The Wisconsin Historical Museum in Madison, Wisconsin is renowned for its collection of American historical documents. It also sells a lot of t-shirts.

These shirts extoll the glories of Wisconsin beer, Wisconsin forests, Wisconsin bratwurst, Wisconsin “bubblers” (drinking fountains), Lake Superior, and… Wisconsin cheese curds. So…. do you like yours deep-fried, or “fresh and squeaky?”

Does dairy-centric Wisconsin have an irony-deficiency? Did the museum not guess that a “cheese curd” t-shirt (featuring a grinning humanoid curd) would practically shove itself into the hands of irony-happy California visitors?

Or are they playing us?

Somehow this tee found its way to Santa Cruz, perhaps as a snarky gift for someone who’d rather die than wear the thing. Which is probably why I found it, in new condition unworn, at a thrift shop two blocks from my house.