Fact:
ManchVegas Shirts has been around since holy men were wearing sandals.

Seriously. …

OK, maybe not THAT long, but it has been a tongue- in-cheek expression starting underground in Manchester in the 1950’s. It raised its head in the 70’s. And it came to the new Millennia, where it finally appeared in print here at Metro Sports, Manchester’s oldest T-Shirt business, when we seized the opportunity to have some fun! ManchVegas is both an idea AND an expression; it says something about who we are in good ‘ol Manchester New Hampshire, the best little city in the whole world!

And who are we?
Well, Manchester is the largest city in New Hampshire (110,000 people) but it is small when compared to Las Vegas Nevada. (1,865,746). Regardless, we are quite confident that Manchester has always been the biggest little city in the world, even though it’s only about 6/100 of the size of Las Vegas.

History
Back in the 50’s, Manchester citizens were proud of their city and dubbed it “ManchVegas” as a means to raise Manchester’s status to that of Las Vegas, making it on equal terms with “Sin City”. So as an inside, tongue-in-cheek joke, ManchVegas was born! And boy; is it ever tongue- in-cheek: I mean what kind of city has the nerve to presume that we are the east coast version of Las Vegas? Only a Manchester native would! To compare:

• It’s been said we have gambling… BUT our gambling took place behind closed doors in the private social clubs that catered to the Irish Americans, the Lutheran Americans, Italian Americans, Greek Americans, the Canadian Club, the… ok, I think you get the idea…
  
  
• Las Vegas is open 24/7; ManchVegas’ streets rolled up and went to bed around 5:30 pm, except on Thursday nights which back in the 50’s was the BIG night for Manchester.
  
  
• Celebrities entertained regularly in Las Vegas, while ManchVegas offered an opinionated individual spouting his ideas in one of the local ethnic arenas (usually while tipping a glass…)
  
  
• Nightlife in Las Vegas is non-stop, always on and upbeat. In ManchVegas? We are in our beds by midnight after a boistorous night out at the same pub you started off at at 6:00.

So you can see that only a Manchester resident could make the comparison… but that is where the pride came in. ManchVegas is only a non-belittling term created for love of Manchester, New Hampshire. How can it be wrong?

So that is where it started: in the pubs and private clubs of ManchVegas in the 1950’s. But in the 70’s? It was a new era: ManchVegas hit the explosive venue of the “pop crowd”. The name carried on down from the 50’s era’s, down to even the high school students. It was mostly an inside joke: that they were “from” ManchVegas and that it was a protected “inside secret” for this generation. Likewise, it got passed it onto the next generation, the 1980’s “generation X” kids, who heard about it second hand but not knowing exactly what it was or what it meant.

That takes us to year 2000, which arrived with all it’s warnings of the end of the world, apocalypse and Armageddon’s heralding the end of the earth. We lived in the oppression of “doom and gloom” scenarios that were in the air. Here at ManchVegas T-s, we whole-heartedly believed that our psychological makeup was not meant to live under this cloud of oppression with no sign of hope! Taking a stance, we knew that the day of the ManchVegas T-Shirt had arrived; the time was ripe for the opportunity for ManchVegas to reappear! (With some light-hearted fun attached to it.)The ManchVegas T-shirt was born!!!!!!

Regardless of the era you are from; those of us that are from ManchVegas enjoy the unique reputation and attention that Manchester offers to us. Our T-shirts are a safe, fun way to relieve tension without hurting anybody while we wait for the zombie apocalypse in 2012. So whether you were born in ManchVegas, have visited ManchVegas, or wish you were from ManchVegas? Well, we have a shirt for you! Be proud of the idea of ManchVegas. It’s not where you’re from; it’s the idea of what ManchVegas stands for that you want to be associated with. Become a part of ManchVegas with us