As I’ve spent the last year working on Dufur.com developing the content and designs for all the shirts you see on the site, I’ve received a lot of feedback from friends, family, co-workers, Facebook friends, ex-co-workers, my dog and my kids — and not necessarily in that order. And of course, I hear from customers. Generally the feedback is really positive. (Hopefully they’re not just being nice.) One of the first things I hear is, “I have a great one for you… have you ever heard of a town called [insert town name here] ?” I’d estimate that about 1/2 the time it’s a town I haven’t heard of so I make a note and add it to my “towns in development” list. [This is a bit of an aside, but the "towns in development" list is growing much faster than I can keep up with the research and design! Kind of a good problem, I guess, although nobody likes falling behind. Maybe in a future blog I'll give you glimpse into a few of the funnier places on the list.]

Anyway, in the spirit of continual improvement, I do pay attention to what customers and others have to say about Dufur Tees. Besides the place suggestions, there are 2 other themes that have come up consistently in the feedback, and one super-sharp observation I’ve made:

1. 1. Feedback:  “You should put the state on there.”
2. 2. Feedback:  “Why is the design like that, instead of like…?” and variations.
3. 3. My super-sharp observation:  the economy isn’t doing so hot.

So, in the spirit of responding to these recurring themes (and that key observation), I bring you Dufur Basics.  Lower-price, no-frills, back-to-the-basics, core essentials with the state name on there.  Nothing fancy or outlandish — white, heather gray and dark asphalt colored American Apparel shirts with a return to the fundamentals: funny town names that say something about who you are.  Of course, this doesn’t mean I’ll stop doing the designed versions of the shirts, but as I mentioned in my last post, sometimes the town name is funny enough. And with the Dufur Basics line, I can launch towns more quickly in the Basic tee version and then release the designed version later. More towns, more quickly = more opportunities to find the perfect place that describes someone you know.  After all, that’s what Dufur.com is all about — finding the perfect shirt that features your other hometown.  As your friends will say, “well, that explains a lot.”

So check out Dufur Basics and let your shirt do the talking.
Thanks!
Mike

As a critique of my own designs, sometimes I think the town name is almost funnier without any creative application. For example, Looneyville, Texas, is just funny. (You’d think that someone had a great sense of humor when they named this place, but you’d be wrong. It was named after a guy named John Looney. Maybe his ancestors just had a great sense of humor when they settled on their surname.) But anyway, as I was saying, while I like the design for the Looneyville tee, just the name Looneyville alone is a great description for some people I know. I can think of 3 people right now that I’m sure must have been from Looneyville. That would certainly explain a lot.

Other town names are descriptive and funny in their way, but the design is actually more clever than the name. I think Normal, Illinois is one of these. Being from a town named Normal is definitely funny. But what I love about the design of this tee is the (not so) subtle indication that underneath the surface everyone is more than they appear.

But maybe it’s all in the eye or mind of the reader. Most of my personal favorite designs are the more subtle ones like Boring, Oregon and Accident, Maryland. Other people love the more embellished designs like Looneyville, Texas or Moxee, Washington.

What’s your favorite Dufur tee?

Here’s the idea — make a sound.  Any sound.  Imagine someone just jumped out and scared the heck out of you.  Now, take that sound and double it. It might go something like this:

“Yah!”

… OK, now double it …

“Yah Yah!”

Got it?  See, you could name a town too!  The problem with this list is that I’m not even sure what to say about each one. You can only editorialize so much on town names like Ko Ko (in Tennessee), Jo Jo (in Pennsylvania), or Fee Fee (in Missouri).  So, without the usual inane commentary from me, here is a list of the Dumb Dumbest Hometown Names I could find. Of course I mean absolutely no disrespect to any of the fine folks who live in these places. But if any of them actually read this and could help me learn more about the origin of their town’s name, that would be great. Then it might not seem so dumb… dumb.

