Salvage Sailor Posted January 28, 2008 Share #1 Posted January 28, 2008 Aloha Everyone,I'd call this 'miscellaneous personal militaria' as topics go. Recently there have been several topics on what we find posted on ebay. The surprises, fakes, odd items, etc. There was also the luck of Ken (kklinejr) in finding his grandfather's medal on ebay last week.Well, I was trolling about on ebay in late November and found this:VINTAGE CLASSIC NAVY SAILOR USS GRASP BOATING T-SHIRTMuch to my surprise, I see a skivvy T-Shirt that I made in the P.I (Subic Bay) in 1977! I read the description, and of couse know where and how it was really made, and sent a PM to the seller. I let him know about it, and that there were only eight made for our 'Nav Team'. What I really wanted to know was where did he get it, as it obviously came from one of my shipmates.The seller blew me off, but when I emailed the buyer after the auction (who thought this was made in the 1950's) he wanted the details.I told him This shirt was made in October 1977 at Subic Bay Naval Station, Philippines. Our ship, USS GRASP (ARS-24) was making our last port call in the P.I. and we went to the silk screen shop with some skivvy shirts and designed it for the 'Nav Team' (NAVIGATION TEAM). By my recollection, we made eight (8) shirts & I still have one (1) of them. I also have a kodak slide around here somewhere with me wearing mine at my Nav station on the GRASP as we left Subic Bay.We designed the shirt from the famous WWI Howard Chandler Christy poster "If I were a man I'd join the Navy", and added 'Nav Team' and the ship's name to it.I'll be sending him a copy of the photo when I get it converted for his provenance.I was going to bid on this myself but when the price went north of $50...... The skivvy shirt sold for $181.50Wish I made more of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted January 28, 2008 Share #2 Posted January 28, 2008 Great story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintageproductions Posted January 28, 2008 Share #3 Posted January 28, 2008 If you want to feel worse, the buyer sets up a couple of spaces over from us at the Rose Bowl in the vintage clothing section. I watched him sell the t-shirt to another person within a couple minutes of setting up, last month. Still a great looking t-shirt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brig Posted January 28, 2008 Share #4 Posted January 28, 2008 wow, these stories are crazy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share #5 Posted August 13, 2008 Aloha Everyone, I came across the photo of me wearing one of these shirts aboard the USS GRASP (ARS-24) in October 1977 while cruising through the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (T.T.P.I. - now the Federated States of Micronesia). Made in the 1950's my #%&! It's amazing how some dealers and sellers really don't care about where their 'rare vintage' items really come from. This shot was taken on the port bridge wing while I was shooting bearings with the Alidade I'm leaning against. Took me a while to find the photo as I thought it was a slide, but it was actually a color negative that I've now scanned as evidence/provenance. Caveat Emperor you eBay buyers..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrei Posted August 13, 2008 Share #6 Posted August 13, 2008 Nice pic and of course, nice & expensive T-Shirt ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt1911 Posted August 14, 2008 Share #7 Posted August 14, 2008 Wow...simply....wow. On a similar note, i'm glad i held onto all my old 80's concert tee's. E-pay can make you some good cash at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted August 14, 2008 Share #8 Posted August 14, 2008 Okay... similar story.... A good friend of mine was in the USAF at Udorn, Thailand during the Vietnam War. When I started telling them how much theater made USAF and novelty patches were going for these days, they just laughed "That junk?" they said. "There used to be vendors standing right outside the gate with stacks of these things on their tables. I just walked by them... I figured they were junk and had no interest in them." If we only knew then what we know now....! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyCanteen Posted May 13, 2017 Share #9 Posted May 13, 2017 This is just too cool of a story (and shirt!), thanks for linking this thread Salvage Sailor. RC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kammo-man Posted May 14, 2017 Share #10 Posted May 14, 2017 Aloha Everyone, I came across the photo of me wearing one of these shirts aboard the USS GRASP (ARS-24) in October 1977 while cruising through the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (T.T.P.I. - now the Federated States of Micronesia). Made in the 1950's my #%&! It's amazing how some dealers and sellers really don't care about where their 'rare vintage' items really come from. This shot was taken on the port bridge wing while I was shooting bearings with the Alidade I'm leaning against. Took me a while to find the photo as I thought it was a slide, but it was actually a color negative that I've now scanned as evidence/provenance. Caveat Emperor you eBay buyers..... OK Thats cool. owen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchbuff Posted May 14, 2017 Share #11 Posted May 14, 2017 Shirt is pretty cool, but I'll bet the memories are even cooler! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagmanL6 Posted May 15, 2017 Share #12 Posted May 15, 2017 That is a great story. Even the Mrs. enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefighter Posted May 15, 2017 Share #13 Posted May 15, 2017 Okay... similar story.... A good friend of mine was in the USAF at Udorn, Thailand during the Vietnam War. When I started telling them how much theater made USAF and novelty patches were going for these days, they just laughed "That junk?" they said. "There used to be vendors standing right outside the gate with stacks of these things on their tables. I just walked by them... I figured they were junk and had no interest in them." If we only knew then what we know now....! I think about the stuff I could have bought when I was at Clark. The patchs, plaques, etc,, were so cheap.I remember seeing plaques for Vietnam units, I was there 84-86. Cheap, cheap, & cheap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easterneagle87 Posted May 16, 2017 Share #14 Posted May 16, 2017 Great links!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanemono Posted May 16, 2017 Share #15 Posted May 16, 2017 Great shirt, great story! Thanks for sharing it with us. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dg0223 Posted May 18, 2017 Share #16 Posted May 18, 2017 How were you able to email the buyer after the auction was over? Ebay obscures the username of the winning bidder nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted May 18, 2017 Author Share #17 Posted May 18, 2017 "nowadays"....the old days, when we could easily send messages Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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