Moonshine, ya say?!
A big part of Made In West Virginia is to provide "non-tradtional" t-shirts and avoid the ridiculous stereotypes that most places associate with us. We set out to make shirts with interesting designs celebrating the history, culture, and bright future of our beloved Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.
...Then we went and made a West Virginia Moonshine shirt.
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Moonshining and Moonshine in West Virginia is not a stereotype or a slight, it's a stone-cold fact! One that we're very proud of. We've been making alcohol (as has pretty much everyone else) in these hills since and before that glorious day on June 20, 1863 when we broke off from those jokers in plain-old-Virginia. Not only have we been making it, but we've been making it better than most. WV's Moonshine, White Lightin', Rocket Fuel, whatever you want to call it, has always had a reputation for being superior to other mason jars full of Mountain Dew. Where do you think the "Mountain" part came from? On top of that, we still do it. Right now, today. We personally have family and friends (and you probably do to if you hail from the Mountain State) that are carrying on the tradition handed down from our forebears, of distilling quality, powerful, paint-stripping Moonshine. We could call those guys up and have a jar of shine, or a bottle of homemade wine easy as snapping your fingers. |
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To us, that's just one more of the magical things about WV. When we have friends come in from out of town and we pull out that mason jar, the room gets quiet and the eyes get big and glassy. A hush rolls through everyone in awe, anticipation and a little pinch of fear. "Oh man, I didn't know you could still get this stuff!" It's a moment that you get when you're partaking of something truly special, something one-of-a-kind.
It speaks of our history, as outsiders, as rebels, as outlawas and of one of the most individualistic of peoples in this nation. This is ours, this is a special thing that we do... but we couldn't be quicker or happier to pass that jar to our friends near and far and let them see what all the fuss is about. |
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Yes you can get "moonshine" at your local liquor emporium, but that stuff is mass-produced watered-down, sugar flavored garbage. Hence the "Hills & Stills, Absolutely Not Available In Stores" running along the banner at the bottom of our art. So while this design revels in our love of all things good-timin', of high-test, high quality shine, of a lineage of a craft that's been built over the last couple hundred years, we're proud to have made our West Virginia Moonshine Shirt, and we hope you like it as much as we do.
For a little more perspective and history on our Moonshining outlaw ways, here's a good place to start.