The got beef logo looks a little different (sort of shabby, yet huge)….

Got Beef? Clothing Goes Large…

We like the new design of clothing coming off the got beef? brand.  The brand owners are a husband and wife team, and tell us, back in the day designing got beef items was much easier.  Wayne, a “pit beef” and barbecue guy who has his own little niche in history for Big Fat Daddy’s famous beef dry rub ….

Over the years the got beef? brand has been somewhat of an enigma, for them, first selling clothing and housewares from the old “Big Fat Daddy’s Famous Pit Beef Stand” Wayne had with his brother.  After that he sold them on the road, at fairs, festivals, his websites, and small venues online. Looking back at old designs they appeared to be a bit more simple (and smaller.)

Here are some old designs you won’t see anymore. Most items are produced in limited quantities, in a limited run, and when they are gone, they are gone. Over the years they’ve done everything from hoodies to polo shirts and discontinuing styles and types help boost interest.  Some say they even have collectible value, and some early examples are framed at Schafer’s compound.

This hoodie is hip and we’d love to have one,  but now discontinued. 

This looks like a fake picture, but he’s actually very real. 

And very large. Photo Courtesy of Ralph R,  Pit Beef Blog: Baltimore Beef History photo from 2011

Schafer says he and his brother back in the day used the slogan got beef? on his signs and  paper menus, but it wasn’t until 1999 when then-friend-now-wife Cindy sloppily painted “got beef? ” on the larger than life bull which appeared to be running down it’s side, did it go viral. People started asking for got beef? merchandise.

Schafer says, “Then came Steven Raichlen and City Paper and the darn bull with ‘got beef?’ written on him was being photographed everywhere. I remember he was all over MySpace back then… right before the big internet boom….by 2000 I looked more like a clothing store than a beef shack.  By 2003 I had ceramic mugs for sale and people wanted their coke in them. I couldn’t believe it.   They would come in to order two sandwiches, fries, a got beef? mug, and a got beef? hat.  The bull wasn’t always on the clothing, it was the got beef, mixed with my pit beef that they wanted. It became my thing, my brand, my trademark. ”

This is huge, in fact, most screenprinters won’t go so large…

The bull may have started the trend but he’s not on all the designs, in fact he’s been completely snubbed from the 2015 collection (with an exception of old items that were found in the warehouse).  Schafer still sells on the road and several direct online venues (got beef.com , Big Fat Daddy’s websites, and Big Fat Daddy’s Facebook, and some on Etsy.) It still doesn’t answer why are the 2015 designs so big and why have cups stopped being produced this year?

The Schafers  said “We are the trademark owners on clothing, housewares (and soon to be rubs) and wanted to make sure when people are purchasing authentic got beef? brand, they know the difference between counterfeits and the real brand.  We aren’t doing mugs so we can flush out all the existing product.  As with anything trademarked it takes some time for people to realize they must buy licensing or stop selling it.  Therefore, the 2015 items have a distinctive font, with some aging in places and would be hard to duplicate, this will help us recognize what’s authentic and what’s not.”

To the Schafer’s it’s personal. It’s not about how much clothing or housewares they sell and they won’t currently offer licensing. It’s about a brand they built, the care taken to design each item, and the mom and pop process that goes into it.  See more old designs here….

Guest Post by Andrea M Litton. All photos used with permission.