This isn’t going to be a political post. You can find plenty of those elsewhere. OK, let’s be honest: everywhere. And at State Forty Eight we’re not about the politics. Unless you mean being all in for Arizona, in which case, hell, yeah!
That’s because the state of Arizona is why there is a State Forty Eight. You can read the story on our site of how Michael, Stephen and Nicholas created their company out of “a shared passion and appreciation for the great state of Arizona.” So as you would expect, most of what you’ll find on our site and in our retail outlets is our Arizona pride apparel.
But we also feature American pride apparel. So we thought we’d take a minute of your time to tell you why.
And by “we,” yes, we mean State Forty Eight. Those three guys we mentioned got us started in 2013. But “we” also means the state that gave us our name. The fact is, Arizona was pretty late to the party, statewise. On 7-4-1776, when the original 13 colonies put on their own American pride apparel and ghosted George III to become the original 13 states, Arizona wasn’t even a territory yet. It was pretty much just wide-open spaces; free country, you might say — unless you were a member of the Mogollon, Hohokam, Pueblan or several other Native American tribes. Then you would have said “home,” and wondered why those strangers started wandering in uninvited.
A Franciscan brother, Marcos de Niza, first explored the area for Spain in the early 1500s and contacted some of those natives. Coronado showed up a few years later, and a few Spanish settlers followed. More military after that, and then just about the time the custodial staff in Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia was setting up chairs and chamber pots for the inaugural meeting of the First Continental Congress, Spain was setting up presidios, Tubac and Tucson, in southern not-yet-Arizona. (“Presidio” is apparently Spanish for, “We’re staying. Deal with it.”)
It was a long time before the powers that be out east got around to calling our number. It was 1912, to be exact, which means there were 47 state wannabes ahead of us, and only Alaska and Hawaii after.
Think about that. We weren’t the last state picked for the team, but we were the last one that was already right there beside all the others. You think that doesn’t hurt?
Yeah, it doesn’t, really. In fact, the only reason we said yes even in 1912 was so the rest of you wouldn’t have to drive all the way around our big old block of desert on your way to Disneyland.
You’re welcome.
Right. The fact is, once we accepted the rest of the U.S.’ proposal, we were ready to take our place as a law-abiding (mostly), tax-paying (usually) state of the union. And with the exception of the occasional colorful, disgruntled citizen you might see on the national news, we’re all still pretty much that way. Arizonans were and are, by and large, a very patriotic people.
At State Forty Eight, we consider ourselves representatives of those patriotic Americans, in that: 1) We are all different, 2) We have all kinds of different views and ways of expressing them, and 3) We’re proud to live in — and be a state of — the greatest nation ever.
How’s that for American pride?
And that’s why SFE makes a point of offering you American pride apparel — with an Arizona twist.
Yes, most of our merch prominently features the distinctive outline of our state. (For you out-of-staters, think of that as a reminder of what you don’t have to detour around on your way to parts west and east. There’s a pothole up north you just wouldn’t believe. Also consider it an invitation to stop somewhere within those borders and sit down to a burro and cerveza combo.)
But some of our wares, like our Hometown Heroes collection, proudly wave the Red, White and Blue — and those aren’t even our state colors!
And then there’s our line of shirts that bring it all together: Big and bold in desert shades, “Est. 1912, Arizona.”
Somebody, maybe it was Tip O’Neill, maybe not, said, “All politics is local.” We guess that’s true sometimes, other times it isn’t, but that’s politics and we said we’re not going there. Still, you know what is always local? Patriotism. Because patriotism lives in the hearts of people. And people live all over this grand country of ours.
(This is the time you might start humming “America, the Beautiful,” and we’re OK with that.)
So State Forty Eight is proud to represent the people of Arizona to the rest of you, and — with our American pride apparel — share a little of our patriotism with anyone who could use some more of their own.
Even if you didn’t get around to sending our invitation till just before Alaska and Hawaii, we made your union more perfect.
