CB radio tee-shirt
date: label: date made
content: ca 1975
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: A T-shirt with an iron-on applique depicting a commercial long-haul truck driver communicating with other truckers via Citizens Band (CB) radio. The caption “Beat the Bushes, Boys” refers to the practice of the lead trucker in a convoy driving in advance of the others so as to discover any police who might be hidden along the side of the road enforcing speed limits. The trucker’s message, “Ten-Four Back Door!” refers to the radio code 10-4 (message acknowledged) directed to the last truck in the convoy (who’s securing the group’s “back door”.)
label: Description (Brief)
content: CB radio became a social and cultural phenomenon in the US during the 1970s, an era before widespread availability of cellular telephones. Reflected in music (the song “Convoy”, for example) and movies like Smokey and the Bandit, unlicensed CBs became a popular means of protest against authority—especially newly enacted national speed limits in the wake of the OPEC oil embargo of 1973. Operators created an alternate language combining amateur radio codes and slang that served to create a sense of community. Ephemera like this T-shirt proliferated during the era.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Tag reads: "100% Cotton / B.V.D. / Brand / [M logo] 8-10 / See reverse side / Machine Washable / Tumble Dry".
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2023.0177.36
label: accession number
content: 2023.0177
label: catalog number
content: 2023.0177.36
objectType: label: Object Name
content: tee shirt
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: flat: 21 in x 20 in x 1/8 in; 53.34 cm x 50.8 cm x .3175 cm