The SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior on Nov. 10, 1975. Credit: Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society
By Clara Lincolnhol
As the gales of November approach, social media users are channeling a famous Great Lakes shipwreck as tongue-in-cheek inspiration for a new fall aesthetic.
It began with a video comedian Django Gold posted to TikTok in September. “Brat Summer is over. It’s time for Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald Fall,” Gold says in the short video, which has nearly 23,000 likes. Gordon Lightfoot’s song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” plays in the background.
The video ironically juxtaposes the morbid tale of the shipwreck with “Brat Summer,” the party-forward trend that took hold globally after singer-songwriter Charli XCX released her pop album “Brat” in June. “‘Wreck Fall’ is about being messy, flaunting it and perishing in the icy waters of Lake Superior,” Gold jokes.
Gold, who grew up in Illinois and lives in New York, said he made the video not to make light of tragedy but to poke fun at internet culture and the sing-songy way people and corporations talk about trends like Brat Summer.
@djangoindustries Brat summer is so. over. #trends #classicrock #brat #history #comedy
“It’s just the idea of taking something that’s meant to be sexy and young and cool and replacing it with something your dad would enjoy,” he said. “Something kind of old and less glamorous, and the song for whatever reason came to mind.”
Other social media users have joined in on the bit. Gold’s video has spawned posts on TikTok and Instagram, where users show off their Wreck Fall outfits. Others feature videos of Lake Superior and ship memorabilia. Commenters say they’re happy to be part of “FitzgeraldTok.”
Wisconsin native and biologist Madeline Ammend is one of them. She posted a video on TikTok in which she stands by the Pacific Ocean, sporting a “Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes” sweatshirt she found at a thrift store.
Ammend said she first learned about the Edmund Fitzgerald as a child. She grew up sailing on Lake Superior with her father, a time she remembers fondly.
“I thought my dad was just the coolest sailorman,” she said. “Me and my parents, when I was really little, would sail out to Isle Royale and they would play ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’ by Gordon Lightfoot a lot.”
Most people Ammend knew growing up in northern Wisconsin and at college in Minnesota were familiar with the shipwreck and the song, she said. In fact, a shared appreciation for the Edmund Fitzgerald is how her romantic relationship started: While living in Minnesota, she wore her shipwreck sweatshirt in an online dating profile that caught her now boyfriend’s eye. Months later, Lightfoot’s death prompted him to ask her on a date.
The couple now live together in California with two cats named Edmund and Fitzgerald. Ammend says most people she meets there are unfamiliar with the shipwreck.
@madelineammend My cats are named Edmund and Fitzgerald so you could say I dabble in the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald fandom #greatlakes #gorpcore #edmundfitzgerald #wreckoftheedmundfitzgerald
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was a 730-foot-long Great Lakes cargo freighter. The ship sank on Nov. 10, 1975, during an intense storm on Lake Superior, about 17 miles northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan. The entire crew of 29 men was lost.
Hurricane-strength winds and waves up to 25 feet high battered the freighter, according to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. “We’re holding our own, going along like an old shoe,” was the last transmission sent out by the ship’s captain. The Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared from radar 10 minutes later.
The story of the sinking is ingrained in Upper Midwest culture and the communities the crew members were from, said Sean Ley, development officer at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, which operates the museum at Whitefish Point.
“People are always interested in shipwrecks, because of the mystery that goes with it and also how Mother Nature is pretty much in charge,” he said.
Lightfoot’s song, released the year after the wreck, helped to memorialize the event through its haunting melody and memorable sound, Ley said.
According to Ley, 120,000 people visited the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in its May-to-October 2024 season.
Starting a trend wasn’t Gold’s intention in posting the satirical video, he said. But he appreciates how the idea has caught on, and he enjoys seeing the videos others post about Wreck Fall. “I think it’s really cool,” he said.