But for now, here’s the Top 10 Dumb Dumb Hometown Names

10.  Yum Yum, Tennessee.

9.  Zig Zag, Oregon.

8.  Bo Bo, Mississippi.

7.  Paw Paw, Illinois.

6.  Lo Lo, Montana.

5.  Tum Tum, Washington.

4.  Co Co, West Virginia.

3.  Ty Ty, Georgia.

2.  So So, Mississippi.  (Maybe So So and Bo Bo were brother & sister?)

1.  Ka Ka, Arizona.

Got any more? Send them my way…

The building where Dufur Tees was located for the past year was recently sold and I had to move the printing shop and inventory to a new location.  We were out of the old by the end of November and then into the new by December 15th. I hate moving!  But we found a new place nearby and are all set up & running again.  We got an order for several dozen custom shirts for a local church youth group and that forced us to get the printing and pressing equipment set up quickly. The view is definitely not as good from the new shop, but it’s less expensive!

You may have noticed a few comments on the site about the style & sizing of the shirts we use. After buying, printing and wash-testing dozens of different brands and styles of blank tee shirts, I made the decision to use American Apparel. They cost more than most of the blank shirts out there, but here’s why I chose American Apparel:

> Semi-fitted” shape. Many of the cheapo shirts that are used by some online sites are basically just cotton bags with holes cut out for your arms & neck. If that’s the fit you’re looking for then these American Apparel shirts are not for you. I say semi-fitted because the American Apparel shirts are not skin-tight, but do have a medium-slim cut. I’ve heard this called an “athletic” cut, but I don’t exercise much and they fit me just fine.

> Finer cotton weave. This is probably the most important thing for the quality of the print you get on the shirt — other than the type and quality of the printing technique being used (see my earlier post on that issue).  The American Apparel shirt fabric weave is small & tight, so the print doesn’t appear coarse.  Of course, the other upside is that the shirt feels softer against your skin.

> Great colors.  As you see throughout the site, there are many great colors available from American Apparel. I personally still love basic whites and grays, but when I feel crazy my favorite color is the Grass green, which I use in several places including my favorite shirt, the Normal tee.

On the other hand, there are a couple of things about the American Apparel tees that I’d change if I could:

> Increase every size label by 1. As you’ve probably noticed, I mention in several places that you may want to consider ordering a size larger than you usually wear.  This is not only due to the semi-fitted nature of the shirts, but also to account for the fact that most people I know use a clothes dryer.  And if some of you are like me, you don’t really get all those buttons on the front of the dryer.  In fact, just a casual scan of my options (Mixed… Delicates… Air Fluff…) leaves me confused and disoriented.  As a result my shirts are dried using whatever wizardry takes place after I push “start.”  And sometimes that means my 100% cotton shirts shrink a little bit.

> Get rid of the tags. American Apparel shirts have tags.  I could cut them all out and print the Dufur logo on every shirt where the tag used to be, but then I’d have to raise prices to pay for the extra time and materials that would take.  I suspect you’d rather deal with the tag.  And I’m not very good with scissors.

If you have any other tips, shirt recommendations, or questions about the products we use here please let me know.  I am always trying out different brands to make sure we have the best quality for a reasonable price. Right now that’s American Apparel.

Sending people to the competition? Maybe… but oh well. I just wanted to share some of the fun sites I’ve come across as I’ve spent more and more time in the wacky (crowded) world of originally designed t-shirts. From the beginning of Dufur Tees I’ve spent a lot of time reviewing other t-shirt sites and buying a variety of tees. I’ve discovered that there are a lot of creative people out there and some fantastic and funny shirts available. And there are a LOT of t-shirt sites! Here are a few of my faves:

