Origin of the Dive Bar

Dive Bar Shirt Club is named after the term, “dive bar” obviously. While it may seem like an easy enough term to understand, the origins of the words “dive bar” compared to that of just “bar” or “pub” has its roots in history. Incidentally, a “pub”, according to Wikipedia, is a public house and is the center of a community. This the primary difference between a dive bar, a bar, and a pub, is the imagined class and location.

Just what is a dive bar?

A dive bar is also known as an informal bar or pub, and are often referred to as neighborhood bars. Yes, that does make Paddy’s from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia a dive bar. The primary difference between a dive bar and a formal bar will be directly tied to its appearance. While a dive bar will be informal, locally run, and cater almost exclusively to locals, bars are different in that they usually offer entertainment such as local bands, DJs, or even comedic acts. The primary difference between a dive bar and a bar, according to us, is whether or not we’ll feature a dive bar on a monthly shirt or not.

A club like no other

Writing specifically of dive bars, in August of 2010 Playboy describe dive bars as, “A church for down-and-outers and those who romanticize them, a rare place where high and low rub elbows—bums and poets, thieves and slumming celebrities. It’s a place that wears its history proudly.”

At Dive Bar Shirt Club we know that dive bars are an essential part of the fabric and culture of American life, much like the fabric and culture of our shirts. It may not be the focal point of a community like a pub, and it may not be considered a place of high class, but they are places where people of a community meet and enjoy a drink and possibly a meal at the end of the day.

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Dive Bar Shirt Club welcomes and honors the traditions and locations of dive bars featuring new dive bar shirt every month made exclusive to our patrons alone. Join today to start receiving your limited edition drive bar shirt club shirts!

Support your local dive bar!

Support your local dive bar and have a beer!

We know that dive bars are everywhere. They are as American as apple pie. No town is complete without a dive bar, and no one in a dive bar is complete without being featured as one of our bar shirts. At Dive Bar Shirt Club we feature a new dive bar every month. We pour over pictures and submissions for our bar shirts as we pour beer and enjoy a good drink. Our bar shirts are made for everyone that enjoys spending time with friends, having a drink, and enjoying the atmosphere of a local dive bar.

The genesis for the club began with the realization that many dive bars do not advertise at all. They are known by word of mouth alone. We realize that there are a lot of great places in our nation that many people will never get to experience, and we wanted to share in those experiences. This is why we started a club to feature dive bar t shirts. It lets us know where to go when we are visiting a new town, it lets us know what to expect. Dive bar t shirts should be part of the very fabric of any establishment, and we are proud to be able to offer our dive bar t shirts in our club.

Joining the club is as easy as 1...2...3!

Our easy to use website makes ordering simple, and our recurring pricing means that once you have joined our club you don’t have to worry about reordering the next month, we’ll send it to you automatically. Also we know that you hate commitments. We do too. So feel free to cancel anytime. There is no minimum agreement. We just want to share our passion for dive bars and dive bar tee shirts with you.

If you want to feature your local pub on our site, be sure to submit pictures either on our site or on social media. Include a message about why you think we should use your dive bar, and we’ll let you know if we choose your bar so that you can let everyone know so that they can order tee shirts from us as well.

Thanks for your business, and we look forward to seeing you at the dive bars!