Heart of Lincoln Land

Lincoln Apparel’s shiny new "Hair Metal Lincoln" design. Rock on Lincoln! Copyright © 2011 Lincoln Apparel.

It’s summer and it’s time for a cool new Lincoln Apparel T-shirt – this time, one that features shiny blue metallic ink. It’s a fun T-shirt called "Hair Metal Lincoln", one that continues my style of creating colorful, modern, 80s-influenced Lincoln designs. I’ve already had a number of great comments on this shirt and I think it’ll do well!

The idea for this shirt came in February when I was celebrating Lincoln’s Birthday. I have a big Lincoln bust in my living room that I had decorated for the occasion with colorful ribbons. I looked at it and thought to myself, "this would make an awesome T-shirt". I hadn’t decided what to call it yet or how the theme of the design would work.

I thought that since the bust is bronze, that it’d be fun to make a T-shirt that had metallic foil on it for Lincoln’s face, so that it resembled a statue as opposed to a portrait. I hadn’t done that before and I wanted to try it. Shiny ink and colorful ribbons certainly fit with the style of T-shirts that I like to create.

I didn’t think of a name for the design until I brainstormed a bit after I started working on it. "Hair Metal Lincoln" just kind of came to me while I was thinking of names, since the ribbons reminded me of the "hair metal" bands from the late 80s. It certainly sounded clever and fit with the theme of my work, so I kept it.

I also initially played with different colors of foil for Lincoln’s face. Bronze felt way too neutral for the design, so I had to make it something else that would fit. I settled on blue, thinking it would look cool with bluish highlights in the background (reflecting off of Lincoln’s face) to fit with the "hair metal" theme (as if Lincoln was part of a rock band performing live on stage). It went along well with all the other colors, so I decided to use blue, and I think it turned out awesome!

A closeup shot of the "Hair Metal Lincoln" design. Copyright © 2011 Lincoln Apparel.

"Hair Metal Lincoln" is my first Lincoln design that is based on a 3D object (a bust) rather than a 2D image (like a portrait of Lincoln). To convert everything to 2D so that I could use it as a design, I took a photo of the bust and worked off of that. Because metallic foil can only be one single color and cannot contain gradients, I had to take Lincoln’s face and convert it down to one color, with large, clear areas of solid color. I had to do this without destroying the detail in Lincoln’s face. In the end I had to redraw much of Lincoln’s face by hand so that it looked correct, since simply reducing a photo to one color typically leaves lots of “residue” or destroys the detail (or both).

I spent a lot of time on this design and as one of my most colorful, shiny designs to date, I think people will love it. Like my other designs, it fills the front of the shirt ("Hair Metal Lincoln" is 17×22 inches, about the same size as "Young Mr. Lincoln"). The shiny ink is fun, it gives the design an added "punch" and it looks different under different lighting conditions. "Hair Metal Lincoln" is already available at Springfield Novelties and Gifts (near 6th and Monroe in historic downtown Springfield) and at the Old Capitol Farmer’s Market artisan area on days when I’m there, so come check it out!

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Me, last year at the artisan area at the Old Capitol Farmer’s Market, showing my Lincoln T-shirts. That’s me wearing the blue "Back to Springfield" T-shirt – there’s still a few of those shirts left if you like them!

Last year, I was at the artisan area at the Old Capitol Farmer’s Market and, despite some incredibly hot days, it was a lot of fun, so I’ll be doing it again this year!

