Cassius Clay Confidential
It started with Cassius Marcellus Clay and now it’s come full circle to Muhammad Ali.
About seven years ago, I went to an auction at Sotheby’s and saw a photograph by Flip Schulke of Muhammad Ali,then Cassius Clay,in the Miami years before the first Liston fight. It was the only boxing photo in a large lot of photographs that had nothing to do with sport, so of course it immediately caught my eye. This was before Corbis and Getty had put their archives online and therefore before I had spent countless hours looking at old pictures of Ali. I had never seen images from that moment before. Clay was skinny and young, unmarked by the battles to come and full of the electricity of knowing how good you are before you’ve had a chance to prove it. In the photo, taken in Angelo Dundee’s 5th Street Gym in Miami, Clay’s side-stretching, hands behind his head as he leans left, eyes tracking the camera. He’s wearing a t-shirt that says Cassius Clay,in a Coca-Colaish font where a script C with a long tail stands in for the first letter of Cassius and Clay. Confronted by such beauty, I could only think one thing: I need that mother——- t-shirt.
I didn’t know it then, but that thought would come to define my working life. As I’m happy to recount to anyone with a passing interest and a spare hour and a half, I remade the shirt for myself, but the reaction it got when I wore it made clear I wasn’t the only one who needed that t-shirt or who wanted to talk about boxing, racial politics in the 60s, the beauty of hand-lettered fonting, or the night Cassius Clay ‘shook up the world†with a stunning victory and a sudden change of names. I showed the Cassius Clay shirt to my friend Isa Salaabi, who would later become a founding partner of the brand Nom de Guerre but at that time, owned Isa, a store on North sixth street between Berry and Wythe in Williamsburg. Isa was the first store that I had ever seen sell the now ubiquitous mix of rare sneakers and rarer t-shirts, and it gave me a context for how the Cassius Clay shirt should be presented and sold. When I made the next batch of shirts, I had the American Apparel tags cut out and a brand name screenprinted into the inside of the neck in engraver’s old English. No Mas was born.
The problem,especially as I got more serious over the years about pursuing No Mas as a business as well as a calling,was that this touching story of sporting passion finding its perfect outlet was also a clear admission of trademark and right of publicity infringement on exactly the man to whom I wanted to pay tribute. I had and made some justifications, but while for other shirts arguments of parody or political speech rang true, as time passed I knew very clearly that the Cassius Clay was a straight up bootleg. So was the photo on the hangtag that came with it,scanned from a dog-earred copy of Flip Schulke’s book of Ali photographs: ‘The Birth of a Legend, Miami, 1961-1964â€.
Last month, Rob Walker did a story in the New York Times magazine about how I went from making unlicensed Cassius Clay t-shirts to licensed Cassius Clay t-shirts, which was also, of course, the story of how my dream finally came true. Those events and their chronicling have been amazing developments for me and for No Mas in all sorts of ways, but maybe the most important was to reconnect me with my original mission. As has now been revealed to me, it wasn’t only to make and sell Cassius Clay t-shirts, it was to honor the sources of my inspiration,both the man and the photograph.
So there is a coda to Rob Walker’s story. He received an email from Gary Truman of The Flip Schulke Archive complaining of the unauthorized use of that same picture of Cassius Clay side-stretching. As an illustration for an interview I had done for his web site a couple years ago, I had given him a scan of the image and he had posted it along with the interview. Now Gary Truman was asking him to take it down. Through my friend Steve Coe at Worn Free, my partner in the licensed Ali t-shirt enterprise, we had licensed a different image of Ali at the fifth street gym in Miami wearing the same Cassius Clay shirt (seems like Muhammad, like me, liked to wear that shirt a few days in a row). I had let Steve handle that side of things,both because he’s more experienced with image licensing and because I knew I had some unauthorized usage skeletons in my Flip Schulke closet. But when Rob forwarded me the note from Truman, I realized this was my chance to come all the way clean, and I jumped. I wrote an email to The Schulke Archive copping a plea,confessing my past usage and offering to make right on it the same way I had with Muhammad Ali Enterprises, paying a back royalty and working out a fair rate moving forward. I am happy to report that Gary Truman and the Schulke family accepted my offer. And that brings my Cassius Clay Confidential to a happy and tidy close.
