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On Minnesota and the North February 18 2015

Dear Minnesota,

It has come to our attention that you are considering a change. You no longer feel connected to the states that you have been lumped in with in this region we call the Midwest. What do you possibly have in common with Ohio and Indiana and Illinois? You are thinking about breaking off on your own, to forge a new path and establish a new region, the North.

You are different. You are the North. You speak a little differently, drawing out your vowels and peppering conversation with the occasional "dontcha know". You have more wheat fields than corn fields. Your forests are full of pine trees and stay green all year long, unlike our deciduous trees that lose their leaves at the first hint of winter. Your moose make our deer look wimpy.

You are the same. You are the Midwest. You are humble. You do not brag and you do not disparage. You welcome visitors with open arms and kind smiles. You know what it is like to be ignored.

You are different but you are the same. Your hotdish is our casserole. Minnesota Nice is Hoosier Hospitality. We all enjoy a Friday night fish fry. We all prefer lakes to oceans, walleye to snapper. We all attend the state fair and eat too much fried food. 

Minnesota, you are the North and you are the Midwest. They are not mutually exclusive. Now is not the time to break away from your brethren. Now is the time to embrace what we have in common and to celebrate the foibles that make each little area of our mishmashed region unique. Now is the time to show those in the rest of the country that they should fly over us at their own loss. Minnesota, you can be the North, but you can also be the Midwest.

Love,

The Midwest


2014-15 Campus Rep Application August 22 2014

As we head into the second school year of our existence we're looking for Campus Reps to promote Flyover Press on college campuses across the country. You will be representing our brand around campus, selling products, identifying and/or building relationships with stores, sponsoring events or parties, and generally promoting the brand. In return, you will receive some free items and discounts on others, plus gain valuable career experience working with an apparel startup. We also have a commission plan in place for high volume orders to stores, fraternities/sororities, etc, so that you can earn some extra cash for all your hard work.

Sound like a good time (trust us it will be)? You can access the application by using the link below or emailing nick@shopflyoverpress.com.

 

Download Campus Rep Application


Gateway to the West February 18 2014

Like Lewis & Clark, we're heading West, adding our newest state to the print lineup, Missouri. The print we release is up to you. We have five print ideas we really love but can only pick one for now. Read a bit about the inspiration for each print below and then head to our Facebook page to vote on your favorite design and whichever ends up with the most likes by next Wednesday (February 26) is the one we'll make.

 

Frothy Eloquence

Back in 1899, Congressman Willard Vandiver uttered the epic words, "I come from a country that raises corn and cotton, cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I'm from Missouri, and you have got to show me." Thus the Show Me State was born.

Tom Sawyer

Tom Sawyer called the fictional town of St. Petersburg, Missouri, his home. Think back to reading the novel in school and you'll probably remember how Tom convinces his friends to pay him to whitewash a picket fence. That crafty Tom. This is our take on the classic scene, the state of Missouri still waiting for Tom to convince one more lucky boy to finish whitewashing it.

Show Me

Another take on the state's unofficial nickname, done up in the colors of the state flag. We went with a flowing, brush script to symbolize the athletic feats accomplished at the Show-Me State Games.

Redbirds

You might not see them as often anymore, since most baseball players look like they're wearing pajama pants, but when the home team hikes up their pants along the Mississippi River, you'll catch a sight of the best looking socks in all of baseball (this coming from a Cubs fan!). This print is a play off those socks (and we think it's pretty cool the stripes look a lot like those on the St. Louis flag, symbolizing the state's two major rivers).

STL

St. Louis happens to have one of the best looking city flags in the country. Two blue lines meeting to represent the confluence of the MIssissippi and the Missouri. A fleur-de-lis to symbolize French influence. Heck, they should probably consider adopting it as the flag for the whole state.


