Going Postal's T-shirt Blog

Pot Pourri

2008-05-30T10:55:00.005-07:00

I've never really liked that phrase but it is descriptive and most of us understand what it means. Besides its definition as a mixture of dried petals, herbs and spices to produce a pleasant fragrance, we can also use it to describe an assortment of almost anything, a mixed bag. Do you know the actual translation? I didn't either; it's "rotten pot".

So this time we have a rotten pot of t-shirts for you and promise that they'll only smell of fresh 100% cotton.

Fireworks!

It's time to start thinking about your 4th of July wardrobe and we want to take a load off your already over worked thinker. Just visit our Patriotic T-shirts Department and your worries will dissipate like spit on a hot skillet. (Sorry, aliens made me do it.) Looking for American Flags? Well, we have a department for those too, on the 5th floor: American Flag T-shirts.

Here's our latest addition to the former:
Now tell me this doesn't smack of good ol' American patriotism!

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright!

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

Well, in an attempt to answer Mr. Blake's question, Going Postal has just framed his "fearful symmetry" on a complete line of t-shirts. This exceedingly handsome portrait can hardly be matched for a devastatingly attractive tee and you can have it at no extra charge! It's also available in black and brown so you'd better get yours right now at our Animal T-shirts Department!

Monitoring Your Fun

This is something I've wanted to do for a long time.

You would truly be impressed if you saw all the images we've collected over the years - they are legion! In looking for something exciting to do with them, we've just launched a set of Going Postal Screen Savers using many of these absolutely fantastic and fun images. There are over 200 in the Pulp Magazine edition (my favorite) that makes just looking at your screen a relaxing and entertaining experience without doing anything! Just think of how much you'll save in carpal tunnel syndrome expenses! Check it out now"

These very entertaining screen savers are also available in Philatelic and Cigar versions, with many more to come!

For Cretacious Sakes!

To cap off this breath-taking blog entry, let's have some old fashioned fun with our t-shirts. Take a look at this Styracosaurus and tell me you wouldn't rather have one than a pit bull!

This loveable and cuddly little fellow is also available in sepia, red and black. You should get one in each color immediately if not sooner! It's easy, just go to our Dinosaur Basement and put in your order.

Now, back to work!

Ketchup

2008-05-17T12:33:00.003-07:00

Is catching up ever possible?

Don't worry, it's only a rhetorical question; I don't mean to stress you. I will still make the effort to make up for some lost ground, however, and recap some of the intriguing and fun t-shirt images we've added to the line in recent times. (Geologically, speaking.)

Ladies first, of course.

We have added a new page for firearms people that should please a lot of our gun totin' friends. As usual, it's entirely unique and many of the images cross the lines and will appeal to almost anyone.

Take the "Gun Woman", for instance. She's drawing a bead on you right now, but you needn't worry unless you're one of the bad guys. She's a straight shooter and might just settle for a warning shot. It's a bona fide old time image from sometime back in the 1880's and has already proved to be a popular t-shirt. If you're a guy, I'll bet you know a woman who would appreciate it. It looks great on a natural tee, by the way.

Ultra Chic

Our next sweetie is a bit more up to date. Back in days of yore, radios didn't have transistors or integrated circuits, of course; they had tubes. Can you believe it? So efforts at miniaturization and portability had some pretty clearly defined limitations. It behooved designers to come up with unique ways to work around the problem. Voila le "Radio Hat"!
In case you need to know, yes, I would wear this t-shirt. In fact, I'm going to make me one pronto. You should get on the bandwagon now and be one of the first too. Cool just begins to describe what you'll be!

Bony Maronie

Now here's a girl that has probably seen better days, but if I were you I wouldn't say so to her; she seems to be a happy-go-lucky kind of babe in spite of her current situation. Her real name is "La Calavera Catrina" and is the very recognizable work of a beloved and famous Mexican artist named Jose Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913). His skeletal characters are recognized by every Mexican and will always play a prominent part in Mexican folklore. We've added a couple of his works to our Mexican T-shirts page, along with a few others of incredible majesty, so you should get over there now and buy your fill. Here's a neat picture of Posada standing outside of his printshop:

If the guy only knew!

I'm going to drop it for now but I'll be back real soon with more goofy stuff, I promise! If you really want to get ahead of the curve, however, you really should get over to Going Postal right now and purchase some of the niftiest (and strangest) shirts you'll ever have the pleasure to wear. Do it!

The Responsibilities of a Blogger. . .

2007-11-24T12:13:00.000-07:00

. . . seem to be nonexistent in my case. Jeesh.

Well, for those of you who have never been here before, what do you know about my neglect of this blog anyway?

There, that took care of my guilt. I can now go bravely into the future free of shame and low self-esteem. It's, it's ... almost like a government program!

Ok.

There have been so many new additions to our already incredible line-up of nifty t-shirt designs that what you should really do is just go to the site and see for yourself. To entice you to do that, I'll nail up a few of the highlights here.

