The other day I received a note from longtime Uni Watch reader Michael Rich, as follows:
Last month I went on a cruise to Antarctica, and my Uni Watch beanie turned out to be the perfect accessory. I was wondering if this was the first time the winged stirrup had ever visited the seventh continent.
The photo of me holding the flag [shown above] was taken on the ship just after we crossed below the Antarctic Circle. The others are from Brown Bluff, Detaille Island, and Horseshoe Island (the southernmost place we visited).
Michael’s selfie from Brown Bluff is particularly notable because I’m pretty sure it’s the first time the winged stirrup has been in the company of live penguins (!):
And here’s his photo from Horseshoe Island — as he said, his southernmost point:
But is it the winged stirrup’s southernmost point? Another longtime reader, Benjamin Bonnet, used to work at McMurdo Station, which is south of Horseshoe Island. I know that I once mailed him a Meats T-shirt down there, but did he ever wear any Uni Watch gear?
I emailed Benjamin, who now lives in the northern hemisphere (NYC), to ask him about this. He wrote back:
I never had anything with the winged stirrup, but I did have an original Uni Watch T-shirt (the one with Johnny U, Juan Marichal, and Bobby Orr). I am 100% sure that I wore it at McMurdo Station, but I cannot find any photographic evidence to back up that claim. That T-shirt was in my regular rotation for about a decade and I finally had to toss it because it had so many holes it had become unwearable.
So Benjamin is probably the southernmost person to wear any Uni Watch garment, while Michael holds the southernmost distinction for the winged stirrup.
As for that Meats shirt that I shipped to Benjamin when he was in Antarctica, he sent me this photo of his then-girlfriend, Shelby, wearing it:
Fun to see that Uni Watch has had such a global presence — even in one of the globe’s most remote places.
(Huge thanks to Michael Rich and Benjamin Bonnet for sharing their photos and stories with me.)
Now we have to see if Santa has donned any Uni-merch :)
Always glad to rep and explain to people that don’t get it.
Paul, maybe you could do a compilation of Uni Watch apparel around the globe before you ride off into the sunset?
I am wearing my Uni-Watch headgear in this cold snap. Not anywhere as exciting as Antarctica, but it keeps me warm in Texas!
Paul, thanks for sharing this with the comm-uni-ty! Very cool to see the picture from McMurdo, too.
I’d love to see a reprint of that original t shirt. Mine is so faded and worn but I still wear it out
I’d like to see it again too, I actually don’t recall having ever seen it before.
I got mine in 2006 or 07. It’s been. A long time
That’s it!
I’m going to be the first to get a pic in my Uni Watch cap surrounded by dead Penguins.
I like to kid around.
Proudly wearing my UW hat in the Netherlands and it has visited France, Belgium and Germany as well. What about the most northern location of somebody wearing UW gear?
Love seeing UW attire all over the world!