Bob Marley x Movement of Jah People Tee - Kaya 1980s

One of the earliest examples of licensed Bob Marley merchandise! Read the full story below the shirt info:

Bob Marley Vintage Tee - Kaya

Licensed by “Movements of Jah People” from early 1980’s 

Measurements: 17.5” x 22” 

Tagged Small on Sun Island Tag

Back in the 70s Phil and his wife opened one of the first reggae record shops in the United States called Sinbad Record Shop in Athens, Ohio. Around the same time, they made a few trips to 56 Hope Road in Kingston with hopes to meet with Bob in order to secure a licensing deal for shirts. This was a fairly novel idea (especially in the world of reggae) but during their last visit in 1980 they were actually invited inside. Bob’s team loved the idea since they had been making some shirts by hand and didn’t have the capabilities for larger scale plus it was much cheaper for production in the United States (at the time). So Phil created the entity “Movement Of Jah People” and began production of the graphics/shirts with the licensing rights they had secured. Unfortunately Bob didn’t get to see the true fruition of the deal as he passed soon after in ‘81. With that being said, this shirt specifically was made in Jamaica since it’s on a Sun Island tag. Phil explained that around the time of Bob’s passing, and possibly for a short time after, some of the graphics Phil made were actually being printed in Jamaica as well (on Sun Island blanks).