From beer to ice cream, lapel pins to T-shirts, if it has anything to do with US president-elect Barack Obama, it’s selling like hotcakes as people everywhere snap up souvenirs marking his inauguration.
“So many people want a memento of this historic time,” said Ann Hand, a jewelry maker in Washington who has made a collection of accessories to commemorate Obama’s swearing-in.
Hand offers cuff links featuring the red, white and blue ‘O’ logo of the Obama campaign, a necklace reprising Obama’s “Hope” theme, sunglasses encrusted with Swarovski crystal to spell out the name of the 44th US president and half a dozen other jewelry items.
None come cheap, but even in a slumping global economy, demand has been so strong that many of the accessories are on back order.
“Everything is selling better than I expected. We’re doing a lot of overseas orders — Hong Kong, Norway, Sweden, Singapore, Japan, Britain. We’ve never had that before,” said Hand, who has been in business for 20 years.
“It’s really wonderful to know that people overseas want our president’s lapel pin,” she said.
A shop selling official “Obamabilia” opened on Saturday in Washington, offering items like a T-shirt featuring artist Shepard Fairey’s iconic rendering of the president-elect under the words “Be the change” for US$30 and a small wooden train with the inaugural seal for US$22.
A Diane von Furstenberg tote bag was selling for US$70 and an organic cotton black T-shirt by Donna Karan for US$45.
“We’ve been swamped. I can’t even keep things on the shelves,” said shop manager Joe Reid, as Washington resident Deborah Watts left the shop with badges, pencils and a long-sleeve T-shirt.
“It’s a little pricey and the pencils are downright overpriced at US$2 a piece,” Watts said. “But I had to come and buy something official to remember this by.”
Claudia Jeanette of Michigan bought one of the wooden trains and a plastic blue piggy bank for her grandchildren.
“What’s funny is my husband works for a bank in Michigan and they give the exact same piggy banks away for free when people open a new account,” she said.
Obama fans can drink to and lick in the new president, too. The Capital City brewery is serving “Inaugurale” beer at its brasseries in Washington, including one in the shadow of the Capitol, where Obama will be sworn in.
Ben and Jerry’s has borrowed Obama’s “Yes we can” campaign slogan and rolled out “Yes Pecan” ice cream.
The official souvenir shop was offering a china plate for US$82, a beer stein for US$15 and stemless wineglasses for US$40 for a set of four.
The official souvenirs are available online too, and fans who don’t want to spend US$82 for a commemorative plate could always go for the Obama victory plate.
This “piece of fine porcelain with 22-karat gold trim” will remind proud purchasers for years to come of Obama’s “comforting smile and kind eyes,” according to the announcer who sells the victory plate in a TV ad that has spawned a series of spoof infomercials on YouTube.
Marvel Comics will next week release the 583rd adventure of the Amazing Spider-Man — featuring Obama.
Marvel decided to publish the Obama meets Spidey comic after learning the soon-to-be president of the US is a long-time fan of the web-spinning super hero.
“A Spider-Man fan moving into the Oval Office is an event that must be commemorated in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man,” Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada said.
The Washington Times will publish a special inaugural keepsake edition on Jan. 21 that will include “messages of hope” sent by readers to the new president.
But one of the most affordable and useful souvenirs will be the Washington public transportation system’s permanent fare ticket, or SmartCard, featuring a smiling Obama.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was