Classic vintage t-shirt coming at ya today from the infamous, now-defunct electronics retail chain, Crazy Eddie, founded by Eddie Antar in Brooklyn, New York in 1971.
Eddie Antar's stores were a success because of their cheap prices, low overhead and aggressive marketing; for 17 years they blanketed the whole northeast U.S. market with non-stop television, radio, and newspaper advertisements. Crazy Eddie Antar, a small, shy, reclusive business man, chose to hire pitchman/late night radio DJ Jerry Carroll as his on-air persona for this avalanche of ads. Here's a nice compilation of Carroll's best "Crazy Eddie":
It is often said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. "Crazy Eddie's" maniacal, wild-eyed pitchman style was often imitated in it's day and is still parodied today.
SNL's BASS-O-MATIC
THE WIZ (seen here on Seinfeld, but actually a real electronics retail chain from the 70s-90s modeled after Crazy Eddie!)
It's only fitting that behind Crazy Eddie's unconventional marketing methods, was some pretty fraudulent business practices. In the 1990s, Eddie Antar was investigated by the SEC for fraud. He fled to Israel but was extradited back to the United States in 1992. The government issued a $73 million judgment against him and eventually in 1996 Antar received a sentence of seven years in prison for conspiracy and racketeering.
One crime it appears Eddie Antar *might* have gotten away with - Intellectual Property Theft. In other words, ripping off legendary cartoonist, R. Crumb. Per Wikipedia, Crumb designed Crazy Eddie's logo, though he's uncredited. The similarities between this cover of Zap Comix No. 2 from 1968 and the Crazy Eddie logo are simply undeniable.
So, if you weren't lucky enough to attend one of Crazy Eddie's new store openings back in the day and grab your free promo t-shirt (or yo-yo, or bandanna, or wallet or baseball cap), then head on over to The Captain's Vintage. Our prices aren't INSAAAAANE, but they're pretty darn good. ;)
(Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Eddie, http://www.tvacres.com, http://whitecollarfraud.com, youtube)