Licensed sports tees from the days when the graphic ran edge to edge. Salem Sportswear printed basketball and gridiron shirts through the late 80s and 90s, usually built around one big caricature or team graphic rather than a small chest logo.
These are bought for the print, and the print decides whether a shirt's worth having. Big screen prints from this period sit heavy on the cotton and crack as they age. What matters is whether the graphic's all there, so we photograph the print in full on every listing and let you judge it yourself.
Salem pieces turn up now and then rather than steadily, so this collection is often small or empty between finds. For sports and team prints, browse vintage t-shirts, or see vintage Nike where we have the most.
Common questions
What's Salem Sportswear known for?
Big licensed sports graphics printed edge to edge across the chest, mostly basketball and gridiron from the late 80s and 90s. The graphic is the whole reason people collect them.
Should cracking in the print put me off?
Not on its own. Heavy screen prints this old crack as the ink hardens, and it's expected. A missing or flaking section is a different matter, and we describe and photograph that.
Why's there nothing available right now?
We only ever have one of anything, and this label reaches us rarely. We keep the page up so you can find it the moment stock lands. In the meantime vintage t-shirts has sports prints from every other label we stock.
