFERENT genitalia.

[E Rocc]

My 8 year old niece is a fart afficianado and got her friend's grandpa a button that says "old fart". I've encouraged her to find a similar button/t-shirt for her grandpa's birthday in September. [eg]

-Eric

[weegee]

Christine Keeler. Everything the Monica Fornigate scandal COULD have been.

[farfromhome]

My favorite shirt from High School:

Support your right to keep and arm bears. It had a picture of a grizzly bear with a rifle. Great, so not only is it a 9 foot tall bear, it's got a gun.

[Skooz]

[E Rocc]

I had a shirt for "Bear Whiz Beer", "From the land of golden waters". It showed (from behind) a bear filling a bottle. A shirt I liked but never had: "Nuke The Whales".

The only shirt I ever got in trouble for was my "Ball State" T-shirt I got from an aunt who was a professor there. One teacher didn't believe it was a real school....LOL.

-Eric

[Unam Sanctam]

I recently ordered two good ones (t-shirts that is):

John Derbyshire's quote "Pop Culture is Filth" from:

http://www.nationalreview.com

and the "Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club" with "Truth is not determined by majority vote" from:

http://www.ratzingerfanclub.com

[Crusher138]

I am over 40 and am SELLING them.

Actually we sell both left-wing and right-wing political t-shirts that tend to offend.

Funny thing, we get more visits to our left-wing side but more sales from out right-wing side.

Go figure...

[Chewbacca]

Probably because only the conservatives have jobs and money.

[weegee]

Better be careful. You may find some knock offs of your "left wing" shirts being sold elsewhere.

I like things that are confrontational without having a clear reason for offend. I can't think of any examples right now but there are some that baffle viewers who can't tell if it is for or against an issue. The "War never solved anything (except...)" is along these lines (although it gives it away in the end).