Father, son, and 250 roller coaster T-shirts

My son, Frankie, and I became diehard roller coaster riding enthusiasts in 1994, just a few months after he turned five years old. We took a ride one summer evening on an aging and somewhat decrepit wooden roller coaster called Rolling Thunder at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, N.J., which happened to be not only his first roller coaster ride ever, but mine as well.

Even though I was in my early 40s by that time, I had never found the nerve to ride a roller coaster up until that point. I was just too chicken. But five-year-olds can be very persuasive, and by the time that steamy August night had come to an end, my son and I shared in the daring thrills these amazing scream machines can provide.

From that moment on, it was full steam ahead for the two of us, as we immediately set out to pursue our new favorite pastime. Being that I was recently divorced, we both welcomed any opportunity to leave the divorce back home and escape to local amusement parks on weekends, and then, when the summers came around, we would take extended roller coaster riding excursions for weeks at a time, throughout the United States.

As our coaster riding extravaganzas became more elaborate and intense, and our excitement grew with each and every trip we took, I decided I would try to find a definitive way to remember all our exhilarating adventures. And that I did, with an off-the-wall decision to collect a souvenir roller coaster T-shirt for every madcap ride we had ever journeyed upon! Being somewhat prone to getting carried away, I’ll even admit I went a bit overboard in my quest.

When my son and I frequented amusement parks that were located close to where we lived, such as Dorney Park and Hersheypark in Pennsylvania, more often than not, I’d come home with T-shirts that blared the names and images of the frenetic roller coasters we had just ridden, such as Hercules, Thunderhawk, Comet, and Wildcat.

When we traveled hundreds of miles each year to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, not only was my car packed to the roof with souvenirs as we made our way back east, but also with bags and bags of T-shirts for the likes of Blue Streak, Mean Streak, Raptor, Gemini, Millennium Force, and all of the other magnificent roller coasters that thrill millions of people each year at that one-of-a-kind amusement park.

And when we flew to Texas and California for some additional coaster riding thrills, shirts for the Rattler, Texas Giant, Goliath, GhostRider, and Giant Dipper were jammed into our suitcases, as they accompanied us on the long flights home.

All told, I collected over 250 T-shirts of roller coasters from 33 different amusement parks, representing well over 100 different coasters, with many of the thrill rides being honored with several shirts each. And these were just what I called the collectible shirts, which were never worn or intended to be worn, but preserved as part of a collection that I had no idea of what I’d be doing with (and most still had the original price tags attached).

The shirts were great fun to collect, and even when I moved from one residence to another, and then another, and then four more “anothers” over a 25 year period following my divorce, I made sure they followed me wherever I went.

But sadly, the day to relinquish the shirts had finally come. I recently turned 70 years old, and my girlfriend and I were about to move into much smaller living quarters which had no room for five gigantic storage bins filled to the brim with roller coaster T-shirts, so it was time to let them go.

I reached out to various organizations, historical societies, and clubs to see if they’d be interested in my collection, but time soon caught up to me, so the Salvation Army got the call. And that wonderful establishment was close to receiving a donation, the likes of which they certainly had never seen before.

But with the swiftness of a Top Thrill Dragster takeoff, the shirts were rescued at the very last second, and by none other than my son Frankie, the individual who was made to wait patiently for hours on end in amusement park souvenir shops all throughout the country, as his indecisive dad agonized over which was the perfect T-shirt to add to his eclectic collection.

Newly married and a brand-new parent as well, he and his lovely wife agreed that my beloved assortment of shirts should not meet with such an anticlimactic end. And off they went, to a bucolic residence in New York State. Just days ago, all 250 shirts (and 50 roller coaster baseball caps, never worn) were donated to the American Coaster Enthusiasts Club (ACE), who will utilize them for various fundraising purposes.

So the shirts live on. And now that I’m a grandparent, I can look forward to a day of riding roller coasters with my precious granddaughter, and maybe even starting a new T-shirt collection on her behalf. I just have to hope and pray that by the time that day rolls around, the ride attendants won’t deem me too old-of-a-geezer to ride!

Charlie Gobel is a retired businessman and a writer, with articles published in the likes of “Best Life Magazine”, “Parent Guide Magazine”, “The Record Newspaper”, “Premier Christianity Magazine”, and others as well. He and his son, Frankie, ultimately spent over 300 days in amusement parks riding roller coasters together, and have been members of ACE since 1996.