Hail Netheads!

Nethead t-shirts were first made to help us find each other at shows. We made friends over the usenet but didn’t know what we looked like. The character-based screens we used to access rec.music.gdead on usenet couldn’t show pictures. By wearing Nethead t-shirts we became recognizable.

The first run was made for the May ’85 shows at Frost. Now these friend-finding helpers have been brought into the 21st Century. Better colors, sharper edges to the design elements, more comfortable t-shirts.

I invented the word Nethead in the Spring of ’85. It has a unique distinction of being used electronically before it was ever spoken. I got a job at an early networking company in early ’84. Usenet was used for company communications. I soon discovered rec.music.gdead. It was so early in the electronic revolution that we still used paper letter style messages. Email didn’t exist yet, so we just used the first line of the message as the subject line.

I was on the (use)net. I was a deadhead. Since I was a computer programmer I was used to creating words as labels in my programs. I created the word Nethead. Then I used it as the opener for my first posting to rec.music.gdead. “Hail netheads, …”

My ex (Maya) ran with it and created the Nethead design. She said it is what she sees when walking into the room when I’m working on my computer; I turn around and give her a friendly wave. Then she hand made three t-shirts. One for me, one for David Gans and one for Marty Lefkowitz.

A little while after that, the Dead announced a gig at Stanford’s Frost Amphitheater. This caused great excitement among the netheads. Many posts about going to the shows. Then we realized it would be hard to find each other. Maya thought making a bunch of nethead t-shirts would solve the problem. And the rest is history … 😊

I hope your Nethead t-shirt brings pleasure to your life. They were created to help start friendly conversations. I hope your Nethead t-shirt works its charm for you.

If you would like to talk more about them, or if there are any problems reach out to me via email at scottbaldwin47@gmail.com

Peace and love,

Roserunner