Yinzylvania T-Shirts Pay Homage To Pittsburgh's Past, Present

PITTSBURGH, PA — When Matt Van Ormer started selling T-shirts as a side project in 2021, he never envisioned the venture becoming his full-time job.

"When I began doing this using the money I got when I won my fantasy football league, I thought I would sell a few things to some friends and family," he said. "I wasn't expecting it to grow the way it did."

Van Ormer and his family operate Yinzylvania, an apparel brand that sells and markets Pittsburgh- and Western Pennsylvania-centric T-shirts. The business does not produce official brand or team merchandise, but its original designs pay homage to the region's local legends and long-gone businesses and teams.

For example:

• Want a T-shirt commemorating the Pittsburgh Spirit, the city's former Major Indoor Soccer League team? Yinzylvania has one for you.

• Think that the more than 16,000 members of the Remembering Hills Department Stores Facebook page would be interested in a Yinzylvania shirt bearing the late retailer's logo? Could be.

• Long for the days when you could grab a late-night bite at the Original Hot Dog Shop in Oakland? Then you might want a shirt adorned with the Dirty O's logo.

There's a Tom Tucker Ginger Ale shirt and one bearing the logo of what some yinzers still call an ATM: a MAC, or money access center. There are Steelers-themed shirts that say "Play Renegade" and pay tribute to Terrible Towel inventor Myron Cope. There's a shirt recalling the old "Studio Wrestling" show on WIIC-TV (now WPXI).

You get the idea.

Van Ormer, 51, a former sales and marketing executive, got the original idea for Yinzylvania out of what he calls "a passion for local history and local culture." One of the favorite parts of his job is researching potential new T-shirts by digging into the history of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania.

Van Ormer grew up near Johnstown, attended Penn State and lived in Crafton before moving to Dublin, Ohio, where Yinzylvania is based. His wife handles the company's bookkeeping, while his four children help fill orders and perform customer service. All of the apparel is printed and shipped from a fulfillment center in DuBois.

Yinzylvania has been an unexpected success for Van Ormer and his family, and he is optimistic the brand will continue to grow.

"Nostalgia is huge," he said. "And I think the new trend is local nostalgia. People seem to have really gotten into it."