Christmas

I have nothing new to say about the holidays but we do have plenty of new and colorful designs to show you how to make the season even more fun. Take a look at our classic designs and dare to put more of that old time joy and schmaltz into your holiday season.

We've added a couple of old time Christmas seals to the collection that you have to enjoy if you have any taste at all. And if you have no taste at all, take our word for it. Look, this one doesn't even say Christmas in it - how modern and timely can you get?!!

There are a few others scattered about the site that need to be added to the list too - our cute little Chinese firecracker Santa, for instance, can be found hiding among the Firecracker Label T-shirts.

Winter Sports Spectacular

For years now we have had a rather wonderful collection of winter sports t-shirts but have never dedicated a page to them. That has changed. We now have expanded our collection and added them all to our Winter Sports T-shirt Department. If you are one of those folks who really comes alive in the winter, you're going to love what we have for you. Check this out:

Now this girl is having fun! And we know that's what girls just wanna do. (Is that Katherine Hepburn, I wonder?) This pretty one is inviting you to New England to share all the good times with her. Of course the subtext to this message is that if you can't get there you can at least wear the tee shirt.

We've added some really nifty old travel posters to the collection as well as the classic postal images. Winter sports, especially the Winter Olympics, have been a perennial favorite subject for postage stamp designers all over the world, even in countries who haven't seen snow since the last ice age. (By the way, weren't we supposed to be in another one of those about now? Seems to me a consensus of scientists said so back in the '70s.)

Oops. Slap me down.

More Exotica Too!

It has come about that the Classic and Exotic categories have become the default dumping grounds for those images that don't yet have a page of their own but I just really need to add to the catalog. One of those sub-categories is the Egyptian. I'm really beginning to collect a lot of nifty Egyptian designs and so far one has ended up in the Classics and one in the Exotics.

The Eye of Horus. As many of you learned in your third grade history classes, Horus was (and may still be) the Egyptian god of the sun and kingship, among other things, and his eye became to be viewed as a very powerful talisman. Well, through the inspiration of several rather amazing dream experiences, it was made known to me that it would be in my best interests to include this powerful symbol among our t-shirt array.

And what if I didn't? Well, I don't feel like going there so don't push it. Just know that this beautiful and powerful t-shirt may get you out of seemingly unwinnable situations as well as get you into to many others that turn out to be extremely favorable. I beg you: don't take it lightly and only wear it when you are up to the task of raising your consciousness to at least another level.

By the way, if you have any extraordinary experiences when wearing this ultra cool shirt, please let me know. I'm putting together a collection of first hand accounts of people's amazing contact with the gods while wearing our t-shirts.

* * * *

I am so relieved that I have finally blogged again! I have so many good intentions of coming back and doing it again soon too. If you've never been here before, you now have two viable options. #1: Scroll down and see more or, #2: just go directly to our amazing web site: Going Postal T-shirts and while away the hours dreaming of what you could be if you could just have a few of our shirts!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

David

You're in the Money!

2007-03-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

The Secret, to realizing your dreams, say some, lies in the power of visualization. If this is true, then it seems that it must be much easier for some folks than for others. Here's a way to make it easy for you: decorate your walls with authentic reproductions of large denomination US banknotes. We've made them legal by printing them at least 50% larger than the real thing, which ends up to your advantage: you can see them from across the room!

Each of these beautiful bills is printed on heavy cover paper and on both sides. Get a set now and plan to retire early! You can see them all on our Money T-shirt page.

Spaced

2007-02-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

Or lost in blackness. So much to report upon and so little time. Maybe I won't report on anything and just invent "stuff". Then again, the news is too good to ignore.

We've gone off the deep end and purchased a machine that lets us print directly to the t-shirts - no screens and no transfers. The really great thing about it is that it can print with a white ink that is opaque enough to allow us to finally print on colored and black shirts. This is a big deal!

We found just the images for our new line of black shirts too: authentic photos from the Hubbell telescope. Like this:

and this:
Pretty cool images for black shirts. Come by and buy many at Going Postal's Space T-shirts.

Please.

Just Breathing Hard

Ok, buckaroos, you're bound to love this shirt:
Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show had been touring Europe in the late 1890's and was finally coming home. To ensure that the show went on and continued cashing in, these posters were pasted up all over the East Coast. There aren't many around now but you'll keep Bill and his gang happy by wearing this t-shirt. To see this and all of our other Show Poster T-shirts, just CLICK HERE!

More Exotica

This image is one of my favorites for a couple of reasons. First, it's a classic of its genre: British Colonials. Almost every stamp printed in every colony of the British Empire included a portrait of the reining monarch, and this of course was no exception with King George VI watching over the boys in the canoe.

