The recent reviews and “likes” on a Facebook page for a Maine woman’s unique arts and crafts business don’t stink.
“This woman is amazingly funny and her products make amazing gifts,” one comment says.
Another glowing endorsement reads: “Amazing personality and great products! Keep it up!”
Meanwhile, others who have posted on the page this week — from as far away as Pennsylvania and Virginia — are clamoring to get their hands on what she has to offer.
So what’s all the hype about? Well, moose poop, actually.
Yes. You read that correctly — they all want moose poop.
After a video of Mary Winchenbach, owner of Tirdy Works, displaying her merchandise at a Maine fair went viral this week, people have been dropping in on her Facebook page to heap on praise for the poop-themed products.
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“Thanks for all your support,” Winchenbach wrote Wednesday, as people left comments and visited her page, which was created after the video went viral to keep up with demand.
Winchenbach, 57, said she started her side business making turd trinkets more than a decade ago, an idea that was born from her sense of humor and a bit of boredom.
“I had too much time on my hands and an imagination,” she said in a telephone interview. “I love to make people laugh. People need to lighten up and chill out and have a good time.”
Winchenbach later incorporated some of her products into a stand-up comedy routine, selling them to anyone who was willing to buy them after her performances.
But she never expected she’d one day get requests from customers around the country who were looking to have “[expletive] shipped” to their homes.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe it,” she said of the sudden fame. “It has exploded.”
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The video that led to the exposure around Winchenbach’s kitschy products was posted to Facebook on Sept. 21 by someone who attended Maine’s Common Ground Country Fair, where Winchenbach had a booth set up.
In the two-minute clip, which has been viewed more than 1.5 million times, Winchenbach is seen standing behind a large display of her artwork as she explains to the curious people around her what each item is.
“We took the turds and crammed them in between the numbers,” Winchenbach says, as she holds up a wooden clock with moose poop fastened between each digit. “One-turdy, two-turdy, three-turdy.”
She calls it a “Poo-poo Clock.” Those listening to her pitch can be heard laughing in the video.
Like a salesperson on a late-night television infomercial, Winchenbach quickly shifts gears to show off another creation, pointing to her “poo-poo platters” — trays with moose dung attached.
She also sells moose poop keychains, which float in water so you’ll never lose your keys again.
“You ever dropped a key in the water, you just look for the floating turd,” she says in the video. “The keys are going to be dangling right underneath that turd.”
The most popular product, she said, is her signature “[expletive] clip” — a roach clip “you put a joint in and then pass that [expletive] around.”
Winchenbach, who by day works in a laboratory at a seaweed fertilizer company, says the poop is safe. She dries the droppings out and then adds a special coating to them before creating her masterpieces.
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To get supplies for her work, Winchenbach tracks moose near a swamp by her house and picks up the dung they leave behind.
Most people would do all they could to avoid a pile of poop on the ground. But not Winchenbach.
“I get $5 a turd,” she said. “I jump up and down when I find a pile of [expletive] in the woods. That’s exciting — because that’s a whole bunch of money right there for me.”
Since gaining popularity, Winchenbach said she’s been invited to several more craft fairs coming up. She is also working on a new product.
“It’s a stool sample,” she said. “A turd sitting on a little stool.”
Mary Winchenbach can fill all your poop needs @tirdyworks
Posted by Carol Richard on Friday, September 21, 2018
One of my favorite vendors, Tirdy Works. (Hope you’re not offended) Tirdy Works now almost 10 MILLION! views! For licensing and usage, contact: licensing@viralhog.com)
Posted by Patti Dowse on Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.