By Jim McGregor/Special to the Langley Advance Times
Once the classic vehicle is shined and polished and ready for the show, the dedicated enthusiast has to decide which T-shirt to wear. If they’ve been on the scene for a while he or she is going to have at least one, maybe two drawers that have only T-shirts with cars on them.
Some shirts will feature the vehicle they have restored. Others may be souvenirs of car shows or events they have attended. If they have been to a major event like a Barrett-Jackson Auction or Hot August Nights, they will wear this shirt like a badge.
The task of providing something new every year falls to Good Times Director Nick Goodrick and his team of volunteers.
“We do a lot of watching and listening to the show participants,” Goodrick said.
“Every year, when the show is put to bed, we sit down and take a look at what was popular, what sold out and what didn’t sell. Last year we had 800 cars registered and we sold out of the navy blue shirts before the end of the day.”
The souvenir tent has a line up from early in the day until the end of the show, Goodrick said, noting they try to have a little bit of everything for the car owners and show-goers alike.
“We have the shirts in assorted colours, caps, dash plaques, licence plates, and the always popular posters. We know that there are people out there who have been collecting these things since the Cruise-In began 23 years ago, and they always look forward to what we have to offer.”
This year they are going to offer a retro hoody.
“We have taken a popular poster from a few years back with a George Bell design and printing it on the front of a black hoody. We think this will be a hot seller, something unique and nostalgic that the people don’t have,” he said.
“We watch the trends in fashion and this year we are offering a black, flex fit cap with the wide, flat brim that will please the younger crowd. People come up to booth each year and make suggestions, we take a look at them and try to keep current.”
The design on the shirts and dash plaques is usually the same as the poster for that year, and typically the design is on the back of the shirt with a small Good Times logo on the front, but that will change this year, Goodrick said.
“People told us that they would rather see the artwork on the front of the shirt, so we are trying that for this show.”
For now, you can only buy the souvenirs at the show.
“We will have two locations this year, one by the main stage and one at the east end and we will be selling some at the swap meet at the mall on Sunday as well,” Nick explains, “we hope in the near future you will be able to buy on line but we’re not quite there yet.”
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