R. Crumb's Despair is Cleveland's "Coventry"



KK-253 Despair T-shirt
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R. Crumb

The recent purchase of this Despair T-shirt sparked a conversation with the Cleveland born customer about the neighborhood which R. Crumb depicted here. The neighborhood he said has "Coventry" in Cleveland Heights and the building pictured with the diamond shaped windows was once a bar called The Pepper Pot.

Despair, Unused cover, 1970
R. Crumb

During the 1960's the area evolved into Cleveland's version of San Francisco's Haight Ashbury, complete with "Hippies" and "Hell's Angels". Robert Crumb moved to Cleveland in the early 60's and worked for awhile for The American Greetings card company. Later in the era he would meet Harvey Pekar, of American Splendor fame, at a swap meet where they where both looking for old Jazz Records.

By this time Crumb had become a part of the underground comix scene and Pekar was inspired by his work. He had always wanted to do something creative, but since he did not see himself as having any artistic talent he thought the graphic novel media might work for him. He could write the stories and others could illustrate.

Pekar's "American Splendor" a self-published biographical comic book series came to light in 1976. Harvey would draw the stories with stick figures and dialog, then pass to artists like Crumb to illustrate. He wrote about his daily life in Coventry, about his neighborhood's character, about his work place and about the street corner philosophers of which he was one.

Mr. Natural "Twas Ever Thus" T-shirt on Sale Now!

R. Crumb's Mr. Natural
"Twas Ever Thus" T-shirt
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On Sale now through March 10th, enjoy 10% off Robert Crumb's Mr. Natural "Twas Ever Thus" Men's Tee. Found exclusively at Keep On Truckin Apparel. Shown here in Black this 100% cotton long sleeve shirt is also available in White, Military Green, and Navy. The short sleeve version is also on sale and available in White, Military Green, Prairie Dust, Red and Stone Blue.

Discount will be applied at checkout, no coupon code required.

Original Valentine's Day Gifts for Her!



KK-248 You are My Number One
R. Crumb
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KK-408 Love Comix
R. Crumb
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KK-246 Broken Heart
R. Crumb
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Ditch the generic gifts of chocolate and flowers this Valentines Day and inject a little fun into your relationship with these original t-shirt designs by Robert Crumb, all found exclusively on-line at Keep On Truckin Apparel .

Women's t-shirt offerings include a relaxed fit soft organic cotton option as well as our favorite fitted tee, both available in a myriad of complimentary color---so you can express yourself!

All of the Heart themed love tee's show here, which includes Brilliant Idea, Broken Heart, You are My No.1 and Love Comix are on Sale now through Sunday, 2-3-13. Enjoy 10% off, discount will be applied at checkout no coupon code is required.


Best Selling T-shirts of 2012

The numbers are in and here's the results!

We have a new best seller in the top spot this year. This Keep On Truckin' tee was just introduced into our line up last year, and it was clear from inception, that it was going to be a very popular design. Show here in a long sleeve t-shirt, we also have it available in short sleeve tees for both Men and Women as well as unisex hooded sweatshirts.

KK-251 Keep on Truckin' T-shirt
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In the number two spot the ever popular Keep On Truckin' Guys t-shirt. Again this popular R. Crumb design is available in both Men's and Women's short and long sleeve t-shirts as well as hooded sweatshirts. Choose from a variety of colors--shown here in Charcoal, the top selling color for this image.

KK-001 Keep On Truckin' Guys
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No top five could be complete with out that mystic map cap Mr. Natural--and he appears twice here in our countdown. The number three spot goes to Mr. Natural "Raising Hope", this tee appears on a regular basis on the Fox Network hit series by the same name "Raising Hope". It seems the be one of "Jimmy's" favorites, and why not, the hapless single father can use all the help he can get--although we would have to cautious him that Mr. Natural does not suffer fools well and can be a bit of a trickster on a good day, and an all out scam artist on a bad. Shown here in one of our cozy hoodies, it's also available on short and long sleeve t-shirts.

MN-028 Mr. Natural "Raising Hope"
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And once again we have Mr. Natural in the number four spot with the ever popular "Just Passin Thru"! Shown here in Chocolate Brown.

MN-012 Mr. Natural "Just Passin' Thru"
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And last but by no means least that little ol' rascal, Fritz the Cat--shown here on our "Hi Kids!" t-shirts. Black is the best selling color but this bad boy is also available in White, Navy, Blue and Berry--you choose!

KK-211 Fritz the Cat "Hi Kids"
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Thanks to our great customers for an amazing 2012, and best wishes for a Happy New Year!!

Cheap Thrills "Ball and Chain" on Sale this week!

Cheap Thrills Collection
Ball and Chain
www.kotapparel.com
Copyright BBHC

One of seven exclusive designs available in our new Cheap Thrills Collection, "Ball and Chain" written by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, was belted out by Janis Joplin lead singer for Big Brother and the Holding Company, on the 1968 Cheap Thrills Album Side 2, Song 3.


Janis's gutsy rendition of this song at the Monterey International Pop Festival was considered one of the best performances of her all too short career.

Illustration by Robert Crumb

Images copyright of BBHC

R. Crumb for Christmas?

Hey Kids! Looking for a fun and unique Christmas gift for that nice or maybe naughty special someone on your Holiday gift list. Look no further than Keep On Truckin Apparel.

Choose from the over 80 original art designs in the R. Crumb Classics Collection :

KK-204 Zap Comix-Plugged in
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R. Crumb image

For that Tree Hugging friend of yours how about something from the Mr. Natural Organic Collection , like Mr. Natural "Just Passin Thru":

MN-012 Mr. Natural "Just Passin' Thru!"
www.kotapparel.com
R. Crumb image

Or for that Blues Lovin' baby how about a t-shirt from the Heroes of the Blues Collection:

BT-615 Skip James
Heroes of the Blues
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All of our fine t-shirts and hoodies are made to order, just for you, so place your orders by Wednesday, December 12th to insure Christmas Delivery!

Black Friday to Cyber Monday Sale at Keep On Truckin' Apparel



R. Crumb's Mr. Natural
www.kotapparel.com

  Searching high and low for an original and unique gift for that special someone on your Christmas list. Well naughty or nice we have just the thing. Choose from over 150 retro t-shirt designs -- all exclusive to Keep On Truckin' Apparel. You won't find these original art tees anywhere else!

Options to customize your gift abound, select from our quality short and long sleeve t-shirts available in both conventional and organic cotton. Pick the color, and the size and your done--we'll take care of the rest. And don't forget to check out our cozy hooded sweatshirts.

Our store wide sale begins on Black Friday, November 23rd and runs through Cyber Monday, November 26th. Enjoy 10% off all our offerings, no coupon code required, discount will be applied at checkout.