I started The History List and later The History List Store to connect people to history and historic sites across the country.

Today nearly all of our sales are direct to you. We have a direct relationship, are able to keep you updated on new products, quickly resolve any issues, and get your feedback and ideas for new products. You sometimes tell us why you bought something, which we love to hear. And your reviews show me that we are staying on track with high-quality products and customer service.

“I love your products. They should be in gift shops.”

From the earliest days I’ve reached out to gift shops at historic sites. The Old North Church was the first one to carry our products. Their head of retail believed in our designs, brought them into her shop, and they sold out again and again. She was wonderful to work with, supporting new designs and giving us feedback. In fact, we developed the “One if by land” design for them and it’s become a favorite.

You’ll also find our things in the gift shop of the Lexington Historical Society, located right next to what we now call the “Battle Green.” A new manager came on the scene, tried several different products of ours, and placed re-orders based on what worked in her shop. And Fort Ticonderoga is once again carrying our Henry Knox Moving Company shirts. It one of our very popular designs and we appreciate them carrying it again.

While this has been the case with a handful of historic sites—if you are one of those and would like to be mentioned in this list on our blog, please let me know and I’ll be happy to add you—but those are the very rare exceptions.

And the fact that decisions are made locally doesn’t mean that they’re receptive to trying new high-quality products at a higher price point, but at least we can talk with someone who manages the shop or knows the person who manages the shop. Valley Forge, run by a small organization, is good example. When I showed them the beautiful American-made bracelet that we designed specifically to commemorate Washington’s winter there, they dismissed it out of hand. (Unfortunately, the bracelet is no longer available because the company making them stopped doing custom work.)

The inside story

Here’s the inside story at gift shops at some our country’s largest and most visited historic sites, including NPS sites run by Eastern National, major sites run by Event Network, and major sites run locally.

NPS Historic Sites and Eastern National: Gift shops at almost all National Park Service historic sites in the Eastern part of the country are run by Eastern National, which has complete control over what is available at each site. Very early on, I drove to their headquarters in Pennsylvania and met their head of merchandising. She loved the products, but when it came to talking about pricing, they insisted that people wouldn’t pay a higher price, and we couldn’t afford to sell our shirts for the low prices they required.

They could make the same margin by raising the price of our shirts, but they didn’t think people would pay more for a high quality, American-made shirt with a great original design. I offered products on consignment to test at one or more historic sites so they could make that decision based on facts, not preconceived notions.  She wouldn’t even consider it. I have tried multiple times since then and sent samples, and my calls and email messages don’t get returned.

No one you talk with at an Eastern National retail shop has any meaningful influence on what the shop carries, and while an NPS staffer can veto products, they can’t require products be carried or tried. One exception at many sites are the books where the local staff actually has some influence.

If you’ve ever wondered why the selection and quality at most gift shops at NPS historic sites is what it is, now you know.

Eastern National’s response is that they serve NPS and a large portion of what they make is given to the NPS. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t explain being unwilling to improve the products and test new products—from me or other makers I’ve spoken with. It’s also surprised me that there isn’t more competition to run the retail concessions at sites.

Major historic sites and Event Network: The gift shops at Gettysburg, USS Midway, at the National Museum of the American Army and the National Museum of the Marine Corps, and at several other high-profile sites are run by a company on the West Coast called Event Network. Their offer to a site is that they will take over retail entirely, taking the buying, inventorying, operating, staffing, and managing a retail shop off the books of the site.

They are a private company with a simple pricing model: The retail price they set is three times the wholesale price, and they split that three ways, with a third going to the site or organization and a third to the maker.

What the site loses then is the ability to select products. Instead, buying is done centrally for several sites. They also lose touch with customer and what they want. No one at an Event Network-run site has any meaningful impact on what is offered in the store.

They create attractive, modern spaces that are much better retail experiences, for the most part, than at Eastern National.

We approached Event Network at about the same time we approached Eastern National and we got the same positive response: We love your products. They have carried a few from time to time, which we greatly appreciate.

Here’s a story about one of our and their most successful products at a great site where the retail shop is run by Event Network: The Museum of the American Revolution carried our Revolutionary Superheroes shirt and re-ordered regularly. When we noticed that we weren’t getting re-orders we checked with the buyer, who said that they still had inventory, so I drove down to Philadelphia to find out. I was told that was their top seller, but that someone on the museum staff complained. They didn’t know why and none of us can figure it out.

The Museum of the American Revolution is a must-see for anyone interested in the revolution.  And when you go to the gift shop you might find our “History Nerd” shirt with Ben Franklin and a couple of other items.

If you’re in Philadelphia and looking for a several of our Revolutionary War-related things, check out Liberty & Co. across from the Betsy Ross House. My friend and colleague Tyson has done a great job assembling an interesting collection of merchandise for history lovers in a well laid out, smartly designed shop.

The main Gettysburg shop is a great example of what happens when you hire buyers with retail experience but little knowledge of or passion for the specific historic site. As with other Event Network sites, they have a bright, modern retail experience for visitors.  Try as I might, however, I’ve never gotten them to understand why they should carry our “Irish Brigade” shirt.  It’s one of our most popular shirts and Gettysburg is listed on the back.  If they carried it, they would be the only retailer in the area with it, and it would be very, very different than anything anyone was selling and they could price it accordingly. (I haven’t even tried with our Battle of Gettysburg shirt, dense with historical details.)

If you’re looking for a much larger selection and attend the big reenactment that happens at Gettysburg every year around the Fourth, look for a large tent from another friend and colleague, David of TR Historical. He has a great selection, and you’ll find many of our Civil War-related items there. You’ll also find him at major WWII reenactment, again, with a large selection from multiple makers, including many from us.

