Get to know Marianna from Old Try

by Cecilia Eisentrager

This creative couple, based in Boston, are from Alabama and North Carolina. When they moved north of the Mason Dixon, they were missing the South and Old Try “A Southern Print Shop” was born. Their designs are clever, no frills and pay homage to our South.

In their own words “We’re here to make things that connect people to places. Right now those things are letterpress posters, printed on old machines with moveable type and wood blocks, just like what would have been used a hundred years ago. Later those things might be other things. Who knows where this will lead us? Whatever the case, it’s going to be Southern. Because we are. Even when we aren’t.”

Q&A with Marianna

1 – Where did y’all come up with the name Old Try?

Old Try came from the phrase, giving it the old college try. ‘Cause we didn’t know if the idea would go well or go down in flames. So we thought we wouldn’t know unless we gave it the old try. Plus, it’s quick, visually balanced, and fortunately, wasn’t taken.

2 – Tell us a bit about Old Try’s origins and why you started this incredible company.

We opened Old Try because we started missing home after having been away from the South fora while. We’re not quite ready to move back there (we love the snow!), so this was our way of re-connecting. Our goal for Old Try is simple: to connect people to places. Since Micah is a designer, it just made sense that we would use that talent as the heart of our business.

3 – What types of products do you create and sell at Old Try?

We design and carry art prints and t-shirts. We also offer a bow tie and a tote bag through collaborations. We also have some other things up our sleeves – always thinking of another medium in which to get folks thinking of home.

4 – What do you miss most about living in the South?

Locally televised college football, making eye contact, and being able to swing by folks’ houses unannounced. Everyone up here is so scheduled that there’s little room to just ride life as it comes. I miss that pace back home.

5 – What are your favorite sayings about the South?

“[He] had observed that there is no one on earth who is more patriotically devoted – verbally, at least – to the region from which he came than the American from the Southern Portion of the United States. Once he leaves it to take up his living in other, less fair and fortunate, sections of the country, he is willing to fight for the honor of the Southland at the drop of a hat, to assert her supremacy over all other habitable parts of the globe on every occasion, to speak eloquently and passionately of the charm of her setting, the superiority of her culture, the heroism of her men, and the beauty of her women, to defend her, to protect her, to bleed and die for her, if necessary – to do almost everything, in fact, for dear old Dixie except return permanently to her to live.” – Thomas Wolfe, 1938

6 – What does the South mean to you?

Home, even when it isn’t.

To see more of Old Try’s designs go to: www.theoldtry.com