Origin Stories: Indiana Nights January 08 2014

The Indiana Nights print joined the M-26 print as our two latest letterpress prints to be released. The Indiana Nights print holds a special place in my heart as I am a native Hoosier and spent the first 24 years of my life living in the Crossroads of America before moving to Michigan. There isn't a day that goes by without me missing my Indiana home, even if I'm only two miles away.

The Indiana Nights print was born from some of my all-time favorite lyrics. "But she grew up tall and she grew up right, with them Indiana boys on them Indiana nights." It's a line any native Hoosier knows by heart. It's not often you hear lyrics about Indiana, or much of the Midwest for that matter. So when Tom Petty sang those words on "Mary Jane's Last Dance" I was instantly hooked. 

On a side note, my exposure to "Mary Jane's Last Dance" was by complete opposite. When the Red Hot Chili Peppers released Stadium Arcadium back in 2006, I was hooked on "Dani California" (another song that mentions Indiana!). There was some minor controversy that the song had plagiarized "Mary Jane's Last Dance" so I had to investigate for myself. What I found was an amazing song that quickly became one of the most played songs on my iPod.

A key portion of those lyrics, "Indiana nights", ties in perfectly with an interpretation of the Indiana state flag. The nineteen stars from the flag were rearranged to mimic the night sky. The largest star, placed above the torch on the flag and representative of Indiana, was placed directly in the center. The blue background was darkened to a deep navy better reflecting the night sky. 

"Indiana Nights" was done in a tall, thin font. This is important for two reasons. Indiana itself is a tall, thin state, more long than wide. And Indiana was also the childhood home of Abraham Lincoln, a tall man himself.

For me Indiana nights mean Fridays on a football field. They mean four friends cracking open their first beers together the summer after graduation. They mean late night drives home from a girlfriend's house who would later become a wife. They mean 2 AM Qdoba breakfast burrito runs in college. They have been a time to reflect, to be with only my thoughts and the beauty of a star-filled sky. They have been a time to build stronger relationships with friends. They have produced some of my fondest memories and maybe that's why I miss them so much.

So that's the story of the Indiana Nights print. I'd love to know what Indiana nights mean to you. Let me know on Twitter and Facebook.

-Nick


Origin Stories: M-26 November 25 2013

We just recently released our M-26 print, the first Michigan-specific print in our collection, and it's one of my favorite prints that we've done for a few reasons, chief among them that we actually put real Michigan asphalt in the ink. More on that later. But how did the M-26 print come to be? 

I grew up in Indiana and our state highway signs were pretty blah. White rectangle, Indiana in a pretty basic font up top, large route number below. I assumed state highway signs were pretty standard across the board, like interstate and US highway signs. But then I started dating my future wife, who lived across the state line in Michigan and discovered there was a whole world beyond the plain white rectangles I was used to. 

These signs were different, black squares with rounded corners, a white diamond in the middle. No need to write out Michigan, just a handsome block M at the top. And they didn't call these roads State Road like we did south of the border. No, it was M-40 and M-51 and M-60. Nice, succinct, and memorable.

So when I wanted to create a Michigan-specific print, the state highway sign seemed like the perfect place to start. I mean, what's on the complete opposite end of the spectrum from flying over? You won't see state highway signs from an airplane. But what number should grace the sign?

M-22 was a worthy competitor, practically a symbol of the entire region around Traverse City. The views as it winds through Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore are sights to behold. M-185, the eight mile road around Mackinac Island accessible to only bicycles and horses, came to mind as well. So did M-1, "Detroit's Main Street". But in the end I wanted something that represented the state as a whole.

Sure, M-26 is a real road running from Houghton to Copper Harbor in the UP. But that's not why I chose it. Rather, the 26 represents Michigan's admission to the Union as the 26th state. By happy accident, it's also the reverse of the highway only a mile from our headquarters.

Now back to that whole asphalt in the ink thing. I wanted to include a little bit of Michigan in the print so a piece of home was always nearby, no matter how far away from the Great Lakes State the print got. I talked to our printer and told him my crazy idea. He thought about it for a minute and then replied that if I could get the asphalt ground up to a sandlike consistency it might just work. 

