Help identifying this "KREMS" shirt
July 21, 2022 8:54 PM Subscribe
My in-laws have a shirt that says "KREMS" on it in colourful embroidery, and an embroidered image of a wine glass and grapes spilling out of it. They have no idea where they could have gotten this. Help us, AskMeFi sleuths!
Photo of the shirt (IMGUR link)
Shirt description:
- dark navy blue solid colour, looks like plain cotton
- the letters and images are all embroidered, the threads are in bold colours: red, yellow, blue, and green
- there is a wine glass, with a bunch of grapes hanging off/spilling out of the right side of the glass. The bunch has the stem and one big leaf attached.
- below the wine glass and grapes, "KREMS" is also embroidered. It is in all caps.
- the embroidery, and the weight of the shirt fabric itself, make it seem like it is of decent quality - not a quick-and-cheap print job for mass production.
Other info that may be helpful:
- They live in Northern VA, USA, about half an hour outside of DC. They've lived here for for the past 40 yrs.
- They have a vacation property in Ocean City, MD
- One of their kids went to undergrad at Johns Hopkins, and they think the shirt might have been from there, but that was 30 yrs ago and the shirt doesn't seem that old. Then that same kid went to Columbia, and during that time said kid lived in NY. It could still be related to Johns Hopkins, I suppose, but a more recent event like a reunion or something?
- Another kid went to VirginiaTech (Blacksburg, VA) and Thunderbird (Arizona), but they are pretty sure that the shirt has nothing to do with them or their schools.
We've googled KREMS, KREMS wine grapes, KREMS johns hopkins and other variations, but no luck. I put my faith in AskMe!
Photo of the shirt (IMGUR link)
Shirt description:
- dark navy blue solid colour, looks like plain cotton
- the letters and images are all embroidered, the threads are in bold colours: red, yellow, blue, and green
- there is a wine glass, with a bunch of grapes hanging off/spilling out of the right side of the glass. The bunch has the stem and one big leaf attached.
- below the wine glass and grapes, "KREMS" is also embroidered. It is in all caps.
- the embroidery, and the weight of the shirt fabric itself, make it seem like it is of decent quality - not a quick-and-cheap print job for mass production.
Other info that may be helpful:
- They live in Northern VA, USA, about half an hour outside of DC. They've lived here for for the past 40 yrs.
- They have a vacation property in Ocean City, MD
- One of their kids went to undergrad at Johns Hopkins, and they think the shirt might have been from there, but that was 30 yrs ago and the shirt doesn't seem that old. Then that same kid went to Columbia, and during that time said kid lived in NY. It could still be related to Johns Hopkins, I suppose, but a more recent event like a reunion or something?
- Another kid went to VirginiaTech (Blacksburg, VA) and Thunderbird (Arizona), but they are pretty sure that the shirt has nothing to do with them or their schools.
We've googled KREMS, KREMS wine grapes, KREMS johns hopkins and other variations, but no luck. I put my faith in AskMe!
Have they ever been, or do they know anyone, who would have gone to Krems, Austria? The wineglass looks straight out of a Dutch still life, and so has a European flavor off the bat - Krems is a wine-producing region, too, it seems. Would any friends have picked this up for them as a souvenir from a trip?
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 9:09 PM on July 21, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 9:09 PM on July 21, 2022 [4 favorites]
potrzebie quick on the draw!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 9:10 PM on July 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 9:10 PM on July 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
This page mentions that “A very special part and the heart of the festival is the outstanding wine tasting event “WEIN & GENUSS Krems” with more than 70 renowned winegrowers from Lower Austria.” Apparently the 14th festival will be next year, so it’s been happening since 2009. Maybe the shirt is from the event, or an earlier version of it?
posted by MadamM at 9:13 PM on July 21, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by MadamM at 9:13 PM on July 21, 2022 [4 favorites]
Do they rent out the Ocean City house when not using it? Perhaps a renter left it behind.
posted by vrakatar at 9:57 PM on July 21, 2022
posted by vrakatar at 9:57 PM on July 21, 2022
The shirt has a '90s feel to me but I can't quite put my finger on why. Then again that could have been an intentional stylistic choice of a shirt made much later (or I could just be inventing things in my head, idk).