The other reason is that I was fortunate to have the opportunity to visit the island country of Kiribati (pronounced keery-bahss) back in the '80's. This is what the Gilbert Islands became after the breaking up of the empire. While there, I got to ride in one of these racing canoes, reputed to be the fastest in the Pacific. I can't dispute or prove that, but it sure left me with fond memories!

It's a beautiful t-shirt too! You can see this and more at our Exotic T-shirt Department!

One more thing!

You probably haven't noticed, but we've changed our URL. Our new one is www.goingpostalt-shirts.com, replacing our old .cc address. There is still a redirect up on the old site that will immediately transport you to the new one. You won't even know it happened!

When T-shirts Ruled the Earth

2006-11-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

Cretaceous Creations

I've wanted to do this for a long time: Dinosaurs!
Finally, thanks to some prompting from an English customer, I've tuned up the old WayBack machine and brought back some fine specimens of exotic pethood. You may not want to keep them as housepets, or even in the back yard if you don't have a kennel, so maybe a t-shirt is the best you should do. The kids, big and small, are going to love these. Go take a look at them now by clicking here: Dinosaur T-shirts.

Remembering Edsel -

Another topic that has long gone ignored has been a line of t-shirts for car driven people. While playing with my cigarette trading cards, I discovered a line of French trading cards done in the '50s adorned with what the French thought were cool chassis. The fact that they chose such beauties as the Edsel, the Fiat 600 and the DeSoto Diplomat is worth contemplating. But they also showed themselves to have a little class by including a '53 Corvette and the Jaguar XK150.

The Fiat 600 shown here came in all kinds of variants during its many years of production, but this is the one I love the most - an honest-to-God cartoon car! Check 'em all out at our new Vintage Trading Card site: Car T-shirts.

In the beginning...

2006-10-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

About a month ago my partner Carollen showed me a little bitty t-shirt just a bit bigger than my outspread hand. The label gave its size as "6 months". Six months!! I didn't know such things existed, yet here it was in front of me. Well, I had to have them. I don't see why little tykes can't have Going Postal T-shirts just like us big tykes. Take a look at a couple of images already selected for this fun new line:
There will be a good collection of images by Tarmo Watia, a well-known Boise artist whose work is often well-suited to childish mentalities (yuk, yuk, Tarmo!) But that's alright, mine is too. Besides Tarmo's work, there is a huge amount of images already posted on Going Postal that is appropriate for the baby tees, especially on the animal page. You may have already visited our new site, Vintage Trading Card T-shirts, and seen all the neat stuff on these old trading cards. While researching them, I also discovered a trove of art that is especially suited for BabyKids t-shirts:

You may not think it appropriate for a t-shirt but there are millions of temporarily miniature humans who do and will gainsay your taste, which is assuredly grown dull and cynical from years of television and politics. Besides, most of them can't read yet so the rather bizarre names for these weird creations won't phase them. Come on, get a life and buy some for all the little tykes you know!

A Shirt for Mr. Pavlov

I made a t-shirt for a racquetball buddy last week and had to find an image that maintained the artistic integrity of Going Postal. I belileve I scored:

I think this shirt's for me at certain times of the day and on the sight of certain female accessories. How about you? (It's not available on the site yet, but will be soon - stay tuned.)

Well, it's about damn time!

2006-09-09T10:31:00.000-07:00

Since Google took over Blogger, I've been having a heckuva time even finding my blog. Suddenly (today) it mysteriously appeared so we're back in business.

Meanwhile, we've been busy! To catch you up, I'll start with the latest news first.

A Site Is Born

I've become so enamored of the art found on old trading cards that I've felt compelled to dedicate an entire site to it: TradingCardT-shirts.com. If you've been to Going Postal lately you'll notice some wonderful examples of this classic vintage art spread throughout the site. If you haven't seen it, don't think "Oh, no, more sports cards!" Even though I'm putting together a page of 100 year old baseball card of Hall of Famers, the variety found on old cigarette trading cards especially, is absolutely incredible. Subjects range from the gods of Egypt, Chinese opera masks, WW1 dirigibles and even dessert pastries! All of them are very colorful and make wonderfully unique and wearable t-shirts. Take a look at my new favorite:

So don't you think it's the coolest thing since....since....since... Ok, then, how about this one:

I'm telling you, we're on to something here. You've got to go see the rest and you'll agree with me. The site is still, shall we say, a minimalist's delight, but you'll see where we're going with this. Come, on take a look: Vintage Trading Card T-shirts. You'll be glad you did. (Think about doing some Christmas shopping too!)

Get Smart!

2006-07-29T17:41:00.000-07:00

If you've been by the site lately you may have noticed some of our new tees. We continue to make Going Postal one of the largest and most varied collection of t-shirts on the Web - how many of you think that it already is?

