YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A northeast Ohio T-shirt company is sharing history as its business. It's on the road to raise awareness about an automobile made in the Buckeye State. 

The printing machines at Sweet Memories Vintage Tees stay busy helping raise awareness and funds through their historical designs. 

One of their latest partnerships is with the National Packard Museum. Packard automobiles were first built in Warren. 

“When you’re in this arena and you’re pushing day after day, trying to get this history repeated and get these really cool stories out there, sometimes it really feels like you’re the lone man out there somewhere,” said Mary Ann Porinchak, National Packard Museum executive director. “But, to have another organization that just embraces this history and wants to push it forward like we do, that is huge for us.”

Linda Barton started Sweet Memories Vintage Tees to share area history. 

“When I moved here, I was just blown away by how much history is in this area and people don’t talk about it,” she said. 

The company donates 20% of the proceeds from the sales of its various lines to different charities. A portion of sales from Packard-related shirts will donate to the National Packard Museum. 

The pandemic caused the museum to take a detour and start doing things differently. 

“It’s the only way it’s going to go forward is if we continue to embrace something new and try new things and reach new audiences,” Porinchak said. 

They started bringing more of their message online, even offering a store. 

“Because that had the greatest potential of bringing in revenue during COVID,” said Porinchak. “People were still buying online.”

She’s hopeful the new shirt designs will help boost income and exposure. 

“Our ultimate goal is to elevate this brand and get people from across this valley and throughout the world to know just how wonderful this history is and how many chapters there are,” Porinchak said.