Emergency Tender — Gnome Art T-Shirt | Specimen & Issue

The municipality required emergency money. The gnome appears to have had other matters in hand.

In 1921, Bevern, Germany, issued a 25-pfennig Notgeld note with a woodland inhabitant beside a mushroom, beneath the moon and stars. Notgeld means emergency money: local currency produced outside the usual national issue. Many such notes carried regional stories, landmarks, and folklore. Follow the small denominations and you find a country telling tales in its change.

That is the specimen at the chest. On the back, its little world has grown: a long beard, a red cap, mushrooms of thoroughly unreasonable proportions, and the patient foliage of a forest that has never read a monetary policy statement. Red-orange, moss, ochre, and cream keep the feeling of an old illustrated page discovered between more respectable books.

The date matters. This is a 1921 local note, with its own story, rather than a generic souvenir of the later hyperinflation. The delight is in the particular: one place, one small piece of paper, one municipal decision that a gnome was suitable financial company.

SPECIMEN & ISSUE — A Breach in Taste

Real currencies, encountered twice: an adapted archival specimen at the left chest and an original artistic interpretation across the back.

THE SHIRT

Comfort Colors 1717 garment-dyed unisex tee with a relaxed fit and substantial 6.1 oz, 100% ring-spun cotton fabric. Front chest print and large back print. Available in Black, White, Ivory, Pepper, Moss, Sandstone, in sizes S–4XL. Check the size chart for your preferred fit.

CARE

Machine wash cold. Do not bleach. Tumble dry low. Use low heat if ironing; avoid ironing directly over the print. Do not dry clean.

This original artwork was developed by A Breach in Taste using AI-assisted image generation, human creative direction, and human editing.

A Breach in Taste — Ideas, in Shirt Form.

Explore all eight Specimen & Issue designs and their specimen notes →