Category: Brands

A comprehensive resource of defunct t-shirt labels manufactured prior to the year 2000. Brand #9: Healthknit Circulation: Common Era: 1950s to late 1980s Information: Originating in Knoxville Tennessee the Healthknit brand was trademarked in 1950 as a manufacturer of men’s, boy’s and children’s under garments and pajamas. During the company’s formative years t-shirts were still considered underwear so production flourished when plain white tees evolved in to common outerwear. Healthknit continued to ramp up tee production when screen printing erupted in the 1970s and 80s. However, the brand vanished by 1990 which may have been due to a transaction with ... Read more

A comprehensive resource of defunct t-shirt labels manufactured prior to the year 2000. Brand #8: Bantams, Bantam Circulation: Fairly Common Era: Late 1970s to late 1980s Information: The original Bantams tag (far left) featured two roosters who appear to be engaged in a cock fight. At some point in the early 80s the tag was revamped to feature a single rooster and the “s” was dropped from the name. Perhaps one rooster killed the other during the viscous battle? We can only assume given there’s no information about the vintage Bantam(s) brand anywhere. What we do know is that the ... Read more

A comprehensive resource of defunct t-shirt labels manufactured prior to the year 2000. Brand #7: SSI (S.S.I.) Circulation: Common Era: 1980s to mid 1990s Information: SSI (Shirt Shed Inc) began in the attic of a married couples convenience store in 1978. What started as humble heat transfers sold from motorcycle races and country fairs bloomed in to a t-shirt empire. While other blank brands battled over bands SSI carved out their own niche in the world of entertainment by associating themselves with movie, tv, sports and video games prints. It appears as though SSI was the successor to 3D Eblem ... Read more

A comprehensive resource of defunct t-shirt labels manufactured prior to the year 2000. Brand #6: The Knits Circulation: Common Era: Late 1970s to mid 1980s Information: Using an RN number that appears on one of the tags (13765) we discover the company was property of UNION UNDERWEAR COMPANY, INC. Union has been around since the late 1800s and had strong ties to Fruit of The Loom throughout its existence. The Knits was a specialty t-shirt with longer, colored sleeves often described as a baseball or concert jersey. The earliest dated The Knits printed shirt I have found is from 1979 ... Read more

A comprehensive resource of defunct t-shirt labels manufactured prior to the year 2000. Brand #5: Stedman Circulation: Common Era: Early 1970s to late 1990s Information: The Stedman company emerged in the 70s and would go on to have various blank line-extensions that featured detailing. “Sport-T” for example typically had a V-neck and sometimes ringer or line detailing along the shoulders. By the mid 1980s the Stedman standard blank became the tee of choice for the skateboard industry before until they began manufacturing their own t-shirts. In the mid 1990s the company was purchased by Hanes and eventually the Stedman branding ... Read more