Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Inauguration tchotchkes

Between planes at Washington-Reagan National Airport, I popped into the Generic Airport Shop Carrying Overpriced Local Paraphernalia. You know, like Red Sox caps and lobster logos at Boston's Logan International Airport.

Obama-Biden inauguration tchotchkes filled the shop. Someone is making a lot of money on the historic event with mugs, refrigerator magnets, t-shirts, jumbo-sized buttons to pin on your jacket, et al. Naturally some of the products are Made in China and one refrigerator magnet was Printed and Assembled in Canada, and one or two products said "Proudly Made in the U.S.A." Ah, capitalism. Oh, globalization.

Off in a corner was some McCain-Palin regalia with a sign saying "75 percent off."

4 comments:

Fran said...

That is basically what I experienced at the Hyatt gift shop when I stayed in DC in November... Lots of Obama stuff and a big sale table in the rear, overloaded with McCain Palin crap at the same 75% off!!

pj said...

Hey, come on! It's nice to know that somebody, somewhere is making money!

:/

Ken said...

To paraphrase the Four Questions, Why should this inauguration be different from any other inauguration? There's hustler in every crowd. A few weeks after 9/11 some entrepreneurial vampire was in the 8th Avenue subway station near the WTC, hawking WTC memorabilia. That wasn't even global, it was just meretricious.

Doorman-Priest said...

"Someone is making a lot of money on the historic event with mugs, refrigerator magnets, t-shirts, jumbo-sized buttons to pin on your jacket, et al."

It was ever thus. Anyway, one day they may be antiques and then you'll wish you'd bought loads.