ABOUT US

From the start, we called our adventure “Beetlebung.” That was in 2005 on Martha’s Vineyard.

Across many winters, when the island was quiet, we designed artwork for screen printing and slowly crafted a portfolio of products. Through the years we also hired seamstresses to custom sew many of our garments from premium fabrics.

Today, as we approach our 20th Anniversary, we offer three lines of women’s summer pants in fabrics like linen and bamboo, each pair sewn by us. Most of what we do is unique. For hitting the beach, we offer playful printed beach towels with our artwork and designs but also an ultra-plush Jacquard woven towel unsurpassed in quality and USA made. We view what we do, how we do it, and the products we make as our way of “bottling” island culture.

Today, creative product design remains our focus. We seek out, meet, and co-develop our ideas with artists and artisans island-wide and around the country with a focus on quality, fair trade, and original thinking. You can only get what we do by coming to Martha’s Vineyard or visiting this site.

Our store is located in the town of Oak Bluffs at 53 Circuit Avenue on Martha’s Vineyard - come visit!

Welcome to Beetlebung!

Renee & John

Founders/Owners/Operators/Designers

WHAT IS BEETLEBUNG?

“Beetlebung” is an old, island folk word from the whaling days. Here’s the story in a nutshell.

Whalers boiled down whale oil to fuel lamps that burned brighter and lasted longer than candles. Islanders turned to large wooden casks to store and transport whale oil, and from a local tree, they crafted necessary tools.

Once very common, the “beetle” was a hard wooden mallet. The “bung” was a wooden stopper, like a cork.

Folks dubbed the local tree from which craftsmen harvested the wood to make beetles and bungs a “Beetlebung” tree. Hard as nails, it grew up until the salt air made it go peculiarly sideways, a metaphor perhaps for island life.

Demand for whale oil boomed. Whalers “beetled” the “bungs” into casks to seal and ship them faraway. Martha’s Vineyard whale oil lit the streets of London.

Then it ended. “Coal oil,” Rockefeller, the Civil War, modernity... A reprieve for the whales.

A grove of Beetlebungs are at the Chilmark center intersection - “Beetlebung Corner.”