This year, I plan to be at the artisan area at the market (which is located at the southeast corner of 4th and Adams Streets in historic downtown Springfield) every Saturday in June, the first, third, and last Saturday of every month from July to September, and the first and third Saturdays in October. Here’s the full schedule (you can find it on the Local page on the Lincoln Apparel website too):

• Saturday, June 4, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, June 11, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, June 18, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, June 25, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, July 2, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, July 16, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, July 30, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, August 6, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, August 20, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, August 27, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, September 3, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, September 17, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, September 24, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, October 1, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Saturday, October 15, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

This year, I hope to have a tent so that I’m not sitting out in the sun all the time like last year, and so that I can make a better display with my T-shirts. I’d love to hang some from the sides and/or the roof so that people can truly get a feel for my awesomely huge, colorful, and artistic designs. I plan to make up some neat signs, too, that detail how my shirts are designed locally and are American made, a blog review or two of my shirts, and that have Lincoln Apparel’s new slogan, “T-shirts Lincoln would believe in” (I thought of it myself).

Of course, I plan to have my little CD player and portable speakers set up so I can play some cool 80s tunes again – I love it, it’s lots of fun and goes along well with my shirts – and speaking of shirts, I’ll have some new designs this year, in addition to old favorites like "80s Abe" and "Purpose". I’m working on getting my next design, “Hair Metal Lincoln”, printed as I write this, and hopefully it’ll be done by the end of May. It’s going to be the first Lincoln Apparel shirt to have shiny metallic ink – and it will look awesome! I’ll make a post about them when they’re done.

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"Equality", the first Lincoln Apparel T-shirt. Copyright © 2009 Lincoln Apparel.

In September of last year, I officially registered Lincoln Apparel as a business. I had finally decided that after my success earlier that year with my “Back to Springfield” and “Equality” designs, that I’d take my artistic Lincoln T-shirts seriously and turn them into a clothing line. I had always loved creating Lincoln T-shirts; I feel they are a great way to spread Lincoln and his legacy, and their large canvas size makes them perfect for creating large, colorful, complex wearable art.

The month prior, I had set up an Etsy store, and later, my own website, with the one design I had printed to sell on line at the time – “Equality”. It wasn’t long until I made my own run of “Back to Springfield” shirts (my most popular design in 2009) to sell on my own website and elsewhere.

"Back to Springfield" is the second Lincoln Apparel T-shirt, and is when I started to have all of my shirts made in the USA. Copyright © 2008 Lincoln Apparel.

That run of shirts is when I decided to have all of my shirts be American made, and printed as close to Springfield as possible. I didn’t like how so many of the shirts for sale in Springfield are cheaply made in China or other third world countries (likely with sweatshop labor), nor did I like how so many of them are poorly designed by large companies who probably have never even been to Springfield. I wanted my shirts to be high quality, something that would still look and feel great after many washings. And with the economy being the way it was (and still is) I thought it was time to focus on our own prosperity, so with all of these factors in mind, I decided I’d make my T-shirts right here in the USA, in ways in which Lincoln would approve of – no sweatshop labor or anything. I wanted my Lincoln T-shirt line to be something Lincoln would be proud of, something that respects his legacy, something people would wear and that he would want to see other people wearing – and NOT something that Lincoln would have a moral problem with. I just don’t think Lincoln would sleep well at night knowing that T-shirts with his image on it are being produced with the very thing he fought so hard against – slavery.

"Immortal Words at Gettysburg", the third Lincoln Apparel T-shirt. This is the second and current version of the shirt, which features a printthat fills the front of the shirt. Copyright © 2009 Lincoln Apparel.

So, I eagerly posted the new run of made-in-the-USA “Back to Springfield” shirts to my website (after taking out the extra shirts I ordered for myself to wear, something I always do with each design), and gradually posted them to my Etsy store (since I read on the Etsy forums that it’s not a good idea to post everything at once). I did the same in late October of last year for my 3rd design, “Immortal Words at Gettysburg”.

