Article: Flag Shirt allows Texas delegates to National Convention make an impression. This article appeared in the El Paso Inc. publication August 24, 2008. Copyright 2008 El Paso Inc.
Rarely has it been hard for Texas to make an impression at the Republican National Convention. When the cameras panned the crowd at the 2004 convention, the state’s delegates could not be missed waving their cowboy hats and wearing bright, bold shirts emblazoned with the Texas flag.
Next month’s Republican convention will be no different, thanks to a local manufacturing company. El Paso’s Ruddock Manufacturing makes the flag shirt, the only one produced in quantity in the U.S. In 2004, the company supplied the delegates with Texas flag shirts with the red, white and blue colors that “do not run,” and have been commissioned again this year by the Republican Party of Texas to supply the delegates with their signature shirts.
It was Charlene Ruddock’s bold display of patriotism and Texas pride that led her to stumble into the deal with the Republican Party of Texas.
“I almost always wear red, white and blue,” said Ruddock, whose husband Leon Ruddock owns the company.
She was wearing one of their Texas flag shirts while working at the polls when someone from the Texas Republican Party noticed and invited her to sell their Texas Pride line of clothing at the state convention.
Tina Benkiser, chairman of the Texas Republican Party, visited Ruddock’s convention booth and invited Ruddock to supply shirts to the delegation.
The shirts retail for $49.99, but the delegates will get a wholesale price for buying over 300 shirts, Ruddock said.
Ruddock Manufacturing only sells wholesale, but Ruddock recently started Charley’s Logo Wear, another product line that sells items retail. It is “a kinda personal endeavor,” she said.
Ruddock is excited that their products are getting exposure and believes it will really help with the retail side of the business.
“It is a whole lot of visibility, in addition to being a lot of fun with people calling from all across the nation to ask if they are ours,” Ruddock said. “How can someone with a small factory in the United States be anything but really pleased by it?”
Look for the Texas flag shirts during the Republican National Convention Sept. 1 – 4 in Minneapolis. The Democrats meet in Denver starting Monday. And according to a spokesperson for the Texas Democratic Party, there are no plans to coordinate the delegates’ wardrobes.
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