Have you been to the National Museum of the American Army? If not, you should go, and before June 2027, if possible. The Museum is excellent and the exhibit that runs through June 2027 on the American Revolution is a must see it.  It is of the same calibre as the Museum of American Revolution and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.

They also have one of the most boring gift shops I’ve seen at any major historic site. It’s run by Event Network, but it’s so boring clearly someone at the museum gave them strict rules on what they could carry.  Our “Continental Army” shirt is a perfect complement to their current exhibit, and thinking that the problem might be at the Museum, I sent shirt to both the head of the museum and the head of the non-profit that oversees the retail shop. Crickets. Note that I’m confident that if Event Network were given free rein, that gift shop would be much better.

Event Network also runs the shop at USS Midway. Our Midway shirt is unlike anything they have—not even close—but no interest.

Major independent historic sites: A good example is Mount Vernon, one our nation’s great historic sites. It was saved from completely falling apart by a group of women who got together and formed The Mount Vernon Ladies Association after appeals at the state and Federal level were rejected. (At the time, legislators didn’t believe it was the role of the government to spend tax dollars on a private dwellings. )

Today Mount Vernon, beautifully restored, is still owned and operated by the non-profit organization, The Mount Vernon Ladies Association.  That’s also one of the reasons it’s open to visit right now.

They have fabulous gift shops and a large and profitable retail operation and we’ve tried to get them to try some of our products to no avail. Early on, we offered our trademarked “History Nerd” shirt with Washington and our Revolutionary Superheroes shirt. Both are popular for us and different than anything they were offering at the time.  Yet we were told, repeatedly, that people wouldn’t pay more for a t-shirt, even if it was higher quality and made in America with a unique design. We offered a test with consignment products, but again, no interest.

More recently, we offered the beautiful porcelain tray with text from Washington’s first inauguration. They briefly considered it but weren’t interested. I even sent one to their CEO, Doug Bradburn, as a gift in hopes that he might recommend it. Didn’t hear anything, not even a thank you note. I wasn’t expecting that this would work, but it’s another example of trying to get a major historic site with millions of dollars in retail sales to try a new high-quality product, unlike anything they have.

Other large sites run independently include the National Museum of WWII in New Orleans, same story. No interest, despite our designs being dense with historical content—and made in America.

The gift shop at the USS Arizona Memorial is operated by the non-profit Pacific Historic Parks. Our Pearl Harbor shirt is unlike anything they had. It’s has been one of our most popular, and they had no interest in carrying it or even trying it.

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History has a large retail operation and we have folks from the Smithsonian who receive our newsletters every week. Again, no interest in even a test.

Those are some of the majors you know. Here’s one that’s probably new to you as it was to me until I discovered it this summer. It’s also the most puzzling of all: The People’s House—The White House Experience.

Side note: This new DC attraction has massive funding behind it. It’s from the White House Historical Association. However, the way they chose to construct the name, in a city full of well-known attractions, has it exactly backwards. In fact, when I heard “The People’s House,” I almost didn’t go, but I’m glad I did. (It’s a common marketing problem when you are in love with the thing you created and forget to think from the perspective of your target market.)

It opened in September 2024 and is close to the White House. They have a very nice gift shop and I was excited to offer for consideration our entirely made in America Dolley Madison tote bag and our Washington inaugural tray. (I know, Washington never lived in the White House, but he did oversee construction.) I sent e-mail that I was sending samples of each, sent samples, followed up with e-mail, and called. No response of any kind. I know that buyers get many inquiries, and since they are, indeed, the buyer, they can blow off anyone they want. This is not unusual, but what surprised me is that our products, which were similar in price point but very different in design, weren’t compelling enough to even merit a brief reply to my e-mail.

To reach medium-sized and smaller historic sites, we’ve advertised in the newsletter that is widely read by state and local history organizations and appeared at some national and regional conferences. Most recently we took out a full page color ad in a magazine distributed to gift shops, including museum shops, all across the country. Some clicks to our site, but zero inquiries.

We have had some success over the years  we hope more continue to do so.  To all who have carried our products, thank you. We hope you come back and check out our newest designs. If you carry our products now and would like to be added to this post and mentioned in our next newsletter, let me know.

Decision making based on insufficient information

In nearly all gift shops there is a reluctance to go to the effort to try new products, especially those that are different in type, design, and price than what they currently offer. I imagine they think, “Our customers wouldn’t buy that. It’s too expensive.” My hypothesis is that this attitude is based on them observing the behavior of their customers in their shop today. And that’s the shortcoming: They’re reacting to what’s in the shop now. The only way to know whether you can increase profit and customer satisfaction with higher-quality products with great design is to test them.

So that’s why our products aren’t in the gift shops of most historic sites

If you are a representative of any of the institutions above, I’ll be happy to e-mail, talk by phone or zoom, or drive to meet you. We aren’t large enough to have salespeople and with American-made products our margins aren’t large enough to have reps, so you are dealing directly with the person who makes the decisions on what we design and offer.

Our system for wholesale is very simple and well-suited to history sites and organizations of all sizes. Apply for an account, we get you set up, usually within 24 hours, and then they can log in and order products that we offer wholesale, which is most of our products. This means they can browse our collection, see wholesale prices, and place orders on their schedule seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

To our community of history lovers

I hope you have the chance to visit all o the historic sites and history museums listed above. They are all excellent and important. My interest in offering our products at more of them is two fold: To reach more history lovers and to help keep us going financially. And while we’ve had minimal success with offering our products to sites and shops, we’ve had maximum success connecting directly with you, the people who have found us and kept us going.

Thank you.

Lee Wright | Founder

Lee@TheHistoryList.com