Many Apple Stores in the 2010s hosted summer events for school-aged children. This yellow Apple Field Trip t-shirt features a black stylized Apple logo. The shirt is a size M.
Camp T-shirt (green)
Many Apple Stores in the 2010s hosted Apple Camp events for school-aged children. This green Apple Camp t-shirt features a yellow stylized Apple logo and the word Camp. The shirt is a size L.
Umbrella (orange, white Apple Distinguished Educator logo, 2009)
This orange umbrella features the white Apple Distinguished Educator logo. The umbrella brand is Rainbow (Umbrellas Rainwear). I received this umbrella while participating in a Summer Institute in Winter Park, Florida, in the summer of 2009.
Insulated Cup (stainless steel, black Apple Distinguished Educator logo, 2017)
This stainless steel insulated cup features the Apple Distinguished Educator logo in black. The cup holds 20.9 fluid ounces.
Twenty-Five Years in the Classroom T-shirt (2002)
This t-shirt was issued in 2002, Apple’s twenty-fifth year as a company, and its twenty-fifth year in the classroom. The shirt is light blue with a dark blue, red-orange, and white design. The brand of the shirt is Comfort Colors and its size is XL. My collection also includes a lapel pin with the same design in the same colors.
Twenty-Five Years in the Classroom Pin (2002)
This lapel pin was issued in 2002, Apple’s twenty-fifth year as a company, and its twenty-fifth year in the classroom. The pin has yellowed with age, but was originally light blue with a dark blue, red-orange, and white design. The pin measures 25 x 18 mm. My collection also includes a t-shirt with the same design in the same colors.
System 7.5 Apple Watch (1995)
The Apple Watch was released in 2015, right? Not exactly.
Twenty years before the (smart) Apple Watch, Apple offered a product they referred to as an Apple Watch as a “FREE gift” for customers who updated their operating system to System 7.5. From May 1 to July 31, 1995, Apple allowed customers who paid $134.99 for System 7.5 to select between two gifts, the software application Conflict Catcher 3 (by Norton to resolve Mac system extension problems) or this Apple Watch. An article written in 1994 that is (surprisingly) still available online (as of February 2020) outlined all the methods to upgrade to System 7.5.
The Apple Watch (1995) was not a smart watch, but it was high-style for the mid-1990s. The watch followed the “Memphis” design aesthetic that originated in Milan, Italy. In an article presenting ten iconic examples of Memphis design, the origin of the style is reported as, “The Memphis Group…a collaborative design group founded by Italian designer Ettore Sottsass” (Creative Bloq). This Apple Watch is included among ten designs in the article. The style itself is “characterized by ephemeral design featuring colorful and abstract decoration as well as asymmetrical shapes, sometimes arbitrarily alluding to exotic or earlier styles” (Wikipedia).
The Memphis Design group is still represented online at www.memphis-milano.com. Even a cursory look at the designs on the site reveals an unmistakable connection to the look of the 1995 Apple Watch.
As an Apple collector, I have been searching for this Apple Watch for many years. I was able to acquire an example from a friend of mine from Minnesota.
If you wish to see the original print advertisement for this Apple Watch offer, I found a version published in the June 1995 MacWorld magazine. The vintageapple.org website has digitized past MacWorld issues and a PDF is available here. Please see magazine page 82 for the full-page ad.
Sources: Cult of Mac, Creative Bloq, Wikipedia, TidBITS
Apple Wristbands (c. 2015)
One year while visiting a Chicago-area Apple Store coincidentally on Halloween, I noticed that Apple Store employees were giving away Apple-logo items to Trick-or-Treaters. I waited until after designated Trick-or-Treat hours were over, spoke to an employee, let him know I was a collector, and asked for one of the “treats.” The first year I discovered this Apple-logo item giveaway, they were giving plastic Apple-logo flashlights. I have since visited Apple Stores on a few other Halloweens and, for at least two years in a row, they were giving these LIVESTRONG-style wristbands.
These Apple wristbands were from approximately 2015, and I got them at the Northbrook Court Apple Store. They are child-size rubber bracelets in either orange or white with an embossed Apple logo. They measure approximately 60 mm in diameter and are 12 mm wide.
Source: None available
Apple Mousepad (light gray, c. 1995)
In the early- to mid-1990s, Apple included a Registration Card in the box that came with every Macintosh (in the brown box labeled “Macintosh Essentials”). In my experience setting up these early Macintosh computers, Apple allowed users who filled out these “official” registration cards to choose from a subscription to MacWorld magazine or a free mousepad. In our school computer labs, we usually opted for the free mousepads.
This is an example of the free mousepad Apple sent. It is 8.75×7 inches, light gray (to match the platinum color of Apple computers of the time). The mousepad is in two layers, light gray plastic on top and black textured foamy rubber on the bottom, approximately 0.125 inches thick. The design is the word Apple® in black type nearly 3 inches tall in the font Apple Garamond, Apple’s corporate identity font of the time.
Source: None available
Apple Logo Mousepad (blueberry, 1999)
This thin plastic mousepad made from materials by the company Microthin features the blueberry Apple logo printed in a manner to simulate the translucent plastic Apple used in the iMac line of computers at the time. This mousepad is blue to match the blueberry iMac. Other versions of this design were available in the other five iMac colors: tangerine, lime, strawberry, grape, and graphite.
This mousepad is round and measures 8.5 inches in diameter. It is printed with a MICROTHIN PRODUCTS logo and small text along the bottom curve (in Apple Garamond font): ©1999 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved. L04108A
The bottom of the mousepad is covered in printed dots that provide traction to prevent slippage. The stickiness (tackiness) of the material is still viable after about 20 years and can be reactivated by rinsing any accumulated dust with water. However, the entire mousepad is beginning to show signs of yellowing.
Source: No official sources found, additional colors confirmed on eBay
