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The History of the Shirt
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As an educator and geographer, John C. Fiege became annoyed every time he saw a map of Virginia that excluded the Eastern Shore, and although he wrote offenders and sometimes succeeded in getting maps corrected, the problem continued.
One night in 1988, he drew a cartoon showing the Shore ten times larger than “the rest” of Virginia. The cartoon was published in the Eastern Shore News.
An acquaintance suggested putting the design on the back of a t-shirt. They came up with the slogan “Let’s put the Shore on the Map” and put it on the front of the shirt. The phrase "Yes, Virginia, there is an Eastern Shore"™ had been heard before,
but John W. Fiege believes they were the first to use it commercially. It is now trademarked.
The “Yes, Virginia T-Shirt” was an instant best seller. The Fieges picked up the first batch in Norfolk on their way to a little league playoff game in Norfolk. Each member of the family put on one of the shirts.
In a Hardee’s Restaurant, a stranger approached to find out where to buy the shirt. It turned out he was a postal worker in Norfolk who had grown up on the Shore. Once at the Little League game, the shirts attracted the attention of players’ parents. The shirt was a hit.
John W. Fiege, who was then a college student at UVA, was in charge of making wholesale sales to stores such as T’s Corner and Jaxon’s.
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John C. Fiege holding the original shirt.
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Over the next six years, thousands of the Yes, Virginia T-Shirts sold. Then the Fieges decided to stop production. However, they still received occasional calls from retailers as well as neighbors asking them to bring the shirt back.
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Fewer and fewer maps of Virginia now exclude the Shore.
Eighteen years later in 2006, the shirt has a new purpose…to promote the Shore as a special place that needs to be preserved.
The Fieges and new partner JoLynn Hart wanted to show not only that the Shore itself is a hidden gem, but also that there are many individual hidden gems for people to experience. Why hidden? Because most can’t be seen from Rt. 13!
We have an array of natural gems partly due to being the last prime unspoiled waterfront on the East Coast. In addition, our history ties in with the founding of our country and an incredibly talented array of artists live and work here on the Shore.
So Hart and Fiege came up with a new slogan, “Let’s Preserve the Hidden Gem of the East Coast™!” and trademarked it.
They also developed a new colorful design: the Shore in green to suggest its lush beauty on a blue shirt suggesting the water. Click here to order yours now!
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These shirts make great gifts!
Plus...
A full 5% of profits are donated to a local charity whose focus is cleaning-up the Eastern Shore.
100% Money-Back Guarantee
We are so sure you will love this shirt, we have put into place an iron-clad, no questions asked, 100% money-back guarantee. If for any reason you are not satisfied with your purchase, simply return the shirt(s) in mint condition and we will promptly refund your money.
With our iron-clad guarantee, it's easy to...
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