Something that comes up now and then for those who have been with us for a while is whatever happened to the Yonder Clothing Co? For you new folks, Yonder is the name that I previously operated under. In April of 2021 I ripped ye ole' bandaid off and became Tugboat Jack officially leaving the Yonder Clothing Co in the dust, and now as of March 15 I officially own U.S. Trademark Reg. No. 6673352.
The short answer to the question of Yonder is that I failed to secure the trademark for that word for use on apparel and when I needed it to remain distinct among a host of copycats, it was not available. The long answer is annoying and a year of bureaucracy that is not worth rehashing.
The only way to move forward was to take a big step backwards and start over. So I went back to the beginning. I reached back to where everything started for me. That place was the Video Saloon in Bloomington, IN where a friend of mine and I were drinking beers after a Bob Dylan concert and brainstorming names for the roots band we were in the process of starting. Hanging on the wall next to the taxidermy head of a buffalo hung a photograph of a salty old chunk of coal wearing a souvenir sweatshirt that read "I got leid in Hawaii" and sporting a hat emblazoned with the name "Tugboat Jack".
