70s Character T-Shirts

Characters who arrived in the 1970s — the decade that invented modern character licensing.

The single most consequential decision in the history of character apparel was made in 1973, when George Lucas gave up half his directing fee on Star Wars in exchange for the merchandising and sequel rights. Nobody at the studio thought they were worth much. What followed established the template every property on this site now operates under: the film is the advertisement, and the licensing is the business.

The characters below were designed before that logic was obvious, which is why so many of them read well in a single colour. Seventies character design still assumed reproduction on cheap stock — iron-on transfers, ringer tees, newsprint advertising — and built silhouettes strong enough to survive it.