Object Details
maker
Nike, Inc.
Description
This is a black cotton Nike t-shirt emblazoned with the “Just Do It” slogan in yellow and “Nike” with the “swoosh” underneath it in pink. The Nike “swoosh” became the trademark of the brand in the early 1970s, while “Just Do It” was first used during a 1988 ad campaign.
Nike was founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports. Bill Bowerman, a track and field coach for the University of Oregon, and Phil Knight, a former student athlete of Bowerman’s, formed the company to distribute athletic shoes from a Japanese company. In 1971, the name was changed to Nike and the company changed from being a distributor of shoes to manufacturing and selling their own shoes. Nike debuted with the iconic “swoosh” logo in 1972, just in time for the U.S. Track and Field trials.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Todd Alan Kinser
date made
1988-1990
ID Number
1995.0085.002
accession number
1995.0085
catalog number
1995.0085.2
Object Name
t-shirt
Related Publication
Sewer, Andy; Allison, David; Liebhold, Peter; Davis, Nancy; Franz, Kathleen G.. American Enterprise: A History of Business in America
See more items in
Home and Community Life: Costume
Clothing & Accessories
American Enterprise
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_881602