On the day of the World Series parade, one dedicated Brewers fan sprinted through Milwaukee’s bustling downtown, weaving through the crowd to reach his appointment for an unexpected first tattoo: Snoopy clad in Brewers gear.
This fan’s commemoration of the winning World Series stint was not a one-off occurrence, but rather a surge of Snoopy-loving Wisconsinites sharing this same – and permanent – excitement.
Low Rain, an artist collective and fine-line tattoo studio in the Third Ward, began offering tattoos of the beloved beagle with a Milwaukee twist when the Brewers advanced to the World Series.
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Three artists – Daniell Sobelman, Hannah Johnson and Reid “Hayden” Stevenson – have been tattooing six pre-drawn Snoopy-Brewers designs since releasing a flash sheet on social media. Sobelman, a tattooist and the owner of Low Rain, says she idea came from good timing.
“I threw out the idea of doing a Halloween flash, and we threw in some Snoopy designs. And then the Brewers were going to the World Series, and I knew a lot of tattoo places were going to go brewers-focused, like the logos,” Sobelman explains. “I wanted to make them super unique, and since we had just done Snoopy for Halloween, I ran with it.”
Sobelman had a “good feeling” about the potential popularity of the designs – and she was right. After the initial Instagram post garnered over 3,000 likes, inquiries started flooding the shop immediately. However, as an appointment-based, not-walk-in style shop, artists are booked for at least a month out; Snoopy ink was a labor of love after hours, on weekends or any other time they could squeeze it in.
The customers themselves were given six different designs to choose from: Snoopy up to bat, enjoying a cold beer, catching a fly ball, eating a hot dog, leaning on a bat or standing proudly in a Brewers jersey.
“There were lots of connections. It wouldn’t be just for the Brewers. It was like, ‘I love the Brewers, I love Snoopy and I love Hot Dogs,’ I’ve had three people come in saying that exact thing,” Johnson says.
The tattoos varied slightly in size based on customer preference, but mostly remained at the $125 price tag. The artists accepted only slight tweaks to the original flash sheet on a tattoo-by-tattoo basis, due to demand and their packed schedules.
Now, with an estimated 30-40 tattoos and counting completed between the three artists, Sobelman attributes the popularity of the idea not only to the historic World Series run, but also to the intersection of two timeless favorites.
“It’s nostalgic, I feel like the Brewers are such a common ground in Milwaukee. Everyone loves baseball. And then you see Snoopy, and it’s just cute and makes you think about when you were younger,” Sobelman says.
Nostalgia resonated with Low Rain’s customers, from families getting matching tattoos, to long time Brewers fans wanting history inked on them forever.
But the craze surrounding the Brewers is not limited to the fans ready to ink it onto their skin. Sobelman describes the studio’s energy as “buzzing” with support for the Brewers, especially after a surprise visit from manager Pat Murphy prior to the World Series run.
“Pat Murphy came to Low Rain a little bit over a month ago while we tattooed some family friends of his. He was so down to earth,” Sobelman remarked. “The Brewers just feel like friends, instead of people so distant and far away.”
The era isn’t over yet. As they continue to receive DMs about the Snoopy-Brewers tattoos, Low Rain will continue taking limited appointments for the flash designs and more. Availability must be confirmed individually, and any tattoo appointments must be scheduled in advance. Visit the links in their Instagram bio, or DM the artist for further scheduling details.
“I was born and raised here. It meant a lot to me specifically to be able to give back to Milwaukee and pour back into the city that pours so much into us too,” she said.
