A Girard company that secured the rights to produce logo wear for the 100th anniversary of Good Humor is now releasing a line of T-shirts for Popsicle.
Linda Barton, owner of Sweet Memories Vintage Tees, plans to launch a new Popsicle design each week for the next few weeks. The first design, which was set to drop on Sept. 1, is titled “Celebrate Variety – a Popsicle Diversity CommuniTee.”
Twenty percent of the sales proceeds will benefit the neonatal intensive care unit at Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley.
Earlier this year, Barton created Sweet Memories Vintage Tees to handle the sales, promotion and marketing of her nostalgic T-shirt lines. The success of the Good Humor launch compelled Barton to explore other design projects with corporate parent Unilever, which also owns Popsicle.
This past summer, Barton secured the rights to design and sell shirts depicting Popsicle and Snow Cone. In addition, she entered into a contract with Ohio-based Spangler Candy to produce shirts for Dum Dums lollipops, Sweethearts (the Valentine message candy) and Necco Wafers.
“Growing up, I never thought I’d be designing T-shirts for all these great candies,” Barton said.
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While researching Good Humor’s 100th anniversary for a potential T-shirt project, Barton discovered that the ice cream company was founded in Youngstown and that its owner, Harry Burt, invented both the ice cream bar and ice cream truck.
Digging deeper, she was surprised to learn that Good Humor’s original production building was still standing in downtown Youngstown and repurposed as the Tyler History Center.
Consequently, Barton’s Good Humor T-shirt designs give props to the ice cream company’s Youngstown origins.
While pitching the idea to produce Good Humor T-shirts for Unilever, Barton learned that the New Jersey-based company hadn’t produced a novelty clothing line, except for a brief stint with Hot Topic.
Although the Good Humor merchandise incorporates nostalgia, it also aims to appeal to a broad, multi-generational audience. One Barton design replicates Good Humor advertising art from the 1920s. Another, “Retro Man,” incorporates a stylized Good Humor driver that’s reminiscent of post-war cartoon illustrations. Others highlight classic products, reminding the viewer that Unilever is, after all, in the business of marketing its products.
Still, there were some restrictions. Unilever had to sign off on designs before they could be released. And marketing to children was prohibited. Although the T-shirt designs are nostalgic, they also needed to be relevant to the marketplace.
As with the current Popsicle line, Barton is sharing a portion of her Good Humor proceeds with Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley. Although the partnership seems appropriate due to their work with children, Barton feels a deeper, more meaningful connection – the hospital treated her young daughter during a near-fatal MRSA infection.
As part of Barton’s agreement, Sweet Memories Vintage Tees donates 20 percent of logo wear sales to Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley.
New Dawn Design – 1282 Trumbull Ave., Suite E, Girard, Ohio 44420. Phone: 330-759-3500. Sweet Memories Vintage Tees online store.
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