Peace Frogs Releases Retired Batch of Vintage Flag Shorts
Gloucester, Va. (PRWEB) July 09, 2013 -- The way Peace Frogs history goes, a group of college students sat around a dorm room in 1985 at the University of Virginia discussing a start-up idea by Catesby Jones – make and sell shorts fashioned out of the flags of different countries.
Jones would launch that company and kick start what he then called an experiment in American capitalism with shorts made out of the flags of nations once behind the “Iron Curtain.” The idea caught on. Jones continued making shorts, eventually growing to feature countries from all over the world.
That start up became Peace Frogs, named for the Native American symbol for peace, and offering t-shirts and gifts. The mascot? An iconic frog thrusting two fingers in the air to form a peace sign.
But whatever became of those original shorts? Turns out hundreds remain and Peace Frogs, now an international company headquartered in Gloucester, Va., is pulling them out of the warehouse and for the first time in nearly 20 years, offering the vintage wear for sale to its fans.
"These are from the original batch," said Jones, who remains the President and Founder of Peace Frogs. "True retro."
Jones studied international relations as an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia.
"The flag shorts was a natural way to launch," Jones said. "The reason why we stopped making them, quite simply, was inventory. There were just too many countries and each country had four sizes."
In the vintage release of the shorts, which are being loaded to the Peace Frogs web store in batches, the following countries are available:
• United States
• USSR
• Spain
• Ethiopia
• Albania
• France
• Ireland
• Israel
• Congo
• Anguilla
• Egypt
• Poland
• Norway
• Papua New Guinea
• Guam
• Afghanistan
• Australia
• Malawi
• Virgin Islands
• Mexico
• South Africa
• Cuba
• El Salvador
• Mozambique
• Haiti
• Jamaica
• Iran
• Wales
• Barbados
• New Zealand
• Canada
• Panama
• Czechoslovakia
• Switzerland
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Belgium
• Swaziland
• Portugal
The flag shorts originally sold for $33. They are available online today for $19.95.
"These are some tough shorts," Jones said. "Very sturdy. I still wear them and they are just as strong as when I first made them."
It’s not just digging the vintage shorts out of the Peace Frogs vaults that makes this release unique, Jones said.
"The world has changed and many of the countries’ flags have changed along with the countries themselves," Jones said. "But the flag shorts are still here."
The first vintage shorts made available are the United States flag, released in late June in honor of the Fourth of July.
Find the vintage Peace Frogs flag shorts at http://www.peacefrogs.com. Stay connected to the Peace Frogs community to learn when other countries are made available via Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/PeaceFrogsCompany.
About Peace Frogs:
Established more than 25 years ago by Catesby Jones, the Virginia-based Peace Frogs apparel company promotes positively peaceful living. The apparel and gift products are featured online and in more than 800 specialty stores around the world. With 16 free standing stores, a Peace Frogs Frozen Yogurt shop recently opened in Nags Head, N.C. and 20 licensees, the Peace Frogs brand grows in popularity each year. For more information about Peace Frogs, contact Catesby Jones at catesby(at)mindspring(dot)com.
Stephanie Heinatz, Consociate Media, 757.713.2199, [email protected]
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