I went for a run and spotted a small piece of asphalt that had chipped off the road just down the street from headquarters. I picked it up and brought it home with me, then set about grinding it with an improvised pestle. I sent it off to Connecticut, the printer approved the consistency and gave it a trial run. Things went smoothly and the rest is history.

So that's the story of the M-26 print. Available in traditional black as well as Spartan Green and Wolverine Blue, it's an iconic piece of Michigan that I'm looking forward to sending all across the state and country.

- Nick


Midwest's Best: Pumpkin Beers September 24 2013

In our Midwest's Best series, we'll run down some of our favorite things in certain categories from across the Midwest. For today's post we start with a rundown of our founder's favorite Midwestern pumpkin beers. 

Pumpkin beer season is one I look forward to every single year. Every year it seems like the number of pumpkin beers expands, so it's helpful to have a guide to navigating the style, avoiding the bad and sticking with the good. In order, here are my five favorite pumpkin beers brewed in the Midwest.

5. Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela No. 1 Pumpkin Ale

The running joke for awhile was that Dexter, Michigan's Jolly Pumpkin, despite its name, did not brew a pumpkin beer. That changed when it released La Parcela and the world is better for it. It's a definite Jolly Pumpkin take on the style, blending the pumpkin, spices and hint of cocoa with the brewery's signature sour style and resulting in a distinctly different pumpkin beer.

4. Hoppin' Frog Frog's Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale

This Ohio brew comes in 22 oz. bottles and packs a wallop at 8.4% ABV.  You’ll have to be weary of the high alcohol content because this is a very good tasting beer that mixes pumpkin pie flavors with the warming quality of the high alcohol content. That combination makes it perfect for the crisp fall nights.

3. Lakefront Pumpkin Lager

Last year my father-in-law returned from a trip to Milwaukee with an entire case of Lakefront Pumpkin Lager. In late July. I drank almost literally nothing but Lakefront Pumpkin for weeks. In late summer. Still, I never tired of it and it's not too often you see a pumpkin lager. Extremely easy-drinking, it's the perfect pumpkin choice when the weather's still a bit warm outside.

2. Tyranena Painted Ladies Pumpkin Spice Ale

Wisconsin's Tyranena makes a top notch pumpkin ale that's full of pumpkin taste balanced out by pumpkin pie spices.  It's crisp and refreshing with just the right amount of carbonation.

1. Schlafly Pumpkin Ale

This is the pumpkin spice latte equivalent in the pumpkin beer world. It's the beer everyone should be going crazy for once late August hits. Hands down the one beer I reach for every fall. It's an immaculate blend of pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices that tastes like liquid pumpkin pie. When you do find this St. Louis brew, stock up because it goes quickly.


Where the Dreamy Wabash River Wanders On August 23 2013



2013-2014 Campus Rep Applications July 22 2013

As we head into the first school year of our existence we're looking for Campus Reps to promote Flyover Press on college campuses across the country. You will be representing our brand around campus, selling products, identifying and/or building relationships with stores, sponsoring events or parties, and generally promoting the brand. In return, you will receive some free items and discounts on others, plus gain valuable career experience working with an apparel startup. We also have a commission plan in place for high volume orders to stores, fraternities/sororities, etc, so that you can earn some extra cash for all your hard work.

Sound like a good time (trust us it will be)? You can access the application by using the link below or emailing nick@shopflyoverpress.com.

 

Download Campus Rep Application


With a Little Help From Our Friends April 22 2013

We want to thank everyone who helped spread the word about our Indiegogo campaign and everyone who contributed to our mission. With your help we not only met but exceeded our goal. That means three prints and a t-shirt will be joining the koozies on the site in the next couple weeks and we're already on the fast track to launching more products soon. We can't wait to help you show your pride in the Midwest.

Cheers from the land we love the best,

Nick

Founder