Retro Scan of the Week: Vintage Computer T-Shirts

May 7th, 2007 by Benj Edwards
Byte my Bits - Vintage Computer T-Shirts

What — you think cheeky nerd T-shirts are a recent invention? They’ve been here from the start, my friends.

Early personal computer magazines typically carried at least one ad for computer-themed T-shirts somewhere in each issue, usually in the back. These particular examples from 1983 tout apparel plastered with phrases such as “Byte my Bits,” “User Friendly,” “PC Compatible,” and the perennial classic, “Have You Hugged Your Programmer Today?”

Vintage Computer T-Shirts

Hey look — it’s Linda! Alternatives to the shirts pictured above include “Software” and “Hard Disk Driven.” Early computer enthusiasts were a desperate, sad lot indeed.

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7 Responses to “Retro Scan of the Week: Vintage Computer T-Shirts”

  1. extrarice Says:

    Wow, “Byte my Bits.” Risqué!

    Even though it’s not “vintage”, I treasure my old Be, Inc. t-shirt. It’s coming up on 10 years old now…

  2. Layne Says:

    I still wear a T-Shirt I got when I was interning with IBM (back in 1992 or 1993, so it’s over 10 years old). On the front it says “Nice Try” with the N and the T in really large font. On the back, it says “OS/2 Warp, up and running, not up and coming.” They were given out to IBMers who attended Comdex. We all grabbed strategic seats in the audience during Bill Gates’ keynote speech that year.

    Nothing says true Geek like an outdated tech shirt supporting the losing technology!

    Layne

  3. Benj Edwards Says:

    Great stories. Anybody else have a t-shirt story to share?

  4. Jason Scott Says:

    http://digitize.textfiles.com/items/1983-sweetgum-catalog/

    Specifically, http://digitize.textfiles.com/items/1983-sweetgum-catalog/.m/1983-sweetgum-catalog-02.jpg

  5. Benj Edwards Says:

    That’s awesome, Jason. Thanks for the links! (and the scans)

  6. Layne Says:

    I loved the microchip puzzle!

    Layne

  7. Cody Says:

    Linda looks cute!

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