Austintatious (Austin-tatious)

Austin is the capital of Texas; perhaps some people feel that it’s “ostentatious.” The term “Austintatious” (or “Austin-tatious” or sometimes spelled “Austintacious”) has been used as an adjective and as a business name. The term dates from at least 1974 and was popularized by T-shirt designer Kerry Fitzgerald (also known as Kerry Awn) in the short-lived newspaper called the Austin Sun (or Texas Sun).
   
   
Merriam-Webster
Main Entry: os·ten·ta·tious
Pronunciation: -sh&s
Function: adjective
: marked by or fond of conspicuous or vainglorious and sometimes pretentious display
 
14 November 1974, Texas Sun (Austin, TX), pg. 22, col. 2:
Kerry Awn
Kerry Fitzgerald, also known as Kerry Awn, has glorified Austin, creating amusing shirts of a detailed and flamboyant style. “Austintatious”, a term popularized by Kerry, is also the title of one of his shirt designs done in conjunction with Rick Turner and Tom Bauman. 
 
25 March 1976, Texas Sun (Austin, TX), pg. 2, col. 4:
“Austintatious” is a registered trademark of Austintatious Artists (illegible word—ed.)  U.S. Pat. Ofc. No. 1028958 and may not be reporduced without Registered or Trademark. Our legal staff is researching grounds for a future law suit.
 
Google Books
Ancient Lights
by Davis Grubb
New York: Viking Press
1982
Pg. 246:
I do find Texans so—so Austintatious.
 
Google Books
Torching the Fink Books and Other Essays on Vernacular Culture
by Archie Green
Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press
2001
Pg. 97:
Jack Jaxon offers the last picture of the “Cozmic Cowboy”—a cartoon with running text published in the Austin Sun (March 11, 1976) as a “handy guide for out-of-staters” (fig. 10). A “genuine bad-ass redneck Texas cowpoke” stares down a hairy, “austintatious,” jewelry-bedecked dude, while the artist explains their sartorial contrast. 
 
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Francis Muir)
Date: 1996/02/25
Subject: Re: Ted Samsel - Illuminati?
 
Joann Zimmerman writes:
 
... Paul, you’re way too damn late. “Austintatious,” or as my former non-compadre Samsel spells it, “Austintacious,” has been in use for at least twenty years to describe the state of exemplifying
that which is (or used to be, by now, nostalgia not being what it used to be, either, damn it) Austin, Texas. I could cite all sorts of very back issues indeed of the previously-mentioned, but alas,
all-too-defunct weekly _Austin Sun_, circa 1976.
 
You may continue to use the word “AustEntation” as a synonym for Janeism, as I am quite sure that we are all sufficiently Close Readers to tell the difference. (Vive la!)
 
I remind the rabid that I coined the word Austenitic precisely - well, partly - to distinguish things Janeian from capital Texan notions.  It is also true that in another world that Austenitic steels - steels containing the crystaline form Austenite -  are hard enough under the somewhat adverse conditions met in the combustion chambers of internal combustion engines that they are used to make those valves of whose multiplicity of number the manufacturers of automobiles have now become so inordinately proud. It was, in fact, a Victorian Austen after whom Austenite is named, and I dare say he
was related to Our Jane, Paul always excepted.   
 
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From: JD Cooper

Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 10:34:58 -0500
Subject: Re: Who’s from Austin? AUSTIN-TATIOUS!
 
“austintatious” is a common word used among the natives in Austin. I have always thought it was a funny ‘lil colloquialism. Mostly it refers to the high-brow lifestyles of the rich and famous thereabouts.
   
(Trademark)
Word Mark AUSTINTATIOUS
Goods and Services (CANCELLED) IC 042. G & S: NO GOODS/SERVICES STATEMENT ON TRAM
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Design Search Code
Serial Number 81028958
Filing Date 0000
Current Filing Basis UNKNOWN
Original Filing Basis UNKNOWN
Registration Number 1028958
Registration Date December 30, 1975
Owner (REGISTRANT) Austintatious Artists UNKNOWN Austin TEXAS
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Cancellation Date May 25, 1982