‘Sconnie’ gear celebrates Milwaukee’s brand
From candles to coasters, shops have you covered
Calling all true Milwaukeeans and resident “Sconnies.” These local brands have got gear for you.
Journals for writers. Coffee mugs for caffeine junkies. Hats for days you can’t even. And then there are Tshirts for all.
No matter what you want, there’s a Milwaukeean making that item you need to represent your hometown.
Here are nine Milwaukee brands making hometown gear, listed in alphabetical order.
Giltee
The classic Giltee shirt has a heart filled with a pine tree woods and a call out to its founders’ homeland — Wisco.
Giltee makes hyper-local designs and screen prints them onto shirts, sweaters hats and tote bags. The apparel line pays homage to Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wauwatosa and De Pere with specialized designs. The designs show a familiarity with the area, like referring to Wauwatosa simply as Tosa. Giltee likes to highlight its favorite
parts of the state, like “The Agenda” shirt that says “Woods to hike. Trails to Bike. Beers to Drink.”
Giltee is a project of the husbandwife team of Adam and Lisa Gilson. All the shirts are screen printed in the couple’s basement. What was once a spot for Packers parties has been taken over with everything screen printing and design.
Lake Effect Co.
Lake Effect Co. isn’t trying to sugarcoat what it’s like to live in the Midwest. Its winter knit hat states it plainly — SO COLD. That hat, and cabin fever and lake day-themed pieces are among Lake Effect Co.’s best selling items.
Katherine Gramann draws from her love of water for her adventure-themed line of gear. Gramann started Lake Effect Co. in 2016. She wants to source as much of her products as possible from the United States and Midwest region.
Lake Effect Co. works with a Milwaukee-based press and an embroiderer in Menomonee Falls. Lake Effect Co. sells a watercolor print of the Great Lakes by a Minnesotan artist and a lake-themed greeting card made by a Michigander. The love of the lakes runs through the business — 5% of all sales go to the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
Milwaukee Beer Gear
Husband-and-wife team Zach and Amanda Wambold wanted to show their love for Milwaukee and the beer culture of Wisconsin when they launched Milwaukee Beer Gear last year.
The company sells laser engraved coasters. It began with maps of Milwaukee’s neighborhoods etched into cherry wood. Milwaukee Beer Gear has maps of the Historic Third Ward, lower east side, Walker’s Point, Brewers Hill, Wauwatosa, Bay View and Riverwest. A beer ingredient coaster set shows the four main ingredients in beer — hops, barley, yeast and water — in the shape of Wisconsin.
All production is done in the U.S. The laser etching is done by a company in Colorado.
The Wambolds plan to expand their offerings and have more coaster ideas in the works, such as one with the Milwaukee flag. They’re also working to make glasses, coozies, bottle openers and other beer gear.
Milwaukee Candle Company
The Hometown Collection from Milwaukee Candle Company is what every expat needs to feel at ease. There’s Jazzmine in the Park, Brewery Tour and Bradford Beach (on a good day), among others. The Hometown Collection was founder Kevin Goudzwaard’s first line.
All of Milwaukee Candle Company’s goods are made with soy wax and handpoured in small batches right here in Brew City.
MilwaukeeHome
Few companies have captured the hometown pride like MilwaukeeHome. The simple design — four lines of uppercase letters read MILWAUKEE HOME — has become an unofficial flag for the city.
The founder, Melissa Thornton, started selling the T-shirts from her car in 2011 and now prints the design onto shirts, hats, mugs and more. The brand has also branched out beyond apparel to put its design on speakers, headphones, pillows, soaps and more.
The concept also has been used for WisconsinHome products and the OurHomeCity line that repurposes the design for other cities across the country. MilwaukeeHome gear is printed at Redwall Screen Printing in Oak Creek.
Orchard Street Apparel
The husband-and-wife team behind Orchard Street Apparel show their appreciation for the city that helped form them and the natural world here — Lake Michigan, the Northwoods and the changing seasons.
Its Represent Wisconsin line is all about “Sconnie” pride with shirts printed with the state, its seal and cities such as Milwaukee and Madison. The Milwaukee flour sack towel pays homage to all the greatest things about brew city — beer, cheese curds and bloody marys. Other designs are more regionally focused like the Midwest ‘til Death Tshirt.
Orchard Street Apparel is the clothing line offshoot of the St. Francis-based screen printing company Orchard Street Press.
Paper Pleasers
The Paper Pleasers skyline art ranges from laser-cut framed wall art to flour sack towels, can glasses and coffee mugs. Ellen Albertson updated the skyline pieces to include the newest additions late last year.
Paper Pleasers also sells reclaimed wood pieces painted with the state of Wisconsin and a heart-shaped pin.
Albertson started out doing wedding stationery and then expanded her work to something she’s truly passionate about — where she lives. She moved to Milwaukee from Illinois to attend Marquette University and has lived here ever since. Albertson makes all her Paper Pleasers products from her homebased basement office and her garageturned-workshop.
Tactile Craftworks
The Milwaukee Map Book started the Atlas Series for Tactile Craftworks, a leatherwork seller. The hand-bound journal is enclosed with quality leather that has an 1880 map of Milwaukee etched into it. All the stitching is done by hand. The same map is also laser etched onto a clutch, flask, passport wallet and travel mug.
Tactile Craftworks now makes goods for cities across the world but remains rooted in Milwaukee. Another Wisconsin city — Madison — is also etched into leather by Tactile Craftworks.
Most of the leather comes from the Seidel Tannery in Riverwest.
Too Much Metal
Fred Gillich didn’t identify with the beer-and-cheese stereotype of Milwaukee and Wisconsin. So, when Gllich started his own company of Milwaukeethemed gear, Too Much Metal, he printed what he calls “smart shirts for smart people.”
Too Much Metal pokes fun at what makes Milwaukee, Milwaukee, like the recombobulation area at the airport. Another shirt reads, “New York New Orleans Old Milwaukee.” Many of the items are emblazoned with the city’s skyline and the Milwaukee area code, 414. The Milrockee line includes punchy designs like a red cooler next to Lake Michigan.
The Too Much Metal shirts are designed and printed in Milwaukee by Milwaukeeans.