Oktoberfest Tshirt

Long time readers may remember this shirt but given it is a top seller at the store, it is one I like to highlight each year.   This is the first t-shirt I ever designed for the store:  it depicts a guy in lederhosen carrying a large sausage.  The back say’s “Grab your Sausage and Have Fun”.

Why highlight an Oktoberfest shirt the end of August?  Well, while Munich Germany’s Oktoberfest actually runs into October (Sept 18 – October 3), Cincinnati celebrates it smack dab in September (the 18th and 19th) and Covington, KY (right across the river from Cincinnati) celebrates the weekend before.

Quick trivial facts.  Cincinnati has the largest Oktoberfest celebration in the United States.  Last year an astute commenter indicated that it was Canada that held the distinction of the largest outside of Germany.  However, he is wrong according to my spot Wikipedia sources.  The largest celebration outside Germany is in Blumenau, BRAZIL!  But here is where Cincinnati gets back some of it’s swagger.  Estimates for the Canadian and Brazilian Oktoberfest are in the 700,000′s.  However each lasts about a week.  Cincinnati pulls in around 500,000 people in just 2 days.  Now who drinks more?

More designs created over the years:

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Editorial Cartoon: Cincinnati raises Parking Meter Rates

Two things happened this past week in Cincinnati.  First council approved a controversial plan to build a street car in the city.  I’m not going into the good and bad of it per se but once again Cincinnati tries to follow plans of other cities to promote tourism while never seeming to lead the way.  One reason it is controversial is because opponents say that fares will not cover the cost to operate the streetcar and the city will continually have to pony up money to keep it in business.

Secondly, they decided to double the parking rates in downtown from $1 per hour to $2 per hour.  While not New York pricing, this is one of the highest in a 250 mile radius.  On top of it they increased the rates for city garages.  So let’s see…what was the plan to bring more people downtown?

What stuff does your city do that you question?

Bearman Cartoon: Bengals Beat Steelers

Sorry for my focus on American Football toons as of late but the Cincinnati Bengals have not beaten the Pittsburgh Steelers at home in eight years. Sunday they finally won and my friends in Pittsburgh deserve a little payback for all the years that they beat on us.

For the uninformed, the Bengal Tiger obviously represents the bengals.  Pittsburgh fans carry en masse a towel that is printed with the words “terrible towel” to games at home and away.   The towel is now synonymous with the Steelers. 

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Bearman Cartoon: Part Timers

The latest editorial cartoon was inspired by the budget issues in my home city of Cincinnati, Ohio. It seems like many cities, the economy is affecting city services. So now there is talk of having to lay off over 100 police officers.

Funny we have a part time city council and yet they continue to take over $60,000 a year in salary. I am sure there would be plenty of people willing to work full time for that kind of pay.

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