Tuesday, May 11, 2010

How Whoop-Ass Industries became Yee-Haw

Knoxville is so lucky to have the country's premier letterpress print shop located right in the heart of downtown. I love to stop in Yee-Haw Industries' print shop from time to time and just gaze lovingly upon all the kitchy music posters and chat with Kevin, who is never short on energy. I almost always leave with a new set of letterpress greeting cards.

I get especially excited when the world at large acknowledges Yee-Haw's greatness, like last year when they showed at Chelsea Market in NYC. Here's a great video put together by Southern magazine Oxford American on what Yee-Haw's all about. Enjoy.

SoLost: Yee Haw Industries from Oxford American on Vimeo.


P.S. If you're reading this from afar, don't forget you can order Yee-Haw's goods through their etsy.com site.

8 comments:

Lo said...

i never had an appreciation for letterpresses until i actually saw how yee-haw does it. when you visit, they just let you wonder around the place which probably added to my complete change of heart. the second time i visited i took my dad with me. he worked through high school in my grandfather's stationery company in north texas, cleaning all the printing blocks and often getting covered head to toe in black ink. most of what he told me of the experience was how he hated having to spend vacation working. but then i took him to yee-haw when he visited knoxville with my mom one time. the moment he walked in his eyes grew big. his excitement only rose when he, too, walked around their amazing space, only he could recall the names of machines and processes in which they worked. i'm pretty sure that their hoarding of old type and machines has created a long-lived monopoly of printing equipment, and distinctive appalachian-centric themes, that is unmistakeably knoxville's own.

Anonymous said...

i love yee haw!

Patrick Beeson said...

Thanks for sharing the video!

Nearly every piece of art we own is a Yee Haw print.

B said...

My dream is to intern there. If only I could give them 40 hours of unpaid time...

Tom Skib said...

Very cool. I'll have to stop by there soon. Love the art show "invite". Haha!

bran said...

yes

max said...

Yee-Haw is my go to place for gifts and cards etc. I was in St. Louis a while ago and talked with a guy who worked at a press called Firecracker. When I told him I'm from Knoxville he perked up and said, "Oh Yee-Haw!"

ck said...

I never knew they'd let you back there... I've always just sheepishly hung out at the front looking at posters. Next time I'll ask to see the magic!