Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Mundane souvenir of the week: New Jersey Turnpike t-shirt


I love souvenirs. The looking is often more fun than the buying and owning...once you get that precious keepsake home, now what do you do with it? I've bored my friends and relatives to tears by giving them my so-bad-it's-good treasures, so now I mostly just photograph them. Here's a real beaut: a New Jersey Turnpike t-shirt. The NJT is not what you'd call a pleasure ride, so who in their right mind would want a garment promoting it? That's the beauty of it! Awesome.

9 comments:

Rick Kilby said...

that logo is so bad that it's good!

Gunnar and Sherry said...

Yes, Rick, I agree. Like they just randomly threw a bunch of typography around...

Mod Betty / Retro Roadmap said...

I loves me some "so bad it's good" souveniers too, and that's why I have a box full of snowdomes sitting in my basement. I had them on display for a while a long time ago but the constant dusting proved to be too much! I've got a bunch of Impko pennants and stickers too, but try to keep a tight rein on the kitch, for Retro Roadhusband's sake. But cheesy souvenirs are the best!

Bill said...

New Jersey is creative. They are, after all, the home of the Vince Lombardi Rest Stop on Rt. 95 in the Meadowlands... One of the greatest coaching legends in NFL history, and New Jersey chooses to honor him by naming a filthy highway restroom after him. Nice. And didn't he coach in Green Bay? I can't remember if they have a snazzy logo for the VLRS, but they shure don't have any cool t-shirts.

Gunnar and Sherry said...

Betty: I LOVE Impko decals! Where do you find them? I've got a bunch of Baxter-Lane decals on my car. I've also got a snowdome collection, but many are now bone-dry. My favorite is the "War Between the States" one from Gettysburg.

Bill: I'd LOVE to make it to the VLRS some day. If that's what they do for a football legend, what do they do for a mediocre coach? And on a more personal note, Congratulations! A blog comment is a rather puny place to wish you well on your nuptuals but there you go. I was hoping to get you a card or something before now. Sorry!

Bill said...

Gunnar, Thank you for your kind words. No worries on the card. Not everyone has as much free time as I do.....

Unknown said...

I just came across this. Very cool!

Which NJ rest area did you see these T-shirts in?

@Bill: Vince Lombardi had that rest area named after him most likely because of his rise to fame with the Green Bay Packers. However, Lombardi was born in Brooklyn and started coaching at St. Cecilia in Englewood, NJ. That was enough of a connection to name one of the rest areas after him. Other rest areas along the TP are also named after other famous people...Molly Pitcher, Thomas Edison etc. so Vince is in good company.

Gunnar and Sherry said...

Alex, Thanks for stopping by. I'm not exactly sure which rest stop this was but it very well could be the Molly Pitcher. I know we've stopped there and I was amused by the name.

Martini Whore said...

You know, since i'm from NJ but dont reside there now i'm going to have to get my hands on one of these t-shirts just to torture my friends here n Florida with.