Vintage T-Shirt Forum & Community Authentication Appraisals

I'm trying to figure out if this tee could possibly be from the 70s. My gut says 70s because of the cut and soft/thin material.

I've seen 80s Snoopy tees with identical tags and copyrights dates.

The label has the words "a division of Jostens" and an online reference seems to indicate that Jostens held ownership in the company as early as the early 1970s if not earlier. However, the presence of care instructions would safely date to shirt to 1968+.

Let me know what you think.

Artex is total 80s I believe.

That's what I had thought as well but after seeing this tee I decided to look it up and sure enough:

"Rocky Start to Leadership Change: 1970s
<snip>
In 1974 Lurton divested Jostens of a greeting cards manufacturer and a men's accessories business. Five years later he also rid the company of interests in wedding rings and library supplies. Jostens Travel, first organized in 1972, also was dissolved before the end of the decade. Jostens did keep at least one peripheral acquisition, Artex Enterprises, for the long term. A manufacturer of custom-imprinted athletic and casual wear, the Artex label survived within the Jostens Sportswear division and was marketed primarily through mass merchants."

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g ... n19123170/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They also have a US patent dated to the 70s.

Not sure - I read the full article, it only mentions Artex in reference to other aspects of the company that had all been dissolved by the end of the 70s.

I'm pretty certain that tag was primarily 80s....I would bet this Artex tag is more likely to be from the 70s.

I found it in this search of all the Artex branded shirts on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dl ... 0471543897

Why do you want it to be from the 70s and not 80s? 80s is the new 70s.

I think the problem is that I couldn't tell the difference between late/early artex tags. That's always useful information to have, thanks Jimmy.

I have this awesome snoopy shirt with a red artex label. I'm unable to find anything on this one. Just curious if the dates on the shirt are only for trademark or indication of the year? Thx!! (My first time posting so I apologize for bringing back an old thread).

Thats 80s maybe late 70s. Snoopy copyright dates are rarely when manufactured

Thx Jimmy! What about the red Artex label? Is that common? I seem to only be able to find them in blue and maybe white. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge . Love your site!

It might be more rare but I don't think it adds any value.