And you gave us a cool name that rhymes.
Find the outfit that gives you pride here.
That’s because the state of Arizona is why there is a State Forty Eight. You can read the story on our site of how Michael, Stephen and Nicholas created their company out of “a shared passion and appreciation for the great state of Arizona.” So as you would expect, most of what you’ll find on our site and in our retail outlets is our Arizona pride apparel.
But we also feature American pride apparel. So we thought we’d take a minute of your time to tell you why.
We’re still pretty new on the scene
And by “we,” yes, we mean State Forty Eight. Those three guys we mentioned got us started in 2013. But “we” also means the state that gave us our name. The fact is, Arizona was pretty late to the party, statewise. On 7-4-1776, when the original 13 colonies put on their own American pride apparel and ghosted George III to become the original 13 states, Arizona wasn’t even a territory yet. It was pretty much just wide-open spaces; free country, you might say — unless you were a member of the Mogollon, Hohokam, Pueblan or several other Native American tribes. Then you would have said “home,” and wondered why those strangers started wandering in uninvited.
A Franciscan brother, Marcos de Niza, first explored the area for Spain in the early 1500s and contacted some of those natives. Coronado showed up a few years later, and a few Spanish settlers followed. More military after that, and then just about the time the custodial staff in Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia was setting up chairs and chamber pots for the inaugural meeting of the First Continental Congress, Spain was setting up presidios, Tubac and Tucson, in southern not-yet-Arizona. (“Presidio” is apparently Spanish for, “We’re staying. Deal with it.”)
It was a long time before the powers that be out east got around to calling our number. It was 1912, to be exact, which means there were 47 state wannabes ahead of us, and only Alaska and Hawaii after.
Think about that. We weren’t the last state picked for the team, but we were the last one that was already right there beside all the others. You think that doesn’t hurt?
Yeah, it doesn’t, really. In fact, the only reason we said yes even in 1912 was so the rest of you wouldn’t have to drive all the way around our big old block of desert on your way to Disneyland.
You’re welcome.
What about the American pride apparel?
Right. The fact is, once we accepted the rest of the U.S.’ proposal, we were ready to take our place as a law-abiding (mostly), tax-paying (usually) state of the union. And with the exception of the occasional colorful, disgruntled citizen you might see on the national news, we’re all still pretty much that way. Arizonans were and are, by and large, a very patriotic people.
At State Forty Eight, we consider ourselves representatives of those patriotic Americans, in that: 1) We are all different, 2) We have all kinds of different views and ways of expressing them, and 3) We’re proud to live in — and be a state of — the greatest nation ever.
How’s that for American pride?
And that’s why SFE makes a point of offering you American pride apparel — with an Arizona twist.
Yes, most of our merch prominently features the distinctive outline of our state. (For you out-of-staters, think of that as a reminder of what you don’t have to detour around on your way to parts west and east. There’s a pothole up north you just wouldn’t believe. Also consider it an invitation to stop somewhere within those borders and sit down to a burro and cerveza combo.)
But some of our wares, like our Hometown Heroes collection, proudly wave the Red, White and Blue — and those aren’t even our state colors!
And then there’s our line of shirts that bring it all together: Big and bold in desert shades, “Est. 1912, Arizona.”
Because patriotism begins at home
Somebody, maybe it was Tip O’Neill, maybe not, said, “All politics is local.” We guess that’s true sometimes, other times it isn’t, but that’s politics and we said we’re not going there. Still, you know what is always local? Patriotism. Because patriotism lives in the hearts of people. And people live all over this grand country of ours.
(This is the time you might start humming “America, the Beautiful,” and we’re OK with that.)
So State Forty Eight is proud to represent the people of Arizona to the rest of you, and — with our American pride apparel — share a little of our patriotism with anyone who could use some more of their own.
Even if you didn’t get around to sending our invitation till just before Alaska and Hawaii, we made your union more perfect.
And you gave us a cool name that rhymes.
Find the outfit that gives you pride here.