It’s hard to believe that at this time last year I was only selling two designs through my website and Etsy. Lincoln Apparel has now grown to 6 designs, and my shirts are available locally now as well. Some highlights from the past year:

• Mid-November 2009: My shirts begin to be carried by Springfield Novelties and Gifts on 6th Street, near Monroe Street, in historic downtown Springfield, on a special order basis. This included all three of the designs I had at the time – “Equality”, “Back to Springfield” (in all 3 color variants), and “Immortal Words at Gettysburg”.
• Late November 2009: I sell my first shirt under the Lincoln Apparel name, an “Immortal Words at Gettysburg” T-shirt to someone from Ireland. The sale was made on my Etsy store. I was ecstatic when it happened. It still gives me a great sense of pride and excitement to this day whenever I sell one of my T-shirts. It makes me feel like I’m furthering my mission to spread Lincoln and his legacy, through my artistic T-shirts.


"80s Abe", the fourth Lincoln Apparel T-shirt, and the most popular. I feel this shirt, and "Back to Springfield", are the best representations of the Lincoln Apparel style. Copyright © 2009 Lincoln Apparel.

• December 2009: I come up with my “80s Abe” design. The design was literally something I thought of after looking at that “crew cut” portrait of Lincoln in one of my Lincoln books as I was falling asleep. I remembered it after I woke up the following morning, and felt that it would be cool to make an 80s-style “full front print” Lincoln design out of it. Over the following days I spent many hours (and a lot of fun) working on the design, combining my Lincoln interest with my 80s interest. Due to the Christmas holiday it was not printed until January, and it became my first design of 2010. It is now my most popular design, and one of the designs that (along with “Back to Springfield”) I am the most proud of. “80s Abe” and “Back to Springfield” both share the bright colors and large, complex, detailed artwork that typify my designs, and I feel they represent my work the best.
• March 2010: My 5th design, “Purpose”, is created. Like “80s Abe”, it’s a full front print shirt, as are all of my designs from “80s Abe” and this design onward. I was going through a rough couple of weeks and decided to create an inspiring Lincoln T-shirt. It also became my first women’s T-shirt. The original design featured pink highlights in Lincoln’s face and hair, so I created a turquoise version for guys after the original one was finished. The shirt remains more popular amongst women than men (my other designs I sell about equally to both men and women). Also this month, my main site’s traffic and sales surpass Etsy, which suffers a traffic nosedive this month.


"Purpose", the fifth Lincoln Apparel T-shirt. Shown is the original design, using pink colors, made into a women’s T-shirt. A men’s version, using turquoise, was also made. Copyright © 2010 Lincoln Apparel.

• April 2010: I apply to become an artisan in the artisan area of the Old Capitol Farmer’s Market. I find out later that month that I am accepted. I’m excited (and nervous) to do my first craft fairs.
• June 2010: Springfield Novelties and Gifts begins stocking my T-shirts (all 5 of my designs, and all the color variants). No longer are they only on special order. They begin to sell rather well there, and at the market which begins this month. In fact, due to selling locally my sales explode by 10-fold. I also have “Immortal Words at Gettysburg” reprinted as a full front print design, the way it was originally intended. (Most of the original shirts had sold out by this point). Due to my presence at the Old Captiol Farmer’s Market I also get noticed by the Abraham Lincoln Observer, a Springfield blog at the State Journal Register newspaper, who interviews me about my Lincoln T-shirts (though he does not have one yet – tsk tsk).
• July 2010: I come out with my 6th design, “Wide Awake Club”. I designed it in the spring to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s election in 1860. I just didn’t have the money to print it until now.


"Wide Awake Club", the sixth and latest Lincoln Apparel design. Copyright © 2010 Lincoln Apparel.

• August 2010: “80s Abe” sells so well that I get it reprinted and add a new color – yellow.

And finally, some observations and things I’ve learned in the past year:

• All of my designs so far have sold well overall. I have yet to have one that turned out to be a dud.
• While my T-shirts remain the most popular amongst people who are relatively young (in their 20s or 30s), I’ve sold to people of all ages. You’re never too old to love a good artistic Lincoln T-shirt.
• Different designs sell well in different places. I have some that sell well at the market, some that do well at Springfield Novelties, and some that do well on my site. What sells well at one venue won’t at another, and vice versa. It’s helped me greatly to diversify selling venues.
• Selling locally generates lots of exposure and sales and doing shows allows you to see how people react to your designs. It’s also very much helped legitimize Lincoln Apparel and make people realize it is a serious T-shirt line created by a serious T-shirt artist. I’ve even had other shops contact me due to my local presence – maybe some of them will start carrying my shirts in the future. I can’t imagine how much I’d still be struggling if I only sold online.