New tee #1:

(Old-timers may hum the theme to "Secret Agent Man" here for thrilling special effects.)
I love these old covers and this particular one is especially rare. If you've ever longed to be a G-Man, now's your chance to come close by wearing this t-shirt. The bad guys will flee and you'll probably never have to get tough. But you'll be ready. See this and more at our Pulp Magazine T-shirt Rack!

Neat Shirt #2:
For those of the Greek persuasion as well as those who just like Greek stuff, here's a new one. It was the color scheme of this stamp that kept calling me back until finally I decided it would make a great tee, and it has. With a few more close glances, I decided that the lady is really something to look at too. She's an allegorical image of the Greek Republic and, as you can see, she's no fashion slouch. Have you ever seen so many symbols in one outfit?!! You can add all that meaning to your wardrobe in the simplest of ways - just wear this t-shirt. (Click here for more Greek T-shirts)

The Golden Spike -

There's a backyard somewhere in the U.S. that has an exciting new feature: its own narrow gauge railway. One of our newest customers recently purchased a set of our tees depicting the driving of the last spike of the transcontinental railway - the Golden Spike. Curiosity got the better of me, which it usually does, and I asked the customer what gives. Well, they're going to have a party celebrating their "last spike" too, and wanted the whole family to have Going Postal t-shirts to commemorate the even. What a great idea!

(The Tee)
Good luck to the backyard engineers!

If you have a thing for riding the rails, pull into our Train T-shirt station and outfit yourself now.

Too Good to Live Without

2006-06-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

Is this a new low or a new high in t-shirts? The image is from a poster announcing a comedy that had to have been very popular when it was staged back in 1909. Could you have resisted paying a quarter to see what the heck this was all about? Well, I would have paid my two bits for sure. Although when I stop to think about it, a little flatfoot Irish cop running across this guy's tongue might have been a bit too much to expect.

It only took me two days after discovering this wondrous piece of art before I made myself a tank top with it and the first time I wore it I discovered promptly that I'd better not expect to be taken seriously. Would you wear it? Can you wear it? I double dog dare you! Buy many of them right now at our Show Poster T-shirts page. I recommend one for everyone in your family unit to be worn for your next group photo.

Sometimes the Government Gets it Right

Our second item on the menu of irresistible t-shirts is a WPA poster of 1937. Can you believe that the government actually printed and posted these things around the country?!! I wish they'd consider doing it again, maybe in billboard size on all our highways. You'll notice that it's not marketing any product or service or even propagandizing a branch of the government. No, it's simply trying to coax a smile out of a bunch of citizens that had been living through the worst depression in America's history. The Works Projects Administration (WPA) kept a lot of artists alive and working by commissioning this type of stuff and for my money there are few more noble ways to spend tax revenue. So here's your chance to help everyone you know keep their funny side up during these weird times we live in simply by wearing a t-shirt. Do it - it's good karma. (Find it at our Propaganda T-shirts page.)

Extra! Extra! Read all about Going Postal T-shirts!!

It's about time we got some recognition in our own hometown and we finally did. Our local weekly ran a cool story about us this week and if you ever wanted to know more about us (and me), just click on over to Thrive Magazine and take a look

Make a Statement

Ever feel that you work in a zoo? Or maybe there's a certain chaos in your home life that reminds you of the primate section? We have the perfect t-shirt for when you're ready to make a subtle (yet polite) comment:
This amazingly strong and graphic image was also a product of the WPA's funding in 1937. I know there are a lot of elephant lovers out there that will love this shirt and I know you know someone who would really appreciate it. Would it make a great Fathers' Day gift or what? As a matter of fact, Going Postal is filled with wonderful gifts for your dad - tees that are about as unique as any you'll ever see. Don't hesitate - come visit us now! (And remember, buy three or more shirts and you get free shipping!)

Oh, yes; Visit the Zoo is available at our Animal T-shirts page. Where else?!

All the News that Fits

2006-04-14T12:40:00.000-07:00

We've just added an exciting new shirt to the line up (actually, several new ones) that takes a somewhat pugnacious attitude. It's simply called "Liberty" and is a photo of a steel sculpture produced by Boise artist Irene Deely (aka "Woman of Steel") shortly after 9/11. Irene has already made lots of tees with it but has decided to let us give it a shot as well. It will be available in several colors (the design, not the shirts) and is up and ready at our 9/11 Heroes pages. Take a look: Lady Liberty Kicks Booty

Dogs of Yesteryear
We've also added a couple of other new shirts for poochophiles. We found these in a collection of old cigarette trading cards from the late 1800's and really liked them.
and You have to like these two guys!
To purchase multiple shirts with these old pups, go to our Dog T-shirt page.

