#ThriftyThursday: The Ballad of Tony Delk

Hi y’all. I’m Cory.

The majority of the last ten years of my life were spent living in a van with six other dudes, playing music and traveling the world, while maintaining and building an independent business as a freelance graphic designer.

I’m now fortunate to parlay my passion for design into a really cool career with Goodwill. I’m working with an amazing team, comprised of kind, genuine, and talented individuals, to help provide our stores and customers with an enjoyable multimedia experience.

Goodwill has been a staple in my life (and my closet) for as long as I can remember. While I was touring, finding a Goodwill within walking distance to the venue was always priority number one before the show. The thrill of striking gold aside, vintage, pre-owned clothing has always been super fascinating to me. Knowing that every article you buy has its own story—that it once belonged to someone else, who kept it, and experienced life with it, in what was likely a very different time and place—is a really powerful thing to me. Regardless of the path the item took to arrive in my cart, it always grants me an immediate connection with the previous owner.

This 22-year-old Tony Delk caricature tee shirt is a perfect example of that connection. I scooped this at the Middletown (Louisville) store for five bucks. Tony Delk is one of my favorite Kentucky basketball players of all-time, but he had a relatively modest and obscure NBA career. The fact that ProPlayer (the producer of this shirt, and a former fan apparel juggernaut) spent time, money, and resources to create this ridiculously amazing shirt, bearing the exaggerated likeness of an unassuming NBA player, is so incredible to me.

I have no idea who owned this shirt before me, but I can assure you, any man, woman, or child who chose to willingly drape themselves in a cartoon portrait of 1996 National Champion Tony Delk, would be a good friend of mine, and I thank them kindly for passing it on to me.

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