Lincoln Apparel at the Old Capitol Farmer’s Market in June.

• Generating attention online is very difficult. I didn’t sell in significant amounts until I started to sell locally. One of my biggest mistakes was spending 100 hours or so on Facebook and Twitter earlier this year (and late last year) talking about Lincoln and trying to get the right people to notice my Lincoln T-shirts. I learned that those sites are mostly a (very frustrating) waste of time, filled with chit chat and white noise. “Social networking” (in the modern sense of the term) is an oxymoron. It’s hard to get replies to anything you say, and everybody writes stuff (often the most mundane things), but nobody reads anything. So much for the much hyped “ineraction” in “social media”. This is in stark contrast to forums and message boards I’ve participated in, and blogs I’ve commented on and read. I maintain a minimal presence on Twitter now (I’ve got a few Lincoln friends there), and I quit Facebook in February. I absolutely love to spend the time I’ve saved by not using “social” sites on new designs and other Lincoln related creative projects, or on fun activities out in the city, not to mention I feel better too, since I don’t have to care about how many online “friends” I have, or wonder why somebody’s post about what they had for dinner gets more attention than my post about Lincoln. As Lincoln said, "This habit of uselessly wasting time, is the whole difficulty; and it is vastly important to you [...] that you should break this habit." I wish the whole “social networking is free, it only takes time, you gotta be there or else” proponents would listen to Lincoln and realize that time is the most important resource.
• Etsy never worked out for me. My main site, lincolnapparel.com, does the vast majority of my online traffic and sales now (over 90% of it). I thought that Etsy would take off first and that my main site would take longer, but that wasn’t the case – it took all of two weeks after my first sale on Etsy to get my first sale on my main site (and that was for two shirts, not just one). I started to realize after my traffic crashed in March there that it might not work out, and during the busy summer tourist season I pretty much quit doing anything on Etsy (unless I got a sale). I was never able to get my shop to take off, but my main site always had steadily increasing traffic and sales. I started to realize Etsy was more expensive than my main site, with a lot less control – 20 cents to list something for 4 months plus 3.5% commission if it sells. And there’s no size dropdowns for T-shirts, so that makes listing things there a pain. To list my entire inventory over there (all the size and color variants) now would be over $15 for only 4 months, and if a shirt sells, I have to pay about $1 extra for the 3.5% commission. I’m not selling anywhere near $15 worth of listings every 4 months on Etsy so most of that is wasted. To top it all off, Etsy doesn’t properly advertise, and as a result a lot of people don’t know about Etsy and are confused about what it is or how to spell it, so my main site is trusted more. I can list as much as I want on my main site for $10/month, and only pay PayPal fees when I sell something, and as my site has become more well known, that cost has more than paid for itself.
• It’s one of the greatest feelings to see people in your shirts. It’s part of why I made a “Wearing Lincoln Apparel” page – so that people can show off their purchases. If you have one of my shirts I’d love it if you added your picture to the page!

The Wearing Lincoln Apparel page as it looked on October 4, 2010

So, what’s the next year going to be like? I hope it’s even better than the last one! I plan to release my next design, tentatively titled “Young Abe Lincoln”, sometime this month, which will be the first design that includes long-sleeve shirts. "Equality" and "Back to Springfield" will eventually get replaced by new designs, once they start to sell out. I’m not sure what will happen to my Etsy shop, but my main site at lincolnapparel.com will always be there, and contain my full selection of T-shirts. I think I might list a few popular shirts on Etsy for the Christmas season, then close it, or maybe just keep a minimal amount of shirts there “just in case” somebody finds me there. I also plan to look for other shows in Springfield, particularly towards Christmas time, where I can sell my shirts, and at other shops here that might be interested in my shirts also. Hopefully next year, you’ll be able to find my shirts in more places!

