Do you want it? Or need it? Depends
By Steve Lowery

If you’ve read Dave Wielenga’s excellent story about the Long Beach breakwater—the barrier that keeps our waters waveless—in this issue, you’ve met 82-year-old Ed Hendricks, who spins yarns about a magical time when people actually rode the wild Long Beach surf. His memories are nothing short of amazing—imagine people actually venturing into Long Beach waters—and not unlike a T-shirt I found recently at Old Navy: a faux ‘70s vintage, blue tee with an orange graphic across the chest featuring “California” written in script. Above that is the image of a surfer getting low into a breaking wave; and above his head the inscription, “Long Beach/Huntington.” I bought the shirt partly because it looked great (just the right touch of manufactured wear) and felt right (jersey material, the kind of shirt you’d be happy to sleep in); but what really attracted me to it was the connection of Long Beach and surfing, which made me wonder if the shirt was a bit of kitsch based on irony (e.g. Jamaican bobsled team, Jews for Jesus) or ignorance, like finding a Tokyo street vendor hawking Green Bay Lakers baseball caps. A call to Old Navy headquarters in San Francisco did little to clear up the matter: the woman in media relations said all T-shirt designs are done up there, and she didn’t know if company artists were aware that LB was bereft of surf. Either way, great shirt. Cowabunga . . . or whatever it is they say in actual surf towns. $14.50. AVAILABLE AT OLD NAVY 7430 Carson Blvd | Long Beach 90808 | 562.429.4070