When Jon and I were up in Boston last month, my friend Ali told me about The Old Try, a small letterpress print business run by two married southerns stuck in Yankee town. Two years ago the couple found themselves missing the South. To reconnect, they created posters using old machines with moveable type to create slogans including manners learned from mama, country song lyrics, nods to southern history, and more. And, by golly, what began as a hobby for the Whitsons has turned into real business.
I checked out the website following our trip and I, too, found myself charmed by the prints. But I'm no Georgia peach, see. Though I grew up in the fine, border state of Maryland, I consider myself a Yank through and through. Before I married a Virginian and settled across the Potomac, I loved living in Boston and New York, after all. And though I believe in chivalry as much I do in God and country, and though it's certainly college over pro ball in our house, I'll pick sun over sweet tea every time and you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be a drop of blue in this sea of red come November.
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| credit: The Old Try |
Perhaps that's why I settled on The Line,
which prints the coordinates set in 1763 by Mason and Dixon in plain
black and white. It's a reminder of both where I am and where I'm from. Last night we hung the poster in the dog room and I really, really like it. So does Jon. And I think Bogie does, too. Thank you, The Old Try.
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