Ginger. Snap!

We love all our reps equally. They all do an amazing job for us—out there on the front lines, down in the trenches, hawking our wares to people who may or may not want them. It’s a tough job and we’re eternally grateful to each and every one of them for their service.

But this year, we feel compelled to recognize one particular rep for kicking so ridiculously much ass. And that rep’s name is Ginger McCleskey.

Ginger reps us in our former home base of Northern California. Since we signed on with her right around this time last year, she’s been an absolute animal. In a good way.

She’s opened more than 15 new accounts, gotten us tons of consistent reorders and is always hungry for more. She’s just a one-woman show, but she’s as productive as fifty salespeople combined.

A freak of sales nature? Perhaps. But we’re sure glad to be on her team.

For her incredible effort, we’d like to reward her with a humble $100 gift certificate to Chez Panisse, a world-renowned restaurant right in her neck of the woods. Just a tiny, but heartfelt, token of our appreciation.

Thank you to Ginger, and to all our sales reps, for a successful 2010. Our sales were up more than double from last year, and we couldn’t have done it without you.

Here’s to an even huge-er 2011.

Merry Christmas, girls and boys.

Finally, some modern-day holiday songs that aren't gag-me-with-a-spoon syrupy-sweet. Free for your downloading pleasure. Thank you, Target.

Here's the one we can't get out of our heads here at the Old Tom Foolery compound:

OTF Superfan Contest

Are you an Old Tom Foolery superfan? Tell us why and the person who has the craziest OTF superfan story will win SIX FREE CARDS of his or her choice. We might even share some of the stories if there are some doozies in there. Just email us at info@oldtomfoolery.com by December 31st and write "Superfan" in the subject line. Now have at it!

Holy totes! And tees, too.

Typestache fans, brace yourselves: "A Field Guide to Typestaches" is now available printed on tote bags and t-shirts. Did somebody say "holiday gift?"

Buy the totes here, men's shirts here, and women's shirts here. Oh yeah, we've got posters, too.

How do you say “Old Tom Foolery” in Japanese?

Lauren and I were recently interviewed for a super cool Japanese book about letterpress printing, written and compiled by the talented author Miki Usui. Though we can’t read the book (it’s written entirely in Japanese), we can only assume it’s as thoughtful and interesting as Miki herself.

We Old Tom Fools are in some good company in this book, including Dutch Door Press, Carrot & Stick, and Hello! Lucky. Pick up your own copy—even if you can’t read it, you’ll definitely be able to appreciate the pretty pictures.

 

Typestache Poster: Behind the Scenes

Screen-printing is a new technique for us at Old Tom Foolery and we think it's pretty cool. Our Minneapolitan printer-friend Mike Ritter has been printing our Typestache posters, which were designed by our San Franciscan friend, Tor Weeks. It's a sort of merging of our old and new worlds, if you will.

Anywho, Mike was kind enough to give us a behind-the-scenes tour of www.chuxprint.com during his last Typestache poster printing session. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing his shop and watching the posters come to life. The full set of photos from our tour can be viewed here.

**This project was brought to you under a collaborative effort from: Tor Weeks, Old Tom Foolery, Henley Mpls, Chux Screen Printing, Northwest Graphic Supply Co., Anchor Paper, the guy who gave away the free vacuum we use on the poster press, John Ritter's mechanical knowhow - elbow grease - and tools, and Saint Augustine of Hippo (the Patron Saint of Printers).