Chicago Man’s Tweet on a ‘Rat Gap’ Paid His Lease Thrice Over

Winslow Dumaine posted the picture — which exhibits an imprint within the floor formed like a rodent — on X on January 7. The silhouette of the rodent was lacking a limb and was stuffed with water.

“Needed to make a.pilgrimage to the Chicago Rat Gap,” Dumaine wrote within the submit, which has since garnered 5 million views and over 136,000 likes.

In response to his web site, Dumaine is an artist, author, and comic whose work focuses on “ache, grief, trauma, and restoration.” On the web site, he sells tarot card decks and prints along with his unique illustrations.

The 32-year-old informed Enterprise Insider in an electronic mail {that a} buddy had informed him to “maintain a watch out for the rat gap” whereas strolling collectively in Roscoe Village. The quaint neighborhood is about 7 miles northwest of Downtown Chicago.

“Once I noticed the rat gap on the bottom, it hit me like a physique blow — I instantly laughed very onerous,” Dumaine mentioned.

“You can present this to somebody in China, France, or 1000 AD Rome, they usually’d all know what occurred. It was a chunk of the common thread that binds us all — animals, misfortune, and proof,” he added.

The outlet may be discovered close to 1918 W Roscoe Avenue 4047, in accordance with the native outlet Block Membership Chicago.

Product gross sales paid his lease thrice over

Dumaine mentioned he posted a reply only a minute after he uploaded the picture of the rat gap, and showcased a number of merchandise on his web site.

“I am additionally an artist and I promote plenty of bizarre stuff on my web site, please test it out,” Dumaine wrote within the submit, which additionally featured photographs of the stickers, tarot playing cards, and a pouch he sells. It ended up getting some 90,000 views, Dumaine mentioned, which translated into gross sales as dozens of individuals adopted by way of to his web site to purchase his merchandise.

Among the objects on Dumaine’s on-line store embody a tarot card deck that includes his unique designs for $60, a woven blanket with a photograph he took of 4 skulls on the Sedlec Ossuary, a Catholic church and cemetery within the Czech Republic, for $75, and a pink water bottle with the phrase “Cum!” printed on it for $20.

Since posting the picture final week, Dumaine informed BI he has offered $3,000 price of merchandise on his web site — greater than thrice his month-to-month lease of $1,000. On common, Dumaine makes round $5,000 a month, he mentioned — however that additionally consists of earnings from freelancing and wholesaling his merchandise to 12 outlets within the US and two in Vietnam. BI couldn’t independently confirm Dumaine’s gross sales or month-to-month earnings.

Dumaine mentioned that it was the genuineness of his submit that helped garner a lot consideration, including that he loved seeing folks “snigger at a quite simple factor.”

“Since this was on a enjoyable and actual submit, and since my submit wasn’t some rip-off bot promoting drop ship rubbish from Temu, folks really engaged with it,” he mentioned.