An Appie Tartan?

[TheKiltedWonder]

Ok, so Christmas is coming and I don't have tartan money lying around. I know I'm not alone in this, but I started this thread to kinda get the ball rolling a little. Whilst ferreting about for tartans I noticed there was no Appalachian tartan. As in one for those of us with roots in Appalachia (Not as in Appie State). Then I saw there was no discussion of such a tartan on the forum either. That kinda surprised me, because I know there has to be plenty of people hear who live in Appalachia or have roots there. My father's fam is from West Virginia/Western Virginia. You don't have to be a genealogist to notice that Scottish, Irish, Scots-Irish, and Welsh immigrants (among others including English, Germans, etc) played a large role in settling the region. Just listen to Appalachian music and you'll hear a Celtic influence.
But there's no Appalachian tartan or project to design one, as near as I can tell.
This is all hypothetical right now (as I said, I just don't have the money for it as we speak) but would anyone be interested in an Appalachian tartan? Show pan-state solidarity! Imagine hiking the AT in your beautiful Appalachian tartan.

Anyway, I just wanted to throw the idea out there. I can't be the only one who's thought of this.

As for potential designs, I've been playing around on the STA's tartan design studio, but I'm still not a master at it and I haven't found a design I like yet. The colors I've been playing around with are Blue, Green, Black and White. If you need your tartan to have a rhyme for it, here goes: (ahem)

Green because our mountains sometimes have trees
Blue cos I like it and this sett's by me
Black's for our lungs, ever blackened by coal
And white's the moonshine-ing down on my soul.

[OFCJAX]

Would a Banjo Kilt pin be in bad taste?

I kid, I live in KY afterall

[Bugbear]

Hmmmm... I do have some roots back there. We don't know for one side of the family though, it could be anything. I like that you aren't mixing black and brown in the tartan.

[Moosedog]

Perhaps an Ozark Tartan is in order as well.

Moosedog

[macwilkin]

Perhaps an Ozark Tartan is in order as well.

Moosedog

Someone's already working on that one.

There is a Blue Ridge tartan, though. And of course, the Ulster tartan would be appropriate as well.

Regards,

Todd

[M. A. C. Newsome]

As Todd pointed out, there is a Blue Ridge tartan that has been designed. That has been only moderately successful, to my knowledge.

One obstacle in designing a tartan such as an "Appalachian" tartan is that, rather than represent a specific governmental region like a state or a county, it would represent a broader geographical region that has no unified government. What this means, effectively, is that there is no "Appalachian authority" that can give the thumbs up and approve it as the Appalachian tartan. So it would remain, strictly speaking, a fashion tartan.

This is not a bad thing, mind you, and there are plenty of examples of similar type tartans out there. There is the Grampian tartan, the Scottish Borders tartan, the Irish provincial tartans sold by Lochcarron (Leinster, Munster, Connaught, etc), all represent geographical regions with no "authority" to appeal to.

I say this is a potential obstacle because, without such authority, the success of the tartan may be limited. Lochcarron can design a Leinster tartan, for instance, and make it successful because they are a large tartan producing company who can then get their tartan into markets across the globe. An individual tartan enthusiast from West VA may design a wonderful tartan, but unless he can successfully promote it to a wider audience, the success of that tartan will be limited.

And in cases of designing a district tartan that is really a "fashion" tartan (no authority behind it), the success of that tartan is important. It's the difference between saying, "Well there is no officially recognized Appalachian tartan, but this one has been around for years and everyone is wearing it, and it is universally recognized as the tartan for the Appalachian region," or saying, "Well there is no officially recognized Appalachian tartan, but this guy in VA designed one several years back and I think two people have kilts in it."

The first scenario gives the tartan some legitimacy. The second makes the tartan an interesting design project, but little else.

I say all of the above as a caution. However, you also gave me a good idea. You mentioned AT hikers being interested in the tartan. I don't know, but I assume there must be some kind of official AT association, responsible for trail maintenance, etc. Correct me if I am wrong.

But if that is the case, you could get the AT people to put their stamp of approval on an Appalachian tartan, and even help to market it. What with the popularity these days of hiking in kilts, that shouldn't be too hard of a sell. One could even set up a scheme whereupon a percentage of the revenue of tartan sales goes to fund AT projects.

That would go a long way to establishing the legitimacy of such a tartan. Might not be a bad idea to see if there is any interest there.

Aye,
Matt

[Howard Clark]

I think that's a great Idea, Matt.

[Mael Coluim]

Yep, I think you lads are on to something!

[TheKiltedWonder]

Thanks for the reply Matt. I did realize that would be a problem with no governing body for Appalachia, but I do like your idea of tying it to the Appalachian Trail. There is the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which is a non-profit which organizes volunteers to help keep up the trail. I'm not sure what their operating budget is.

After reading that idea though, I did get to thinking about other groups who might benefit. With the continued economic struggles for many in parts of Appalachia, it's too bad a charity group couldn't use a tartan in order to raise money for the region similar to what is done for Arctic and Antarctic tartans. A nice idea, but I imagine the high cost of designing and custom weaving a tartan would be too big of a risk for such an organization.
Still, it would give us all an excuse to get another kilt. "But honey, I know I promised that there'd be no more kilts for a while, but I couldn't not help those families! I did it for the children!"

That said, I think tying the tartan to a good cause would not only help promote it by making it official, it would definitely broaden its appeal. Hrm, now how do I get the cogs moving on this?

[Galician]

You could contact various charities which serve the region, (preferably with "Appalachian" in their title ) and see if they'd be willing to sponsor the tartan in exchange for some kind of deal on donations.

Then somebody would have to take on the responsibility of creating and marketing the kilt. That person or organization would be responsible to see that the organizations really do benefit from their endorsement(s).