But fortunately for my fellow pugilist-legalists, my adventures in licensing have only just begun. There are more past wrongs to right, t-shirts to make, and athletic legends to stalk. As the journey continues, you’ll get the skinny straight from the horse’s mouth in semi-regular installments right here on No Mas and in simulcast at our new frequency The Rumble. And if anyone has a hot tip on an old t-shirt that needs remaking, I know how to take care of my sources and you know where to find me.
September 9th, 2009 at 6:37 am
How about an Aaron Pryor shirt? The erractic, antisocial Pryor was a legend. Pryor got shot by his wife (she said she shot him because she loved him) before his fight with WBC champ Saoul Mamby. The bullet, a .22, went threw his forearm, hit his chest and landed in his coat pocket if I remember the story correctly. The Mamby fight was canceled. Pryor nicknamed the “Hawk” always wore a “what time is it? Hawak time” t-shirt. His handlers would always repeat this annoying question over and over as Pryor would appraoch the ring…”what time is it? Hawk time”. He is the only picture I could find of it.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hawktime.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/AaronShadowWebsite.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hawktime.com/id45.html&usg=__qOGmuuumq3Q14bwg5VshgawxTPQ=&h=448&w=291&sz=28&hl=en&start=12&um=1&tbnid=GBVxcQ-KMmdViM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=82&prev=/images%3Fq%3Daaron%2Bpryor%2Bhawk%2Btime%26ndsp%3D21%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1
September 9th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Great story, really inspirational. It is nice to see people that have passion for their livelihood. I just sit a desk all day reading stuff like this clock watching.
September 9th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
nice story. i can’t tell you how many compliments/nods of approval when i were my Clay shirt. the same for the new Ali shirt you just released. keep pumping them out, and i’ll keep choking over the cash.
September 10th, 2009 at 6:33 am
@the Duke. Thank you brother. I’m 36 and still figuring out the passion for livelihood game. But do know that being inside first and doing some clock watching gives you good motivation to go the distance if and when you take it outside.
@D Thanks for supporting. Some very dope new Ali tees dropping soon and we are working on a major content project with them around Rumble in the Jungle 35th anniversary: Oct 30th.
September 10th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Independent clothiers everywhere should follow your example in honoring the royalties of their apparel subjects.
When is an Ali bath robe dropping?
September 10th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Um, may I second the bathrobe idea!
September 11th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
You know I used to date a girl who had this really cool red velvety kind of bathrobe and then when she turned around it “The Monkees” in perfect sixties band font imprinted on the back. I bust out laughing when I saw that but must admit, that may be the coolest bathrobe I’ve ever seen. Chris could probably top it though.
PS – I cannot for the life of me get on The Rumble site. It keeps saying something about the high server load. Is it just me?
September 11th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Speaking of royalties – I haven’t copped that David Rothman beautiful dollar shirt yet, but . . . I love that image from Sugar Ray Robinson- Randy Turpin II ;P
September 11th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I’m getting nothing over at The Rumble too.
September 11th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
The Rumble seems to have been down a few times this week.
I don’t know if there’s a story behind the story to the Spinks shirt, but I’ve been sporting that one few days at a time. Sweet stuff.
September 12th, 2009 at 10:05 am
The Ali bathrobe is gonna drop probably mid-November and we are gonna do pre-orders soon. Core blog peoples will have the usual hook up. I will post an image soon but it’s ridiculous–best detail is the hood. I’ve never seen a terry robe with a fighter’s robe type hood like this. It’s incredible. Will cost $125 or $150 I think without discount but it’s worth it.
@Kurt
Is that where that image is from? Can you show me the original I didn’t know that. David Rathman definitely uses old photos for inspiration but I didn’t know the source on that one.
on Rumble
Large says the whole thing is screwed right now. Sporting News is having major issues with their blog platform. If I get info on it I’ll post here.