And, lastly, thanks to all of my customers, both local and online, in the past year who have purchased Lincoln Apparel T-shirts and helped make Lincoln Apparel a success. I appreciate every one of you. You’re supporting a small, local artist who lives in Mr. Lincoln’s Hometown who is dedicated to keeping Lincoln and his memory, and his legacy, alive. Thank you!

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Lincoln Apparel’s new "Wide Awake Club" T-shirt, intended to look like how a Lincoln campaign T-shirt might have in 1860. Copyright © 2010 Lincoln Apparel.

This has been a busy summer so far for Lincoln Apparel, and I’m enjoying it. I’ve released two new designs – "Wide Awake Club", which was created for the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s election this year, and a yellow version of my popular "80s Abe" T-shirt, which has also been reprinted and restocked in its three original colors as well (no longer are any of the sizes "temporarily out of stock"). All of these shirts are now available on the Lincoln Apparel website, as well as locally at Springfield Novelties and Gifts on 6th Street and at the Old Capitol Farmer’s Market artisan area each Saturday.

The “Wide Awake Club” T-shirt has a lot of history behind it, and it was designed to resemble an 1860 Lincoln campaign banner or poster. In fact, during the creation of the shirt, I researched what many of these looked like, and incorporated their design style or elements into the design.

Before you ask, the "Wide Awakes" were localized, grassroots groups of young Lincoln supporters during the 1860 presidential campaign, thus the name of the T-shirt (and the reason why it says "Wide Awake Club"). I’ve already gotten asked this quite a bit, and I enjoy educating people about this (and other bits) of Lincoln history (my T-shirts do make great conversational pieces!). In fact, the "Wide Awakes" themselves had their own banners, with each club having a different design that was specific to their locality. One such banner is on display in the Old State Capitol, near the governor’s office. (It reads "LINCOLN, 3rd Ward, Mind Your Eye, WIDE AWAKES", and there is a picture of this Wide Awakes banner here.)

Now, obviously, with one T-shirt design it wouldn’t be possible to create a T-shirt for each specific locality (since I’d need to create a different design for each locality), so I had to settle for making a non-localized design. I based the design off of a picture of Lincoln often used during his 1860 Presidential campaign – the famous "Cooper Union" portrait, taken in February of 1860 in New York City, during a trip where he gave a famous speech that helped convince Easterners, and the nation, that he was a serious contender for President.

Closeup of the new "Wide Awake Club" Lincoln T-shirt by Lincoln Apparel. Copyright © 2010 Lincoln Apparel.

Now, in 1860, the process of "halftoning" – using dots of different sizes to print photographs and other images with gradients – had not been invented yet. So instead of using a photograph and having it printed with halftones on the shirt, I used a lithograph instead, which is what would have been printed in newspapers and on posters and the like in 1860. I artistically divided it into red and blue colors, since I knew I was going to use those patriotic colors for my design. I then focused on other common elements used in Lincoln election propoganda in 1860 – slogans like "Honest Old Abe" and "Railsplitter of the West", and imagery related to Lincoln’s frontier roots and his "Railsplitter" moniker, which I added into the lower portion of the design, under the lower half of the oval-shaped portrait of Lincoln.

Finishing up the design, I added 33 stars above the portrait of Lincoln – one for each state in the Union in 1860. (In fact, the flag that flies above the Old State Capitol is a 33 star flag – otherwise, it wouldn’t be fully restored to its 1860 appearance.) Finally, I added the text, "ABRAHAM LINCOLN for President 1860", below all of the artwork. I used fonts that were in common use on posters and banners 1860 for this and the other textual elements of the design.