Original Artwork Censored by Going Postal!
(Headline from the New York Times)
April 17, 2006, Boise Idaho - It was leaked today by unnamed Pentagon sources that the well known avant-gard cum retro t-shirt company Going Postal has knowlingly doctored original artwork in order to, in their words, "make them less disgusting and offensive". The revelation was made to second year journalism students now posing for this paper as top-flight reporters. They also discovered, after reading Going Postal's blog, that the swastika had been removed from the tail section of a Lufthansa airliner depicted in a '30's luggage label. In its place was left nothing but an inoffensive swatch of red. It is believed that the ACLU is contemplating a suit against the company for denying the 1st Amendment guaranteed right of free speech to dead Nazis. Going Postal hasn't returned telephone calls from The Times, which could, of course, indicate culpability. Nor did the dead Nazis comment on the possible suit, although their heirs have reportedly been seeing investment counselors.

Illustrated here are the ":before" and after shots" of the offending image:

Before

After

Better?
------------
Well, what can I say? I've been nabbed red-handed. Am I guilty of political correctness? If so, it will be a first.
(To see the image in question, visit our Aviation T-shirts page and decide for yourself.)

Woof Cookies

2006-03-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

The dogs have finally come home and to celebrate we've put up our long promised Doggy T-shirt page. If you enjoy people of the canine persuasion, you should definitely take a look at it. Don't be too disappointed if you don't see your pup represented here, there must be thousands of postage stamps with dogs on them so there is ample room to expand. Just give me a shout and I'll do what I can about it. Chihuahuas and wiener dogs may take a little longer.

This one is an old Japanese issue featuring what else? the akita. If you want to announce your dog's breed to the world, one of our t-shirts is a cool way to do it. Check 'em out!

The Captain is Back!

We've found another exciting issue of Captain Future, that fearless hero of old who saved the world again and again so we could all enjoy the wonders of the new age, like rock 'n roll, thin crust pizza and perfumed tp. This time he's up to something strange with his girl friend but if she trusts him, then we certainly can. (Even so, I'd have my doubts about getting locked up in that strange metal capsule that so resembles a . . . . well, you know.

So what are you waiting for? Get on over to our Pulp Magazine T-shirt Page and buy several of these new shirts right now. You've never been there?!! Jeesh! You're going to be amazed!

Fight Cancer

2006-02-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

You've not been around in this world very long if you haven't had someone close to you die of cancer. In almost every case that I've been personally involved with, it is one of the most demoralizing, agonizing and painful deaths of all the common diseases. Usually, besides giving money to research and moral support to those who are suffering from it, there is very little else we seem to be able to do.

When I ran across this striking image not long ago I knew I had to make a t-shirt of it for myself. It seems to have been the right thing to do because others have asked for one as well, and so we have a new addition to the line. It is a WPA poster from the late '30's, but the dramatic and courageous image will probably be one that touches people for a long time to come - timeless, in other words.

If you would like one for yourself, they are available at a discounted price HERE.

Finlandia -

We've added three new cool and classy Scandinavian t-shirts, all of the Finn persuasion. I didn't realize until I had put them up that they all featured the Finn lion, too. (Oh, the powers of observation.) You don't have to be a Finn to like them but I'm sure if you are you'll really appreciate them. Here's one now:
This one is actually one of the first stamps issued after the Finn's independence from Russia in 1917. The magnanimous gesture of liberation by Lenin was of course all wrapped up in the rhetoric of solidarity and brotherhood, but the Russians well knew that Finland was more than capable of taking advantage of the turmoil of the Revolution and yanking itself free anyway. A war in the north was the last thing the Bolsheviks needed or wanted, particularly given the fierceness of the Finns, who would have easily had their way, so giving them independence was a pragmatic thing to do. They could always be stomped upon later (which they were). Check out the other two new shirts by clicking HERE.

Next Up: Doggie t-shirts! Yay!

Ruff Times

2006-02-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right, the Year of the Pooch is about to scratch at the door.

One of the good things about a "multi-cultural" society is that we get to celebrate (and market) a lot more cool holidays and events. Chinese New Year is definitely one of them. We've already dedicated t-shirt lines to the Rooster and Monkey so to uphold this young tradition, go visit our Year of the Dog Page. Here's a sample:
This page is the forerunner of one I've wanted to do for some time: Dog T-shirts. There are a zillion nifty dog stamps from all over the world that are going to make cool t-shirts. Just you wait and see.

Long Time No Blog

2006-01-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

I apologize to my reader - the holiday season will do this to me sometimes. But I 'm up and at 'em again with enough new items to fulfill your minimum lifetime requirements. Strategic international galactic expansion of Going Postal has had to take back seat for a while awaiting the accomplishment of ever so important engineering feats of legerdemain. To wit: I converted all my product pages to Active Server Pages. Why? So the affiliate partner program built into my shopping cart would work, that's why. This is may be important to YOU, so listen up.

Hey Kids! Earn Money in Your Spare Time!

One of our goals here this year is to spread the wealth by launching an affiliate program. If you have a website, you can now earn a few bucks here and there directing customers to Going Postal. For every sale made to people coming from your site, you will receive 20% of the total amount purchased. If you're interested, e-mail me for more information. It doesn't take much to set up and after that it's passive income. Sleep on it or ask your financial advisor - you can't lose. (You can even do it through your e-mails; just add a linked signature at the bottom!)

