Boneyard Whiskey Black Label Vintage T-Shirt

Not available in stores

You're right if you assumed this Boneyard Whiskey Black Label Vintage t-shirt is about cemeteries or graveyards, but you would probably be only half right.

This tee, with its distinctive and very cool blue border can certainly invoke a midnight blue darkness, of howls in the night, reminding your soul that it is probably not a good idea to venture into some places. Maybe it reminds us of the gothic yards of graves around New Orleans. One can image newly born vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac, having just been bitten by Lestat, discovering the world of the undead, of statues that seem to come to life.

But this t-shirt is about more than that. Grab a glass of your favorite bourbon and listen to the other half.

There is another kind of boneyard, that can also be about memories and tell stories of lives lived and sometimes cut short. It can be other-worldly, serene and quiet.

If you visited Ontario, CA in 1946, at the Ontario Army Airport, you would see a massive graveyard of empty airplanes, rows and rows of over 2,000 B-17 and B-25 aircraft  waiting to be dismantled after the end of World War II. Some never saw combat, having been built at the end of the war. Like a soul born but never having the chance to fly. These bombers were also facing obsolesce, as jets and new technology were the future.

You can see this boneyard, forever on film, in the movie The Best Years of Our Lives. which was released by Hollywood in 1946. The film was about three servicemen, a bombardier Captain, Naval Petty Officer, and infantry sergeant, returning from the war and adjusting to civilian life. The picture was a huge hit and critically-acclaimed, starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, and a non-professional actor, Harold Russell, an Army veteran, who lost both his hands in a demolition accident.

Towards the end of the movie, the Captain, Fred Derry (played by Dana Andrews) wanders through the airplane boneyard in Ontario, CA (set in the fictional small midwestern town of Boone City.) Once mighty Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, now reduced to gathering dust, on a wind-swipe plain. 

Captain Derry crawls into one of the bombers and relives his moments in combat, both nostalgic and harrowing. He is comforted by a foreman:

Foreman: What are you doing in that airplane!

Derry: I used to work in one of those.

Foreman: Reviving old memories, uh?

Derry: Or maybe getting some of them out of my system.

Foreman: Well you can take your last look at these crates, we're breaking them up.

Derry: Yeah, you're the junkman. You get everything sooner of later.

Forearm: This is no junk. We're using this material to build prefabricated houses.

Derry: You don't need any help, do you?

He gets the job, and the girl a few minutes later. 

Those boneyards are long gone now. But this is a great tee to wear, whether you are looking for flying machines or vampires. You get to tell your friends which one it is today. Or in the middle of the night.

The Vintage Look

The shirt has a unique distressed, vintage look; cool, subtle, like washed in a creek. Like maybe it's seen a few things. The fabric remains the highest quality (see below).

The T-shirt

Our tees are the highest quality you will find. 100% combed and ring-spun cotton by Bella Canvas, a USA-based company. Feels soft and lightweight, with the right amount of stretch. It's comfortable and very flattering for both men and women.

Free Shipping -- Please allow from 7 to 14 days for shipping. 

• 100% combed and ring-spun cotton (Heather colors contain polyester)
• Ash color is 99% combed and ring-spun cotton, 1% polyester
• Heather colors are 52% combed and ring-spun cotton, 48% polyester
• Athletic and Black Heather are 90% combed and ring-spun cotton, 10% polyester
• Heather Prism colors are 99% combed and ring-spun cotton, 1% polyester
• Fabric weight: 4.2 oz (142 g/m2)
• Pre-shrunk fabric
• Side-seamed construction
• Shoulder-to-shoulder taping

Size guide