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If you’ve been to Florida, you’ve seen this shirt before—but do you know the story behind it?
If you ever piled into the family car for a Florida road trip before SunPass became the norm, you know the shirt.
Impossible to miss, the Hawaiian-style uniforms were splashed with colorful illustrated vignettes including palm trees, flamingos, oranges, alligators, beaches, bathing beauties, and other Florida symbols and vacation scenes, from Alligator Alley to Yeehaw Junction. Worn by toll-takers across the state for a time, the loud, delightfully kitschy threads are the epitome of Florida.
As recognizable as they are today, the tropical shirts were never intended to become iconic, and they’re not as old as they seem. The uniform debuted in 1999, after the Florida Department of Transportation decided they wanted a friendlier first impression for visitors whose introduction to the Sunshine State often came via a Turnpike toll booth.
Rather than standard drab government attire, officials opted for something a little more eye-catching, introducing a retro print inspired by vintage Florida travel imagery, weaving together familiar destinations, roadside landmarks, and famous toll plaza locations.
Summer vacationers and Floridians alike fell in love. Drivers constantly asked toll booth attendants where they could buy their own, at times even offering to purchase the shirts right off their backs. In fact, one Sunshine Skyway bridge toll supervisor is quoted as saying, “It’s amazing how many people want these. … I’ve had people bid on mine. One guy offered me $50.”
Demand grew so quickly that Florida began selling them at Turnpike service plazas. Early shipments sold out almost instantly, and requests continued to pour in from around the country. Now, they’re sought-after collectors’ items, often popping up on resale sites, in vintage clothing circles, and on eBay (which is, admittedly, where I had to get mine).
The shirts arrived at an interesting moment in Florida history and didn’t last long; within a few years, SunPass and electronic tolling began transforming the state’s highways, and face-to-face exchanges with toll collectors became increasingly rare.
Perhaps that’s why they still resonate today; nostalgic upon debut, they recall an era when family vacation demanded a stash of quarters, a paper map in the glove compartment, and a brief hello through the driver’s-side window before hitting the beach—a harkening back to simpler times.
For many travelers, the cheerful tropical shirt was Florida’s unofficial welcome mat, and captured the spirit of timeless Old Florida.
Read the original article on Southern Living
