Buy a Wolverine Hat // Buy a Wolverine T Shirt // Buy a Wolverine Hoodie

You’re not gonna believe this, but outside of a zoo or two, there’s apparently never been a wolverine seen in Michigan. Not one. Not trappings (back in the badass fur trapper and trader days), not one skeleton, nothing. So how in the world did the wolverine become such a popular mascot in a seemingly foreign state?

In 1952, a man by the name of Albert H. Marckwardt (dude must’ve had a hell of a time at those 1950s calligraphy parties) wrote an article for that bitchin rag, the Michigan Quarterly Review. He thinks that the state of Michigan became known as the Wolverine State because some French settlers (shoutout Zinedine Zidane) ate a ton in the 1700s and were compared to gluttons, which is exactly what the scientific name for a wolverine, gulo gulo, means.

Another theory states that a border dispute between Ohio and Michigan led to those crafty Ohioan geniuses using their silver tongues to besmirch good Michiganders by calling them, get this, wolverines. As if that was an insult… I don’t get it either. And apparently it was again the chosen moniker because of eating too much. Body shaming isn’t a new thing, I guess.

Finally another postulation is that that same damn Michigan Quarterly Review (owners must be millionaires by now) published a quote from the great Fielding H. Yost where he attributed the name to the busy fur trade happening down at ole Sault Ste. Marie, believing people referred to the tough pelts as “Michigan wolverines.” Pretty cold that he said this after dropping Michigan State 119-0, too.

So, end of the road, and we still don’t know for sure, but I like to think it’s because a wolverine is one badass animal and any football or basketball team would be chuffed to call themselves that. Michigan just smartly got there first.

Oh yeah, the point: Please buy something from our Ann Arbor Collection. We make really good stuff, I promise.

Or, if you hate that idea, try Madison, Columbus, Happy Valley, Minneapolis, or South Bend.

Mascot History: Wolverines