1. Teenormous.com — this site is really an aggregator of other t-shirt sites and bills itself as a t-shirt search engine. They feature dozens of sites (including Dufur!) and thousands of great tees.
2. Nerdyshirts.com — good variety of shirt themes and easy to filter by using the tabs along the top. I bought the “Silverware Family” shirt that has a Fork & Spoon and 4 Spork children.
3. Sackwear.com — Sackwear is a nicely designed site that features many Toyota Landcruiser shirts. Why? I have no idea. But I’ve always wanted a vintage Landcruiser so I bought the “Angus Cruisers” shirt.
4. Snorgtees.com — Snorgtees is one of the more popular sites out there, for good reason. Along with Bustedtees they probably have some of the funniest shirts out there. I can always find something to make me laugh. I bought the “Thesaurus” dinosaur shirt and fell in love with the American Apparel “grass” color which I’ve used in several Dufur designs.
5. Bustedtees.com — This was really the first site that got me thinking… I’ve bought many shirts from Bustedtees and continue to love it. I’ve most recently purchased “What wouldn’t Jesus do?,” “Racquetball, where blue balls are fun,” and “Without me it’s just Aweso” tees.
6. Noisebot.com — a site with TONS of shirts. Some great ones and some that are more crude than I go for. I purchased the “Mathlete” tee from Noisebot.
7. Wireandtwine.com — this is a recent find for me. I haven’t bought a tee from this site yet, but I really like how clean the design and layout of the site is. Plus, in addition to T’s they sell iron-pipe toilet paper holders. Yep.

So now that you’ve seen my list of favorites, what are yours? Any recommendations?

Several months ago I wrote about a trip I took to South Dakota.  Along the drive, I came across a great little town  named “Crooks,” with a welcoming sign declaring to all visitors, “If I don’t call the police, my neighbor will.”  Very reassuring.  This list was inspired by that visit.

In honor of Crooks, here is my list of the Top 10 US towns for the criminally-inclined. Of course, this doesn’t mean these places provide easy  pickings for the law-averse.  Also, I doubt that the dear folks who call these places home would welcome ne’er-do-wells with open arms.  I’m just saying, if you were an aspiring bad guy or girl, these are the kinds of place names you’d love to call home.  It would be kind of inspiring for you, perhaps.

The Top 10 Hometowns for the Criminally-Inclined:

10. Bruno, Arkansas.  Aren’t all the cartoon bad guys named “Bruno?”  It would be funny to meet a soft-spoken cosmetics salesman named Kevin from Bruno.

9. Warman, Minnesota.  I am Fierce and Terrible. I Am War Man.

8. Shady, Florida.  OK, not home to the Super-Bad, just the kinda-shifty.  You know, cheat on your taxes, cross the street outside the lines, run a red-light kind of folks.

7. Savage, Montana.  Now things are getting a little more serious.  This is home not for the merely mean — if you’re from Savage you gotta be Bad.

6. Devil Town, Ohio.  There must have been such a crop of scoundrels hailing from this part of Ohio that it became affiliated with the Big Bad Guy himself.  It’s not just a bad town, it’s DEVIL town.

5. Gunbarrel, Colorado.  Good ol’ fashioned Western bad-guy town.  Grab your Colt 45, finish that whiskey and hitch up the horses.  We gotta bust Pa out of  jail.

4. Stalker, Pennsylvania.  Really?  Stalker?  Does everyone have sore necks from looking over their shoulders and crying out, “who’s there?!”

3. Crooks, South Dakota.  What do you think the slogans are like during local elections?  “Vote for Honest-Johnson.”  “Trust me.”  “I won’t raise taxes.”  I think you’d start to get a little jaded after awhile… you might start thinking that politicians are just a bunch of crooks.

2. Slaughter, Louisiana.  Even IF this is just named after someone named Slaughter, you gotta wonder why. If this hometown name calls out to you, get help.

And the number one hometown name for the criminally-inclined…

1. Pillager, Minnesota.  An old pirate camp, or just a mis-spelling of “villager?” Whoops.

As I scour online and offline maps, read travel books and atlases and talk to friends, I keep a list of interesting place names that I come across. Interesting, unusual, funny, disgusting, odd, silly, and just weird town and place names dot this country from East to West. Although the main focus of the shirts we offer on Dufur.com is real places with names that are also personality traits, I thought it would be fun to share some of the other names I’ve gathered. Some of these might make good shirts, but others might not sell too well…

The following is a list of what I think are the “Top 10 Most Pessimistic Hometown Names in the USA.” Just imagine living in one of these places and doing your best to work up some civic pride. Volunteer at the community center. Adopt a highway. Serve on the school board…

10. Faker, Texas.  Things you’d have to get good at saying immediately after you say, “Hi I’m from Faker, Texas”:  “I really AM a nice guy, I swear. I’m a hard worker, I promise. I really did win that award! No honey, that one was real.”