All of these design elements come together to create a new original design, that resembles an 1860 Lincoln campaign poster or banner, and translates to the T-shirt medium well. Not that wearing something to support your candidate was necessarily new back then – people wore ribbons, typically emblazoned with their candidate’s picture, to support their candidate, just how nowadays, people wear T-shirts and buttons. So, in a lot of ways, the campaign T-shirt is the descendant of the campaign ribbon, except it’s bigger, like a banner. I can easily see Lincoln supporters wearing this T-shirt in 1860 if T-shirts existed then. (You can read more about the 1860 election in this post).

However, now you can show your support for Lincoln today (don’t you wish he could be president sometimes?) by wearing this T-shirt. It’s a cream colored T-shirt, instead of a white one, to make it feel old and authentic. Cool, isn’t it?

The new yellow "80s Abe" Lincoln T-shirt. The other three colors have been reprinted too, and are now in stock again. Copyright ©2009 Lincoln Apparel.

And speaking of cool stuff, my popular "80s Abe" T-shirt, representing a Lincoln for a different past era, one I love and that I grew up in, has been reprinted and is now in stock again. (You can read more about the creation of the "80s Abe" T-shirt here.) This time, I added a new color – yellow – in addition to the black, blue, and green colors, and the sizes now start at small instead of medium, since I’ve had people ask me why I don’t have any small. (I originally thought the design would be too big for that size, that’s why, but it really isn’t – the new shirts have the same 17×20 inch print as the old ones).

Interestingly, "80s Abe" has sold well and enjoyed a great reception amongst people of all generations, not just my own. I’ve sold that shirt to younger people, and older people as well. The 1980s were a time of great creativity amongst many different types of art and creative work; this goes to show that great art and creative work is timeless and appeals to any generation, much like Lincoln.

Another interesting thing is that "80s Abe" actually has no words (unless you want to count Lincoln’s signature). I think this sums up how I feel about T-shirts in general – the great ones need no words, just great artwork. I’ve never been one to wear simple funny text T-shirts; rather, I’ve always enjoyed making the world a brighter place by wearing cool artistic T-shirts. I love the T-shirt as an art medium since it’s wearable, so other people can see the artistic message, and spread it, instead of it just being something to hang on your wall, and because T-shirts provide a rather large "canvas" on which to "paint" your design.

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The new "Wearing Lincoln Apparel" page on lincolnapparel.com allows you to submit a photo of you or your friends wearing a Lincoln Apparel T-shirt!

The past month I’ve been busy selling my Lincoln Apparel T-shirts at the Old Capitol Farmer’s Market, at Springfield Novelties and Gifts, and dealing with website orders (I had an order of 8 T-shirts just a few days ago!). The response to Lincoln Apparel has been overwhelmingly positive, and even though it can be a lot of work at times, it’s a lot of fun and I enjoy doing it – I finally feel like Lincoln Apparel and the message of Lincoln and his legacy is getting out there through my artistic Lincoln T-shirts. And that of course, is what I want to happen – for people to see my colorful Lincoln art on somebody’s T-shirt and get reminded of Lincoln and his legacy.

One of the things I’ve done in the past month is add, and code in, some new features on the Lincoln Apparel website. Much of this was done around late June/early July. I’ve added:

• a newsletter where you can sign up to receive updates on new Lincoln Apparel designs, find shows and retail venues Lincoln Apparel will be at, and more;
• a Wearing Lincoln Apparel page where you can show off your cool new Lincoln Apparel T-shirt, or Lincoln Apparel T-shirts your friends/family/other people you know may be wearing – I’ve got a couple photos on that page already that Lincoln Apparel fans have sent me;
• a Lincoln Apparel Local page, where you can find information on physical retail stores our T-shirts are available in, as well as shows we’re going to be at;
• a Lincoln Apparel product RSS feed, that will get updated whenever I post new shirts.

"80s Abe" has been the most popular Lincoln Apparel T-shirt so far this year.

