T-shirts from the Copy Cat City
October 13, 2009 
6 Comments
When I first spotted this garment in an attempt to find a picture of the Boo Radley’s “Can” T-shirt, I wondered if someone had picked up on my idea to create a Spokane Alumni Society. It would be a fun way to network former residents and enlist them as civic ambassadors and business connections between Spokane and the wider world. But no, this innocent little shirt signified something much more sinister…
There is another Spokane in this country. And it is pronounced “Spo-Cain.”
Spokane, Missouri has a population of 133, and was named after Yours Truly. After reading about the demographics of the people who live in Spokane, one can’t help but imagine it looking something like this scene out of Big Fish:
The only picture we could find wasn’t too far off just that, barring a new coat of paint. If any of you history buffs out there have the back story on how Spokane, Missouri copped our name, please let us know. To their credit, the high school football team is represented by my favorite animal of all time – the owl.
But where is our round-faced feathered friend on this T-shirt? I would have ordered one substituting the football for an owl. At least they didn’t choose the sperm whale or the steeples as their mascot.
You never know what bizarre paraphernalia this country’s Spokanites will be buying next!
Other favorite Spokane shirt sites:
- Spokaloo Vintage Series
- Dumbgun Design – Spokane specific designs upon request
- Spokane Valley Screen Printing – ask about their “Marmot Mutual” and “Hot as Balls” shirts
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There are at least two other Spokanes, one in Louisiana and one in Ohio,
OMG–I love the suction goat T-shirt from Spokaloo.
Spokane is such a strange place. Trash eating goats, guns & toys at the White Elephant, Dick’s Hamburgers with a panda bear, overgrown marmots…Portland has nothing on this place.
And uh–dare I ask where the sperm whale came from…?
Yeah… where DID the sperm whale come from?
I would proudly wear a Spokane alum shirt.
I would love to have an alumni shirt. While I grew up but haven’t lived in Spokane since the end of 1999 (moving to Seattle on the cusp of WTO – what a welcome!) , I still love it and visit about once a quarter to see my family.
One of the more interesting things that I’ve found in my travels is that people from Spokane are everywhere – having a way to easily identify each other would be great.