September 14th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Chris – this is from the Sugar Ray pic from the Corbis website – I think you can just click on the link.
http://pro.corbis.com/Enlargement/Enlargement.aspx?id=DM705&caller=search
September 14th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I-Berg, Kurt was right about the Rathman shirt being inspired by a photo of the Robinson-Turpin fight. In case Kurt couldn’t find it here it is
http://s603.photobucket.com/albums/tt120/midnight0587/?action=view¤t=boxing2.jpg
September 14th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
LOL….I’m like an aging fighter Kurt. Just a bit too slow. You posted the photo 3 minutes before me. It’s a better one also.
September 15th, 2009 at 3:08 am
Hey C.I. just a friendly reminder. A. Perry. I’m watching you.
February 16th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
lol i can get you down not i dont plan on keeping my word on that one
February 25th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
While I am a member of the immediate Schulke family, I was never consulted concerning permission to use the image. I don’t really mind; I think the use is nice. But, despite what the Schulke Archives said, I was neither informed, nor asked.
November 1st, 2010 at 8:52 am
great article well worth a read ! best of luck for the future. p.s fantastic website youv’e got here ! i work at the new york medical institute as a vascular surgeon in the intensive support unit am the admin of the accredited medical advise information services website called http://www.medical.vpx.co
November 2nd, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Cheers, Thanks for taking the time to write that, I found it very educational. If you get a chance you should check my website as well. I hope you have a good day!
April 15th, 2011 at 6:04 am
Excellent indeed. I have been looking for this information.
April 18th, 2011 at 2:45 am
Did you know that there is a script that will automatically create affiliate links in your blog and also automatically create links between blog pages? Actually, it lets you do a whole lot more than that but some of the highlights include the simple ability to just write your blog like you normally do and then have links automatically inserted. Personally, I now use this tool on every blog that I create. That way, I don’t have to worry about site link structures or monetizing my blog with affiliate links. By interlinking your deeper pages, this tool can really help to boost your search engine ranking for interior pages of your website or blog. So the bottom line is that through automatic interlinking of your pages you will get better rankings and through automatic affiliate linking you get more commissions. Professional bloggers use this tool quite a bit but even the casual blogger will find it very useful. Check it Out -> http://cash411.info/go/223/
November 28th, 2011 at 9:18 am
What an excellent piece of text! No idea how you managed to write this post..it’d take me weeks. Well worth it though, I’d suspect. Have you considered selling advertising space on your blog?
December 21st, 2011 at 8:08 am
I have subscribed to your blog because your article is very good, I like.
January 4th, 2012 at 1:29 am
I am also writing to let you know what a helpful encounter my cousin’s child developed going through your webblog. She discovered lots of pieces, which included what it’s like to possess a very effective teaching heart to let certain people effortlessly fully understand a number of extremely tough subject areas. You really exceeded my expectations. Thank you for churning out these beneficial, trustworthy, educational and even unique thoughts on the topic to Jane.
January 13th, 2012 at 7:52 am
Funeral and all. According to me, and i’m sure about that, this is a good blog. Here is many good stuff. Really thanks for dedicated time for manage it.
March 2nd, 2012 at 10:29 am
[...] on his hang-tags discovered that infringement, the exact same thing happened, and you can read the admittedly heartwarming story here. This situation mirrors the Marvel/Sean Murphy situation note-for-note, yet it ended in tears. This [...]
March 21st, 2012 at 5:50 pm
Pingback from topsy.comTwitter Trackbacks for ASPCA Pet Insurance | Holiday Safety Tips for Your Pet [aspcapetinsurance.com] on Topsy.com
March 29th, 2012 at 3:45 pm
Today, with all the fast way of life that everyone leads, credit cards have a huge demand throughout the market. Persons out of every area of life are using credit card and people who not using the card have made up their minds to apply for one in particular. Thanks for discussing your ideas on credit cards.aiyi9527$$$$$
May 24th, 2012 at 5:22 pm
hello there and thank you for your information ??I’ve certainly picked up something new from right here. I did however expertise several technical issues using this website, since I experienced to reload the website many times previous to I could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your web host is OK? Not that I am complaining, but slow loading instances times will sometimes affect your placement in google and can damage your high-quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords. Well I am adding this RSS to my e-mail and can look out for much more of your respective exciting content. Ensure that you update this again soon..
June 7th, 2013 at 5:23 am
I considered signing up for the area check out… Yet the neighbours just may not be of which desirable.