The Krems, Austria, answer makes the most sense to me.
posted by tubedogg at 1:49 AM on July 22, 2022
The Krems, Austria, answer makes the most sense to me.
posted by tubedogg at 1:49 AM on July 22, 2022
Best answer: Agree, this is from Krems an der Donau, an Austrian town famous for its (white) wine and also apricots (Marillen). Pretty place, on the Danube river, if you are ever in Vienna it is worth a day trip by boat.
posted by 15L06 at 3:42 AM on July 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by 15L06 at 3:42 AM on July 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
Concur with Krems an der Donau town. (Krems is the river)
According to theCrazyTourist.com, Krems an der Donau has Winzer Krems, a winery that produces Chardonnay, Neuberger, Yellow Muscatel, and Pinot Blanc.
posted by kschang at 3:58 AM on July 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
According to theCrazyTourist.com, Krems an der Donau has Winzer Krems, a winery that produces Chardonnay, Neuberger, Yellow Muscatel, and Pinot Blanc.
posted by kschang at 3:58 AM on July 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: yes, Krems is named for a small Danube tributary river called Krems, which joins into the Danube river in Krems. Donau in the name of the town Krems an der Donau 😊 refers to the River Donau, in English Danube.
Confusingly there is another river Krems, but in another Region. I grew up in a small town on this other Krems river.
Greetings from Austria,
posted by 15L06 at 4:46 AM on July 22, 2022 [8 favorites]
Confusingly there is another river Krems, but in another Region. I grew up in a small town on this other Krems river.
Greetings from Austria,
posted by 15L06 at 4:46 AM on July 22, 2022 [8 favorites]
- the embroidery, and the weight of the shirt fabric itself, make it seem like it is of decent quality - not a quick-and-cheap print job for mass production.
The embroidery design looks mid 80s-early 90s to me. The quality and price of mass produced clothing has been a race to the bottom since well before then, for all kids of reasons (capitalism etc). A cheap souvenir t-shirt felt different 30+ years ago.
posted by doift at 12:05 AM on July 23, 2022
The embroidery design looks mid 80s-early 90s to me. The quality and price of mass produced clothing has been a race to the bottom since well before then, for all kids of reasons (capitalism etc). A cheap souvenir t-shirt felt different 30+ years ago.
posted by doift at 12:05 AM on July 23, 2022
Response by poster: Thank you so much everyone! This was an interesting one.
When my partner and I read the answers and got to the part about the Danube, we thought, "A ha! That must be it!" because their parent goes on opera or classical music type river cruises at least once per year. We've heard about a Danube cruise many times.
But then we had their parent read through everyone's answers, and parent still said, "I guess no one knows where it's from."
"But that thing about the Danube! You've gone on these cruises! Surely that's where it's from?"
"I've always wanted to go on one, but this year is actually the first time I'm gonna go!" (Note future tense - they haven't even gone on the cruise yet!)
So our best guess right now is that someone they know must have purchased it from that town, and given it to them at some point.
Nevertheless, maybe if their future cruise stops at or around Krems, they will be inspired to see the town :) thanks again to everyone!
posted by tinydancer at 6:57 PM on July 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
When my partner and I read the answers and got to the part about the Danube, we thought, "A ha! That must be it!" because their parent goes on opera or classical music type river cruises at least once per year. We've heard about a Danube cruise many times.
But then we had their parent read through everyone's answers, and parent still said, "I guess no one knows where it's from."
"But that thing about the Danube! You've gone on these cruises! Surely that's where it's from?"
"I've always wanted to go on one, but this year is actually the first time I'm gonna go!" (Note future tense - they haven't even gone on the cruise yet!)
So our best guess right now is that someone they know must have purchased it from that town, and given it to them at some point.
Nevertheless, maybe if their future cruise stops at or around Krems, they will be inspired to see the town :) thanks again to everyone!
posted by tinydancer at 6:57 PM on July 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by potrzebie at 9:09 PM on July 21, 2022 [9 favorites]