Be sure to check out the new features on my website! I’ll be at the artisan area in the Old Capitol Farmer’s Market again this Saturday, July 24th, from 8 to 12:30, so be sure to stop by. The artisan area is located at the southeast corner of 4th and Adams, in historic downtown Springfield. I’ll be in the shadow by the building on the east side of the artisan area, where it’s cool in the morning, with some cool 80s music playing on some little portable speakers I got a couple weeks ago, that I can hook up to my portable CD/MP3 player (I’m still working on the tent).

I’ll also be coming out with my new “Wide Awake Club” Campaign 1860 Lincoln T-shirt soon. All I have to do is take pictures of it and put it up on my website. I’ll make another post about about the T-shirt and the story behind it (it involves a lot of Lincoln history) when it’s up!

I’m also going to get "80s Abe" reprinted, since it’s been a very popular design and I’m sold out of a lot of them. In addition, my Lincoln Bicentennial shirts – the poignant, serious "Equality" and the fun, colorful "Back to Springfield" – are beginning to sell out. No more of these designs will be printed – so if you love them, be sure to pick them up soon, as eventually they will be replaced by new designs!

"Equality" (left) and "Back to Springfield" (right) are both starting to sell out. These Lincoln Apparel designs will not be reprinted, so if you like them, be sure to pick them up soon!

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The new "Immortal Words at Gettysburg" Lincoln T-shirt, showing the new enlarged design. Copyright © 2009 Lincoln Apparel.

For some time I’ve been meaning to restock my Immortal Words at Gettysburg T-shirts, since I sold out of most of them. Along with that, I always wanted to redo the design as a large "oversize" print, so that the details in the fonts and in the picture of Lincoln could be seen. I now have the new "Immortal Words at Gettysburg" T-shirts redone with the big print, and I posted them on the Lincoln Apparel website last night. (I’ve also been working on redesigning some parts of the Lincoln Apparel site, and adding new features to it – you’ll notice some of this when you visit.)

The new T-shirts feature a 15×20 inch print, as opposed to the 12×16 inch print on the old T-shirts (of which I still have a few). The bigger design makes the text that much more readable and detailed, and the picture of Lincoln more imposing. It was always my intent to have this design printed so that it filled much of the front of the shirt; now, I’ve fulfilled that intent. In addition, "Immortal Words at Gettysburg" is now available in both men’s and women’s versions. The new ones are on American Apparel, so they are made in the USA and sweatshop free, the way Lincoln would want it to be.

The original "Immortal Words at Gettysburg" T-shirt, for comparison purposes. Still a good shirt, but notice how the design is smaller.

"Immortal Words at Gettysburg" is one of my most popular designs so far. One of the interesting things about it is how it seems to draw more attention online than locally. It is a design that explores how Lincoln is remembered by many different cultures and generations, using the words of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, which is printed in its entirety on the shirt. I used a different font for each of the 272 words in Lincoln’s address, representing the different eras and different kinds of people that have evoked Lincoln and his memory. I created the design last fall about a month before the November 19th anniversary of the date Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address. You can read more about the creation of the T-shirt and the Gettysburg Address in the above linked blog post.

In addition to my website, the new "Immortal Words at Gettysburg" T-shirts are available at Springfield Novelties and Gifts on 6th Street in beautiful historic downtown Springfield, and on Saturdays at the artisan area of the downtown Springfield farmer’s market, located at 4th and Adams. Of course, you’ll be able to find my other designs at these places, too. The next day I’ll be at the market will be this Saturday, June 19th, also known as Juneteenth, an African-American holiday that celebrates the date in 1865 that word reached Texas that Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had set the slaves free. It’s neat how this week’s date has a Lincoln connection. Hopefully Lincoln will give me some luck and I’ll do well, and I hope to see you there!

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My display at the downtown Springfield farmer’s market on June 5th, showing my Lincoln T-shirts. That’s me wearing the blue "Back to Springfield" T-shirt.

