Ramble

In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview. This was in the midst of Lennon's "bed-in" phase, during which John and Yoko were staying in hotel beds in an effort to promote peace. In 2008, Jerry produced a film about it. http://www.imetthewalrus.com/

18 Waits Claw necklace is featured in the latest issue of Antenna Magazine.

Rick Danko, Janis Joplin & Jerry Garcia buzzing down the rails on the Festival Express. Toronto to Calgary, 1970. More on this movie: Festival Express

We recently had a chance to visit the Biltmore Hat Company in Guelph, Ontario. Biltmore has been making hats since 1917 and as you'll see from the photos below, much of the machinery used to shape, block, cut and trim the hats dates back to those early days. Their hats are exceptional, some of the best on the market and we're proud to have collaborated with Biltmore on our Johnny hats for FW10. We've got a couple of new styles we're working on for next Fall and we're really looking forward to working the Biltmore team and using some of their old molds to customize some new looks for 18 Waits.

Meet James Wheeler. He lives in the great state of Kentucky and can repair or make just about anything. His barn/tool-shed/repair shop is an ode to diy. James collects deer antlers that have been shed on and around his farm and the surrounding woods. He then fashions a few of 18 Waits signature pieces: key chains, bag clips and knives before sending them to Canada where we epoxy and brand each piece before shipping to stores. James has no phone so getting hold of him is kind of tricky and it sometimes results in backlogs in our ordering times. But we think they're worth the wait. So here's to James.