Defunkd

[Johnny65]

Great research guys!

Impressive.

[jimmyj]

Just checked my collection - exact same tag on my Young Doctors in Love tee - 1982.

[Stormcrow]

This particular tag has always given me fits! (picture George Costanza looking to the skies and yelling "Khaaaaaaaaan!!!", but substitute Hanes for Khan). Anyway, I own a 1969 John & Yoko tee like the one Max linked to and was wondering....if that tag could be from '69, could it date back to '65 as well? The reason i ask, is I have a Beatles "Help!" promo tee that has the same look (only short red sleeves instead of green) and that same tag (75% cotton/25% poly)....maybe there's something in that vs the all cotton tags that could help with the dating? This is supposed to be the Winter of Crow and this Hanes tag is sticking it to me...stickin' it!

[Johnny65]

"The Great Hanes Tag Quest!"

[waxandthreads]

I made some phone calls to Hanes earlier today. I'm sure there are going to be a ton of "you need to call this number", but I've made it through the 1st few layers. Everyone so far has seemed very interested in helping when I told them the reason for my inquiry was that some of the original Woodstock t-shirts could have been printed on Hanes. Hopefully there will be a Hanes historian at the end of the tunnel that can shed some light on that tag. Of course, that still wouldn't guarantee the shirt as an original, but I would like to find out the earliest use of that tag anyways.

[jimmyj]

Nice one!

[Johnny65]

Nice work waxandthreads.

Be sure to post your findings.

[waxandthreads]

I know this doesn't answer any questions... but still interesting.
Pulled from Hanes history timeline:

1970's


In the mid 70’s, executives at Hanes Knitting discovered that their white underwear product were being screenprinted and worn as outerwear. Keith Alms of Hanes Knitwear believed there was a viable business in selling white underwear T-shirts to screenprinters. He developed the Hanes 5000 line of T-shirts and began selling to individual screenprinters.

[jimmyj]

That's weird - it took them until the 1970s to realize that?! Doesn't seem right.

[maxvintage]

The official word from Wade Lawrence | Director of the Museum at Bethel Woods (Woodstock Museum)

Security got red t-shirts (along with a red windbreaker), and festival organizers and head honchos got black. There were also green and purple, but I have not been able to get the whole story on who wore what colors.

All shirts had the same "TV logo" on the back, in white, and "Peace" on the front above the left breast. There were no official Woodstock products sold at the festival (boy, did they miss out on a profit opportunity), but there is evidence that some of the independent vendors were selling bootlegs at the festival. There is also a possibility that iron-on Woodstock logos were mailed out with the mail-order tickets (I have heard a couple references to this), and we displayed a vintage shirt with an iron-on logo in an exhibit that traveled from The Grammy Museum last year, so that story may be true.

Recently, I've seen "vintage" Woodstock shirts for sale on e-Bay for outrageous sums, but they are obviously not from the event, as they reference the concert dates with the year "1969", which I have never seen on a vintage Woodstock shirt.

I asked a few follow ups and here was his reply:

Here are photos of the front and back of the security shirt in our collection. It was given to us by a festival attendee who received it at the festival in return for helping out in the medical tent. It is identical to one that had previously been loaned to the museum by one of the NYC policemen who worked the festival. That cop loaned us his T-shirt, his windbreaker (both red with the TV logo seen in these photos), and the letter that was sent to the policemen who worked security at the festival. In the letter it states that they were issued two T-shirts and a windbreaker, and it stressed that the policemen were to leave their weapons at home. I have also seen a black T-shirt (worn by Woodstock sound man Bill Hanley when he visited the museum this winter) and a blue or purple (sorry, don't remember) in the collections storage area at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. ALL featured the TV logo and "Peace". No trademark "TM", no dates, no "Woodstock Festival".

I saw the $7000 shirt when it (or one just like it) was listed on eBay. It might or might not be vintage, but it was not issued by Woodstock Ventures at the festival. With the market as hot as it is, it may be a modern fake, or it could have been produced soon after the festival to cash in on the festival's popularity. Again, I'm not aware that Woodstock Ventures ever issued that design, but I've seen them for sale at roadside stands around Bethel Woods.

The shirt that sold at Christie's (http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/wood ... id=&page=8 ) appears to be a bootleg. Maybe vintage, maybe not -- I can't tell. I do know that there were enterprising young capitalists who sold bootlegs at the festival, and this may be one. Hell, even I was ripping off the design in 1970 when I used the logo for my company logo in Junior Achievement. We all wanted to be part of Woodstock. That said, these "unofficial" Woodstock shirts may be vintage from circa 1970 or 1971. Not from Woodstock, but still vintage. Or they were sold in the woods at the festival... without a well-documented provenance, who knows. I haven't seen any of these bootlegs on anyone in any of the many Woodstock photos and videos that I've seen.

[jimmyj]

Good work Max, you've solved the mystery by god!

Interesting about the front - peace - that it was never shown in the rock tee book - strange they wouldn't have flipped one over.

[Johnny65]

Way to go Max!

Nice to see a front and back photo of the actual red security tee from 1969.

[jimmyj]

Woodstock-Gate got pretty tense for a while...but it's water under the bridge now and this will make everyone who tuned in chuckle...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Woodstock-Festi ... 3f0980f7d6

[Johnny65]

Haha!!! Too funny!

[Michael]

I have two original (never worn) tees that were given to office staff of one of the financiers. The label matches the one in the pic exactly, does have the tm on the back as well.

[Johnny65]

I have two original (never worn) tees that were given to office staff of one of the financiers. The label matches the one in the pic exactly, does have the tm on the back as well.

Photos Michael...or it's not real here on the Internetz.

[itsiilegal]

I am Michael's son and the shirts were given to me by a close family friend. They are real. I will post pictures and would love feedback and advice. I also have an original unissued woodstock poster given to me by the same person. Atypical. I am looking for professional appraisal, documentation and confirmation. Pictures and thorough info to follow. Please contact me with any info/questions regarding shirts or posters.

[maxvintage]

I'm interested to see the pictures. But, if the tag matches the tag in the previous pictures, that would date the shirts later than 1969. I don't doubt their authenticity, they just appear to have been made after the festival.

I did tons of research into original Woodstock shirts and spoke the curator of the museum at Bethel Woods. The guy has seen every picture and video about Woodstock available. He said he could only verify that the staff shirts pictured here were authentically from the event itself.

[jimmyj]

Interesting update to this. Info about color coding of the tees. This comes from a gent whose best friend worked outside security at the filmore east. Most jives with what was previous posted except the green.

"The black was worn by the concert organizers. The actual staff producing the show. The NY police hired wore red and stayed in the green room tent drinking beer in the back stage area. The green were worn by the Filmore staff. They did all the security. The blue were local hires from the area. The yellow I believe were given to the performers, but this is only a guess. Country Joe McDonald was photographed in a yellow one looking over the railing from the bridge. The black were not given out due to their status. Although if you look a the Woodstock film on of the performers is performing in a black jacket. He must have know someone."

I'm sure there was cross over with who got what tee - it was likely pandemonium trying to rally the troops.

[jimmyj]

Here's a tag from a black version. Felco Athletic Wear New York