Saint Elmo’s Tire

Elmo Tire is a family owned and operated automobile tire sales business located in Youngstown, Ohio. Although I have driven past the building, I never stopped in for fun or even when I was in need. I have no particular reason why.

The company’s static homepage ⇒ is perhaps the oldest of the backer sites. If this is not the oldest by virtue of being last updated on March 9, 2000 (as of this writing), then I still credit the page for retaining the look of that particular time in web design. I hope that the page never changes.

The phone number on this sweatshirt is still correct except for the area code. 216 now only serves the Cleveland area while 330 is the current area code for the Youngstown area. ⇒

Paperboy Calls It Quits

Oh, those halcyon days of youth before the ascendency of the Web when people still willingly paid subscription prices to read print versions of newspapers. The economy of the newspaper industry was such that it could support paying children to deliver newspapers to nearly everyone on their street. The job paid a pittance, but allowed for responsibility and a reason to walk.

I was one of those children that had a paper route. I was given this particular shirt as a tip for my newspaper delivery by a customer on that route. Less Than Donor Mr. Elmo* was a cousin of the proprietor of the shop. I was aware of this sweatshirt after seeing my school bus driver wear this sweatshirt. They told me to ask their in-law to whom I delivered a daily newspaper because that is who gave the sweatshirt to them.

It has been pointed out that Mr. Elmo is the only donor so honored with the title of Mister. The truth is that I forget Mr. Elmo’s real first name. I prefer to identify donor’s by their first names to protect their privacy. Although I could have pretended that this donor’s first name was Elmo that would be a misrepresentation.

Altered Beast

I improvised thumbholes similar to the Handcuffs sweatshirt on this shirt. My intent was to keep my hands warm and fingers nimble in the cold weather. Later on, I would realize the folly of my decision.

Luckily, this sweatshirt has held up quite well despite this crude alteration. Though the large total number of free shirts lowers the amount of wear any random shirt might have to endure, being an early entrant and a heavier shirt suitable for layering increased the wear to this shirt. To be able to learn a lesson without suffering the worst consequences is nice.

Reclassification

This sweatshirt used to be classified as being part of the Free Shirt Archive. The reclassification rationale is that a tip for service, no matter how generous, is nonetheless roundabout compensation for services rendered. I still think that this sweatshirt was an awesome tip to get as I like shirts and it probably cost as much as the newspaper subscription did back when I was a paperboy.