THE LOGOS -

Yes, we've gone back to dog-head and come up with a new logo. Check it out:

We'll start incorporating it into the everyday life of millions of Americans soon. We will also feature it on a t-shirt so you don't have to wear any more of those cliche polo ponies or alligators anymore.

PROUD TO ANNOUNCE:

We've just launched a new line of really quite beautiful and unique t-shirts. These designs have been created by the other-worldy science fiction artist Jean Paul and you will find them exclusively here at Going Postal. Here's one of my favorites:

(Kroep) I love the intensity of the blues in this. And don't ask me what it means, I have enough trouble getting out of bed in the morning. JeanPaul can tell you however. Check out the shirts here: JeanPaul T-shirts and then check out his website at: www.kq77.com.

_______

Now really, isn't that enough for now? I'll be back soon with more, I promise. Don't forget to become an affiliate now!

Between the Poles

2005-11-18T12:03:00.000-07:00

I continue my efforts to regain Going Postal's eminence in the Google rankings but the results so far have been a mixed bag. Our homepage continues buried on the 17th page or thereabouts but most of the other pages (with a few distressing exceptions) are either on the first page for their keywords or responding well to my ministrations. One of those exceptions is our Christmas t-shirts page which I would really like to be pulling its weight about now. It's doing well with the key phrase "christmas tee shirts" but when I search for "christmas t-shirts" it's nowhere to be found. It's a shame too since we do have a pretty impressive collection of holiday tees.

This recent Google update (called the "Jagger" update) couldn't have come at a worse time for us. We are like most other retail businesses - the holiday season is extremely important to our bottom line and our sales so far this year are pretty dismal. Bitch moan groan.

Better News Department - I whipped together a new page that I had been thinking about for some time, dedicated to Polish T-shirts. I really like the images on Polish postage stamps, especially the older ones. The irony is that just 24 hours after having launched the page, it has made it to the second page on Google, and that's with hardly any internal linkage. Go figure.

Like most western countries, the eagle as icon and motif has a strong tradition in Poland so the polish Eagle now adorns our t-shirts:
It looks great on a tee whether you're a Pole or not. And here's one that music lovers should like: Printed on an Ash or light brown shirt it has a real feel of a woodcut and is pretty impressive. To see the rest of our Polish t-shirts, just Click Here.

Eggs in a Basket

2005-10-31T09:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I seemed to have put all of mine in one: Google. A couple of weeks ago nearly all of Going Postal's pages were relegated to Google's boneyard. I discovered this when suddenly both the hits and the orders stopped on a dime (my dime, too) and the business took a huge nose dive. Bummer.

So what did I do first? Well, panic, naturally. This business is my livelihood and to see it evaporate, poof, just like that, was more than a trifle disconcerting. I'm not going to dwell on this too much, even though by this date not much has improved. The upside is that I did jump into all of my pages to see how they could be cleaned up and improved and I found plenty to work on. It's a monumental task however, and will take a good amount of time. There are no assurances that what I'm doing will bring back the traffic from Google but it will result in a better website and I am looking to find more sources of good traffic. I'd appreciate any tips!

My other half, Carollen, has caught the Going Postal fever and is going to open up a "t-shirt gallery" in downtown Boise. This may be a great thing considering the crash of the website. Actually, it is a good thing and has given me plenty more to do besides the website triage. She needs signage, of course, so I figured it would be a good time to bring out my artist gear and work on some new designs. I'm a little rusty but I think my first one has potential and shows a lot of deep inner angst, something I didn't know I had:
I think I may frame it. Or better yet, it just might make a wonderful t-shirt. What do you think?
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Newly Discovered Friends Department

I enjoy checking the traffic log from time to time to see where the hits are coming from. Occasionally I get a nice surprise: someone who links to me without my requesting it. Here's one of them now: Ogre & Company , a site dedicated to screen printers specifically and t-shirts generally. If either is of interest to you, please visit them. I've placed their blog's URL to the right.

If you link to us, please let me know. I'll certainly return the favor.

And now it's time to return to the Holy Grail of High Google Ranking. Wish me luck. - David

Zeppity Doo Dah

2005-10-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

I added a new image this week, thanks to a special order from a customer. It's the Graf Zeppelin stamp from way back in the 1930s. It belongs to a classically beautiful series of stamps that commemorated the first transatlantic/PanAmerican flight of a Graf Zeppelin. You probably didn't read much about it in your history books, but back in the 20's and 30's, the Zeppelin was all the rage, not only in Germany and the U.S., but all over the world. Something like a "Zeppelin Mania" had taken over and people couldn't get enough of them.

