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A 1995 T-shirt featuring Tehachapi native wildflowers, owned by Carol Rush and made by 'hachapi Tees.
This 1980s shirt, owned by Nancy Whittier, commemorates the late lamented Mt. Festival event of cow chip throwing.
Barbara Novinger owns (and loves) this T-shirt inspired by old packing labels.
A 25-year-old Tehachapi car show shirt owned by Rufus Thomas.
Rufus and Dianne Thomas are foundational members of the Tehachapi Car Club and have long included their classic cars or trucks in local car shows.
The car show shirts have gotten fancier as the years progressed.
This 34-year-old shirt commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Tehachapi Mountain Festival.
A Tehachapi car show shirt owned by Rufus Thomas.
A 1995 T-shirt featuring Tehachapi native wildflowers, owned by Carol Rush and made by 'hachapi Tees.
This 1980s shirt, owned by Nancy Whittier, commemorates the late lamented Mt. Festival event of cow chip throwing.
Barbara Novinger owns (and loves) this T-shirt inspired by old packing labels.
A 25-year-old Tehachapi car show shirt owned by Rufus Thomas.
Rufus and Dianne Thomas are foundational members of the Tehachapi Car Club and have long included their classic cars or trucks in local car shows.
The car show shirts have gotten fancier as the years progressed.
This 34-year-old shirt commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Tehachapi Mountain Festival.
A Tehachapi car show shirt owned by Rufus Thomas.
Several weeks ago, I wrote a column about vintage Tehachapi T-shirts and featured some of them, including several owned by former Tehachapi resident Kirk Smith. I invited other readers to send me photos of classic shirts they had, and I've been sent some that I hadn't seen before.
Over the years, many Tehachapi T-shirts were created by a business called 'hachapi Tees, which opened way back in 1989 and was operated by Scott and Christi Friesen. In addition to creating custom shirts for businesses, events and celebrations, 'hachapi Tees also made up their own souvenir T-shirts for the Tehachapi area.
An example of one of these was sent to me by Carol Rush, who said that she got it in 1995 from the 'hachapi Tees store located near Witt's Everything for the Office in the Old Town shopping district.
The T-shirt features accurate depictions of 10 different native wildflowers in full color, and Carol says that it's still one of her favorite shirts. The 'hachapi Tees business made countless other Tehachapi-themed shirts over the years. While the storefront closed in 2015, Scott still operates the screen printing and embroidery business from his home with the same phone number and email/website that he's always used, and 'hachapi Tees has an online presence.
One of the most unusual (and puzzling, to those who don't know the back story) T-shirts is represented by a photo submitted by Nancy Whittier. The shirt loudly proclaims "I Flung Dung" and "Tehachapi Mt. Festival" on the front, with a caricature of a cow.
This refers to a competition that during the 1980s was part of the Tehachapi Mountain Festival: the annual cow chip throwing contest. This storied event saw competitors hurling dried cow patties to see who could throw one the farthest, a kind of discus or frisbee toss, except the projectile was an old roughly circular disc of cow manure collected from a local cattle ranch.
Yeah, that actually was part of the Mt. Festival here at one time, as improbable as it sounds. In fact, the world distance record for slinging a dried puck of cow poop was set right here in Tehachapi.
The Guinness World Records website states that: "The record distances in the country sport of throwing dried cow pats or 'chips' depend on whether or not the projectile may be `moulded into a spherical shape.' The greatest distance achieved under the 'non-sphericalisation and 100 per cent organic' rule (established in 1970) is 81.1 m (266 ft), by Steve Urner (USA) at the Mountain Festival, Tehachapi, California, USA on 14 August 1981."
The cow chip throwing contest was dropped from the Tehachapi Mountain Festival more than 30 years ago, but Steve Urner's record still stands. And Nancy still wears her 40-year-old collector's item T-shirt at Mt. Festival each year.
Another shirt example was submitted by Barbara Novinger, whose parents George and Anne Marie Novinger were one of the founders of The Apple Shed. The shirt is inspired by old fruit packing labels and says "Tehachapi Delight Apples." It is a 30-year-old shirt also designed by 'hachapi Tees.
Rufus and Dianne Thomas submitted several shirts from their collection, mostly oriented around Tehachapi car shows, since they have long owned vintage vehicles and been foundational members of the Tehachapi Car Club. They also have an example of the 1988 Tehachapi Mountain Festival T-shirt, like one owned by Kirk Smith. It is a very appealing design featuring settlers in a covered wagon pulled by oxen, a large oak tree and an orange sunset backdrop.
Most Tehachapi T-shirts over the years have been created by 'hachapi Tees or another community-favorite custom shop, M & M Sports Uniforms and Embroidery on Tucker Road, operated by Marcos and Maria Curiel. This wearable art is a fun way to represent our little beloved corner of the world, and sometimes the shirts are still around decades later. . .
Jon Hammond has written for Tehachapi News for more than 40 years. Send email to tehachapimtnlover@gmail.com.
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