We Are Mankind — Wells Heretics Mug

Wells wrote this in 1920, in the immediate wake of the first war the world had ever had the scale to call "world." His argument: nationality was too small a category to organize a species around. Five words that take three seconds to read and considerably longer to sit with.

Start your morning with Wells's most optimistic conviction — that nationality is an inherited box, and mankind is the thing that doesn't fit inside it.

H.G. Wells, The Outline of History (1920)

“Our true nationality is mankind.”

Start the day with the biggest frame available.

That's what the morning is for.

The Design

A large amber opening quotation mark anchors the top of the design on both sides of the mug — the only ornament, and enough. The quote runs in consistent large serif type, and the attribution follows in smaller amber below.

Wells didn't build to the claim; he opened with it. The design agrees.

Your Morning Reckoning

• 15 oz — substantial. Not a collection piece.
• Glossy black — quote shows clean on both sides
• Two-sided print — the quote wraps the mug. Lefties see it. Righties see it.
• Dishwasher safe
• Microwave safe

Who It’s For

The person whose morning needs more than caffeine. A traveler, a reader, someone who thinks about where we’re all headed. An unexpected but exactly right gift for the person who has opinions about H.G. Wells — or who doesn’t know his work yet and should.

The biggest thought deserves the first cup.

Also on the We Are Mankind Tee. More Wells: Future Tee.

H.G. Wells, in Plain English

• English author and historian (1866–1946)
• Wrote The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man
• The Outline of History (1920) — humanity’s story as one continuous narrative, sold over two million copies
• Spent his career arguing that the species needed to think at the species level, or it wouldn’t survive
• A futurist who was right about more things than was comfortable