THE TOYS WERE SOLD NATIONWIDE FROM AUGUST THROUGH JANUARY. ALL RIGHT, SO EVERYONE WEARS A SHIRT, BUT NOT EVERYONE HAS MORE THAN 3000 OF THEM. YEAH, THIS IS PRETTY INTERESTING. SO ONE PHILADELPHIA MAN HAS WHAT MAY BE THE ULTIMATE T-SHIRT COLLECTION. TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT PERRY SCHELL CALLS HIS T SHIRT LIBRARY INSIDE HIS HOME. IT IS DEDICATED TO THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE. I DO LOVE THAT EACH ONE FOLDED NEATLY AND NEARLY 20 PLUS YEARS OLD. SO ABOUT 1000 SHIRTS ARE DEDICATED TO JUST PHILADELPHIA ALONE. ITS INSTITUTIONS, ICONS, AND EVEN ITS FOOD. LIKE RITA, WATER ICE AND ALSO PHILADELPHIA PRETZELS. AND HE STARTED HIS COLLECTION AFTER HE FOUND HIS FATHER’S OLD T SHIRTS WHEN HE WAS JUST A KID. ANYTHING YOU COULD BELIEVE, THEY MADE A T SHIRT OUT OF KIRSTIE ALLEY FROM STAR TREK LIKE A LISTERINE SHIRT. THIS IS A SCRATCH AND SNIFF SHIRT. THIS ACTUALLY STILL SMELLS ALL THIS STUFF, THAT KIND OF HELPED SHAPE ME MUSICALLY OR LOCALLY OR WHATEVER. IN T SHIRT FORM. IT’S AN ENDLESS AMOUNT OF PLACES THAT I GET THEM. I COULD GO TO THRIFT STORES, FLEA MARKETS, ESTATE SALES. THAT IS SUPER DOPE. I REALLY, REALLY LIKE THAT. SO HE SAYS HIS GOAL IS TO CREATE
Philadelphia man builds massive T-shirt collection honoring city’s history
Updated: 5:08 PM EDT Jul 2, 2026
A Philadelphia man has amassed a collection of more than 3,000 T-shirts, many of which celebrate the city’s culture and history, with plans to create a museum to showcase them. Perry Shall, the collector, refers to his home-based collection as a “T-shirt library” dedicated to the City of Brotherly Love. Each shirt is neatly folded, with some dating back more than 20 years. About 1,000 of the shirts in his collection are specifically tied to Philadelphia, featuring its institutions, icons, and even its food, such as Rita’s Water Ice and Philadelphia pretzels. Shall said his passion for collecting began when he discovered his father’s old T-shirts as a child. A passion turned into a vision”Anything you could believe they made a T-shirt out of—Kirstie Alley from ‘Star Trek,’ or a Listerine shirt. This is a scratch-and-sniff shirt. This actually still smells—all this stuff that kind of helped shape me musically or locally or whatever in T-shirt form,” Shall said. “It’s an endless number of places that I get them. I can go to thrift stores, flea markets, estate sales.” Shall said his ultimate goal is to create a Philadelphia archive museum with the shirts, stitching together the city’s history.
PHILADELPHIA —
A Philadelphia man has amassed a collection of more than 3,000 T-shirts, many of which celebrate the city’s culture and history, with plans to create a museum to showcase them.
Perry Shall, the collector, refers to his home-based collection as a “T-shirt library” dedicated to the City of Brotherly Love. Each shirt is neatly folded, with some dating back more than 20 years.
About 1,000 of the shirts in his collection are specifically tied to Philadelphia, featuring its institutions, icons, and even its food, such as Rita’s Water Ice and Philadelphia pretzels. Shall said his passion for collecting began when he discovered his father’s old T-shirts as a child.
A passion turned into a vision
“Anything you could believe they made a T-shirt out of—Kirstie Alley from ‘Star Trek,’ or a Listerine shirt. This is a scratch-and-sniff shirt. This actually still smells—all this stuff that kind of helped shape me musically or locally or whatever in T-shirt form,” Shall said. “It’s an endless number of places that I get them. I can go to thrift stores, flea markets, estate sales.”
Shall said his ultimate goal is to create a Philadelphia archive museum with the shirts, stitching together the city’s history.