They truly were amazing pieces of engineering - great silvery cigars floating around the world, their passengers traveling in style and luxury at up to 80 mph. You can order the shirt for all your uncles by visiting our Aviation T-shirts page.

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For some time I've been not-too-actively searching for a service that turns your art or photos into actual US Postal Service approved postage stamps. I found it the other night and promptly designed my own stamp: This view of the Little Dunes at Death Valley was the most available image at the time but I think it works neat! You can buy a sheet of 20 of these stamps or make one from your own artwork for just $16.99. For special promotions, special event invitations or just for the heck of it, they're neat way to show off your art. You can find their website here: ZAZZLE .
You can also put your own work up in a gallery and earn a small cut if anyone should happen to buy it - check it out.

The Western Front and a Pluma in Our Gorrito

2005-10-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Over the past year I have steadily reformatted the product pages of Going Postal to what I think is a much superior way of doing things compared to the old way. Which isn't saying much, I guess. One of the few remaining pages to undergo the face lift was the Western t-shirt page. Now when you visit that page, which you will of course do by clicking HERE NOW! , you will see quite a number of new shirts, all displayed in a way similar to most of the other pages. When doing this, I realized that I had quite a few designs in other categories that belonged here, especially the western pulp magazines. I love these things and they're catching on with the customers too. Being a fan of .44s, this one is one I particularly like (maybe it would make a nifty night shirt): By the way, what exactly is a night shirt? Maybe just a big t-shirt that you're comfortable sleeping in? I don't know but maybe there's a new product line there. Baby Dolls for guys.

I'm not going there. Speaking of .44's, that's what this guy is using: to save his skin:

Ok, let's get a little more environmentally friendly. How about this one:

You can't get to much more Western than this and stay in North America.

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Next, here's the scoop on the feather in our cap as mentioned in our headline. Going Postal just received a great review from a design review firm in Singapore and because anybody who scratches our back is going to get the same treatment, you should check it and them out at Bigperk.com. They've got lots of fun cutting edge stuff there. You're bound to see something that works for you.

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In fifteen seconds, it will be time to start your holiday shopping, and you know exactly where to start!

T-shirtskies

2005-09-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

I hate it when I say things like that (see above), but I just can't help meself, OK?

The latest addition to the ever-growing and marvelous collection of t-shirts we are so proud of is a line of Russian themes. I've always been a fan of Russian postage stamps, even though most of them (by default) were issued by the dirty rotten commies. They all carried with them a distinctly Russian predilection for drama and the classic, particularly the older ones. So far, I've only produced a few designs from Soviet times so all of the rest are quite old, dating back at least 100 years to the times of the last Czars (or Tsars, if you're really into tees). Look at this one, for instance:

. This 3 Ruble 50 Kopeck masterpiece would have spruced up a credit card solicitation in your mailbox, wouldn't it? Well, it works well on a t-shirt too. You should definitely have one.

My favorite so far is this portrait of Ilya Murometz, a famous Russian hero that you'll have to visit the site to learn more about. I've got him on both a tank top and a tee for myself.

You can click on the images to see the rest or simply click here: Russian T-Shirts

Stay tuned and thanks for the visit - David

Getting there from here

2005-09-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

I've managed to do a little work on the photography section of the site so I feel better about posting a link to some of the new photos: Moscow . This will get you to the new stuff, like this: These were a couple of old helmets in the Kremlin Museum that in the form of the original photo were a little boring (unless of course, you're into such things). So I fooled around a little with them. I thought the eyes were a fun touch, though perhaps a bit trite.

All I've been able to do so far are the Moscow photos, probably the least interesting of all of them. By the time I got to St. Petersburg, I was in my stride and produced a ton more. I have no idea when those will be ready - things are getting busy for Going Postal and I've got jury duty as well this week. Stay tuned.

Speaking of Going Postal, you can CLICK HERE to see the new line of Russian T-shirts.

Never Give Up

2005-09-12T14:57:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I've been able to add (or felt like adding) to the blog and I apologize to my legions of fans. It's not that nothing has happened worth writing about, on the contrary, there is plenty to report. And that is one of the reasons - my cup of things to do runs over but the cup of time to do them in has a big leak.

The big news was a two week cruise between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Moscow blew me away as did St. Petersburg, and the hundreds of miles cruising on the Volga waterway was an experience the likes of which I've never had. I was immensely relieved to realize that, as usual, the dire reports we receive from our honorable press regarding the new Russia are very misleading, to say the least. Or course the country has its problems, but generally things are looking a lot better than I would have ever imagined.

