Pink shirts, yellow shirts, green and blue.
Shirts with flowers and surfers, and tiki gods, too.
Robert Hayes, who co-owns the Tucson-based Hana Shirt Co., says he has the world's largest collection of vintage Hawaiian shirts.
He's not sure exactly how many shirts are in his collection, but he says it's thousands.
Hayes grew up on the Hawaiian island of Oahu (he went to high school with Barack "Barry" Obama!), and he always loved the colorful shirts.
One day he turned around and realized his collection had taken on a life of its own.
In 2005, he and his wife, Jennifer, started selling his shirts online (thehanashirtco.com). These days, they have people in different parts of the world who scour thrift stores in search of classic Hawaiian garb.
The Hana Shirt Co.'s vintage Hawaiian shirts retail for between $50 and $500, and they're typically made of rayon or cotton.
"The cotton is barkcloth that is a thicker cotton that shirts aren't made of anymore," Hayes says. "The rayon from the '40s is like no other cloth I've ever felt. It's buttery. But the factory burned down, and they've never been able to duplicate it."
Thus far, the Hana Shirt Co. has sold only men's apparel, but that's about to change.
"That's the next new thing," Hayes says. "Women's dresses and tops."
Feeling lucky?
Robert and Jennifer Hayes have donated a few shirts that will be awarded as raffle prizes at Relight the Night.
Raffle tickets will cost $1.