9. Dull, Ohio. yawn. It’s not likely to be a nice day. Nothing happening here folks, move along.

8. Difficult, Tennessee. It’s not easy being from here. Hard to feel good about your chances.

7. Coward, South Carolina. The funny thing is someone named a town “Coward.” What kind of person warrants having a town named after them because they were so cowardly? I’ll have to look into this further… this is a good example of a town that would make a funny Dufur shirt, but few would buy! Unless maybe as a gift for someone else?

6. Cravens, Louisiana. Another cowardly place. Gets a higher ranking than Coward because being “Craven” seems even worse than being a coward. Just sounds that way to me. Also, probably a tough place to be a parent… “Go on Little Jimmy, you can do it!”  “Naw, I can’t do it dad, I’m scared.”

5. Antiville, Indiana. These folks are opposed to everything. All the people in the area that liked to say “no” moved to one place.

4. Bottom, North Carolina. How are things in this area? Pretty low. No… really low. Make that “bottom.” But if you’re at the bottom, does that mean things are looking up?

3. Purgatory, Maine. You think these folks feel pretty good about their lot in life? Getting others to relocate here is probably kind of tough. But hey, at least its not Hell (Michigan).

2. Defeated, Tennessee. Whipped. Beaten. Thrown-in-the-towel. Done-for. Finished. Kaput.

And the #1 Pessimistic Hometown Name…

1. Bitter End, Tennessee. There’s not a lot of hope left when you’re from Bitter End. First, it’s the end. Second, its not a good end, its a bitter one. Very sad.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been heads down doing research to identify new, interesting, unusual town names. And because the focus of Dufur.com is to feature town names that say something about your personality, not every odd town name is a good fit (although Odd, West Virginia is on the list). For example, while Zzyzx, California, is funny, it’s not an oft-heard characterization of someone. “Wow, she’s really a zzyzx.” I don’t think so.

The other realization is that while some towns may be funny, and may actually describe a person well, they may be unlikely candidates for purchase. For example, how many copies of the “Stalker, Pennsylvania” shirt do you think I’d sell? Or Stoner, Colorado? On the other hand, some are just too good to pass up even though the marketability may be suspect… like Assawoman, Deleware, for example. Gotta have it.

I’m also taking a different approach to sequencing the development of new towns. To this point, I’ve wanted to develop about 10 towns in a given state before moving on to another state. The idea was to cover one area reasonably well so there would be choices for people in a given geography. Now, however, I think it’s more important to get the best names out there regardless of state. It means I may only have one or two towns for a given state for some time, but I will eventually make it back around to add more. So you’ll see more states covered sooner, but with fewer towns per state.

As always, if you know of some place you think I should feature, please let me know by sending me an email.

thanks,
Mike

Once in awhile you receive service that is surprising — in a good way. As I’ve shared previously, I’m using a direct-to-garment printer for the Dufur shirts, which produces a great quality print that has a very soft feel on the fabric. After tons of research into various printer makes, models and manufacturers I chose to purchase an Anajet printer. One of the key reasons was that the support & service reports I read were generally encouraging. Of course you hope you don’t actually have to test this, but it’s good to know it’s there.

A few weeks ago I actually did have to test the service of Anajet. As I was in the middle of a run of shirts for a customer, one of the critical components in the ink delivery lines in the printer broke. Panic! I had 30-40 shirts yet to print and a broken printer, and it was about 11pm. Two big concerns came to mind: first, I had to get these shirts printed and delivered to the customer on time. Second, I can’t afford to pay a ton of money to have this printer repaired! So, I sent an urgent email to Anajet technical support and started looking into other local printers who could help finish this job for me.

In the morning I had an email from Anajet that was as welcome as it was unexpected. Not only were they able to help me with a temporary solution to get the shirts printed, they had already prepared a shipment for a replacement printer that was to be delivered to me at no cost. Within a few days the shirts were delivered to a satisfied customer, I had the replacement printer set up and working, and the broken unit was on it’s way back to Anajet for repairs. I think I should send a few Nice shirts to the folks in Anajet tech support!