Your Majesty

Roces ⇒ is an Italian skate company that makes both rollerblades and ice skates. The Majestic Twelve was originally a rollerblade designed for aggressive skating which became the most popular of its kind of it’s time. Majestic Twelves were known for being lightweight and comfortable in comparison to other rollerblades of that time. The product retailed for $300 US Dollars in 1995 and was available in black. The model has since been revived, but in white and for half the price.

What is the meaning of the name Majestic Twelve? “Twelve” (12) is clearly spelled out, but there is a number 13 on both this shirt as well as other promotional material. The closest explanation that I was able to uncover is that the company designed the skate to fit so narrowly against the foot that the company actively encouraged dealers to recommend that customers buy one foot size larger than their normal shoe size for a proper fit. I presume that this design choice was meant as a dog whistle because that interpretation is not intuitive. The inspiration for the name is likely an alleged group of United States Government and American business conspirators that were supposedly sent a memo ⇒ by United States President Harry S. Truman ⇒ about events in Roswell, New Mexico ⇒.

How Much It Used To Mean

Donor, Receiver, & Donor Ian* spent most of one summer break getting excited about the Majestic Twelves. Though I did not share his enthusiasm, I understood his enthusiasm. He was an avid inline roller hockey player. Skating around all day is bound to make one notice the quality of the skates that they are wearing. He was not the only person caught up in Majestic Twelve fever; it seemed everyone else in that crowd either had their parents buy them the rollerblades or attempted to save up the money on their own. I was apathetic to both skating and hockey at that point.

When Ian finally obtained the Majestic Twelves he was quite ecstatic. He even called another friend and me over to show off his skates. There was not any roller hockey going on that day, so Ian performed a lot of grinding tricks. That was the day before a new school year started; The dragon was slayed, but too late for the victor to be crowned king. The rollerblades would still get weekend use, but not daily use as intended during the summer when the Majestic Twelves were the “it” item of a subculture.

By donating this shirt to me years later, Ian was in a way letting go of a part of his past. I was not expecting him to ever donate this shirt based upon memories. I did know, though, that he had moved unto different pursuits. I had also moved on from that time period as well with one of the changes being that I started the Free Shirt Archive.

I still strongly associate the shirt with Ian even though I am now the owner this shirt. Ian actively wore this shirt to the point that the shirt was known as one of his shirts. Generally, when a shirt gets to that point, I do not like to accept it. The difference with a shirt like this is that it seemed like Ian actively wanted to let go and that I could help him by taking the shirt. By that point, roller hockey had gave way to a career in another field and Daily Bread magazine was no longer cool to read while loitering at the skate shop.