Last month, my Lincoln Apparel T-shirts were accepted into the artisan area at the downtown Springfield farmer’s market. I was, and still am, excited! I’ve never done in-person shows like this before, only selling online and to local shops, so I never really get to see the customers who buy my T-shirts. Now, I have a chance to see how local residents and tourists react to my T-shirts, tell them how I make them, and maybe a little about Lincoln in the process.

June 5th was my first day at the market. I didn’t know what to expect, since I’d never done it before. In the week prior, I looked around for things I could use to create a display. It had to be lightweight, since I’d be doing this myself. So I went to some stores within walking distance of where I live, and got a table and chairs, a drying rack to hang samples of the T-shirts from, and posterboard to make a sign. I got some notecards to make little signs to put on the display T-shirts so people could see how much they cost and what sizes were available, and a little cooler so I could bring drinks. I didn’t get a tent because I didn’t want to add too much weight and because I didn’t think I’d need one for a show that was only 5 hours long, but now I’m rethinking that, particularly with the weather last Saturday. I can always upgrade my display though, if I feel the need.

You can see the display in the picture above (along with me, the Lincoln Apparel artist, wearing a blue "Back to Springfield" T-shirt). I took the picture (and the other pictures you see here) with my cellphone, since I forgot to bring my camera, so that’s why they look a little washed out. The posterboard didn’t quite work out, so I’ll need to find something stronger for the next time (I ended up taping the sign to the table since I couldn’t get it to stand up correctly). I might get a little boombox with a CD/MP3 player in it eventually so I can have some cool 80s music to listen to while I’m there.

The State Capitol as visible from my space at the downtown Springfield Farmer’s Market on June 5th. You can see some of the other artisans there.

The morning of June 5th was gray and humid, with clouds threatening rain, but I pressed on anyway. I was excited to do my first market. Most of the time it was dry, but every now and then a few sprinkles fell and it started to rain for about a half hour at 10. I’m thankful I got a tarp to cover up all the T-shirts in case that happened. My sign got all wet though, which ruined it because I used my printer to print it and inkjet ink is water-soluble. I think I’ll put mailing tape over the whole sign the next time, since that’s what I did for the notecard signs on the T-shirts and the ink didn’t run on those.

There weren’t as many people at the market as I’ve normally seen, probably because of the damp and rainy weather. It appeared that some of the other artists didn’t come, so I was kind of an island on the east side of the parking lot near the buildings on the south side of Adams Street. However, I did get plenty of people looking at my T-shirts, and many people remarked at how colorful and complex they were. When I told people who were looking that I love Lincoln and that I designed these T-shirts including the artwork, they seemed very impressed. I had many people ask me when I was going to be at the market next; I wish I had made up some cards with my schedule on it.

I did end up selling two of my T-shirts to one person. Not quite as many as I thought I would, but I attribute that to the rain keeping people away. The T-shirts were "Immortal Words at Gettysburg" and "Purpose". Hopefully the next time, the weather will be better and more people will be there.

It was a great experience, though. I enjoyed talking to people in person and seeing their reactions. It’s so much more enjoyable than just selling on the Internet. It’s interesting noting how customers interpret my artwork, and seeing which shirts they like the best. It’s neat to see what kinds of people my T-shirts attract, and they attracted what seemed to be a rather diverse group of customers. And the customers seemed to enjoy it too, since they can touch, see, and feel my T-shirts instead of just looking at a picture on a web site. The hardest part is just setting it up and taking it down, and transporting it (I got a dolly to help with that), which I’ll practice more in the future before my next day at the market, which will be June 12th.

I will also be at the downtown Springfield farmer’s market on July 3rd, August 7th, September 4th, and October 2nd. I’m thinking of adding additional days in between, particularly during the rest of June, July, and August, when tourist season is at its peak and people are looking for T-shirts. I hope to see you there sometime!

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