For the first time I traveled with a digital Nikon instead of the old and trusty Canon F-1 I've used for years, loaded with roll after roll of transparency film. Not hassling the x-ray screenings of a hundred rolls of film was quite a relief, as was simplifying the amount of equipment I carried. Instead of those several lead-lined bags of film I carried a couple of flash cards that together probably weighed less that a silver dollar. What a luxury!
The famous St. Basil's Cathedral on Moscow's Red square

I have been "practicing" with this camera for two years now but was still concerned about whether I knew enough to produce equal results with it. "Suffering" with only one lens instead of the normal seven required a new discipline, even though the lens is an excellent 28 to 200mm Nikor. I did miss the very wide angles, particularly with all the beautiful architecture. Nonetheless, I'm pleased with the results and will probably not shoot film again.
This image was shot from the middle of the Volga at dawn (on my birthday). Scenes like this were not rare as we passed through hundreds of miles of Russian woods and back country. Awakening to the misty dawn on the Volga was one of my most memorable birthdays.

So, to further excuse myself, I've had plenty of work to catch up on with both Going Postal and the photography. I'll be posting the Russian photographs on the site and when I finally make some progress at it, I'll post a notice here. You may have noticed there is now a Russian T-shirt category. More on that with the next post.

Texans Wear T-shirts Too -

2005-07-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well, you all had your chance to get a cheap flag t-shirt for the fourth of July, and once more you blew it. Oh, well. They're still there, of course, but the Big July 4th Sale is history. Until I drag it out again next year.

Meanwhile, I decided that we needed a page dedicated to the great state of Texas. We have a bunch of customers down there and I know they'll appreciate them. Actually, anyone with an eye for great cover art and postcards will also get a kick out of them. A local antique shop was selling a bunch of old Texas Ranger magazines from the late '40's and early '50's which I couldn't resist: Hey, here's one now: This Jim Hatfield character seems to be on all the covers of the magazine and for good reason. Each and every issue apparently carried an exciting (though not always well-written) story of his exploits, and the poor sucker would usually get beat, stomped, shot and left for dead before the tale finally ended in his inevitable triumph over those mean hombres that made early Texas life so risky. Drop by our Texas T-shirt page and say howdy!

Look! Up in the Sky! It's a bird! It's a plane!

2005-06-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

No! It's a t-shirt!

I just finished the labors required to add five new and very spiffy images to our Aviation T-shirts collection and they are really cool. I've found a few very old cigarette trading cards from the '30's, so if you're into beautiful retro images, you'll love these. Here's a sample:
I'm having fun making beautiful t-shirts out of these things so you'd better appreciate what a great opportunity you have here. I've even scrounged up an old Lufthansa luggage label that is about as quaint as a luggage label can be:

If you're into aeromobiles, you'll love these new additions to a collection that was already pretty darn spiffy to start with. Go see now, please.

Flag Waving

2005-06-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

The season for flag waving is upon us - so perhaps for just one day we can agree to drop everything else, pick up the Stars and Stripes, and wave them around a bit on the 4th of July. It doesn't hurt to be patriotic at least one time a year; who knows, you might set a good example for the recently arrived immigrants that just moved in next door to you. Let them know that being a citizen of this country is a good (and big) deal and a wonderful thing to aspire to. Let them know too that if they really want to become an American you will help them. Otherwise, maybe they can just agree to be nice before they go home. Maybe too you can recommend a good book on American history to them. You do know your own history, don't you? Whether you do or not, here's one I'll recommend to you and your new neighbors: "1776", by David Mccullough. Your book report will be due a week from Monday.

So back to waving the flag. We have a July 4 Sale going on, just like those furniture stores that advertise on the local TV channels. Except we don't offer terms like "No interest until 2010!", just $2.00 off the regular price. We dug up some interesting new flags for it too. Here's one I'll bet you've never seen: .In 1775, the Colonial ships cruising Massachusetts Bay needed an ensign that each other could recognize as a "friendly". This is the one they chose, and for that reason it's called the "Washington's Cruisers Flag". (I hope no one is offended by the reference to "heaven"; we must remember that the Founding Fathers were nowhere as enlightened as the ACLU or the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.) [Ed note: can you imagine the latter founding a country?!!)

You can see all of our neat (and rare) flag t-shirts by clicking HERE.

Other, More Mundane, News

Over there on the right side of your screen and up a bit, you'll see a button that says "BLINGO". Besides adding an accent of color to the page, this is just another way to search using Google. The results for your search are exactly the same as you would get from Google, because it is Google they use. The difference is that every so often your number will come up and you win a nifty prize, like an Ipod, whatever that is. Why not try it?

By the way, for you newbies to the world, the name Google is nothing new. Google the name "Barney Google" and you'll see what I mean. Your grandparents, or perhaps parents, grew up reading the adventures of Barney Google in the comic strips.

More Exciting News

I'm getting more and more hooked on postcards and have a bunch of new t-shirts of that genre to post. This attention grabbing t-shirt should help you strike up a conversation or two. I think I'll put it in the "Air Mail T-shirts" department too, for all the aviatrices out there. (I've been trying to insert that word into my conversation for a long time.)

That's it for now. Until the muse decides to give me some time for another post, Hasta Entonces!