Obamorabilia: Dirty South Edition

Barack Obama will go down in history for, among other things, being the president who lent his image to the most merchandise. If his economic stimulus doesn't work, hopefully at least Americans will buy enough Obama-themed objects to put the economy back on track. Obamathon Man chronicles the popular trends, the quirky deviations and the utterly tasteless byproducts of Obama mania in a series known as Obamorabilia.

We got gas near our hotel this morning, and in the adjacent convenience store we saw the most improbable of product displays: Obama merchandise! My associate had previously spotted pez dispensers urging people to "Vote Republican" in a rural Illinois gas station, so it was particularly surprising to see Obama stuff in Georgia of all places. This probably just goes to show that those who like Obama like him enough to shell out for him. Obama's popularity will probably wane at some point, and the merchandise will disappear as well. But the republican pez dispensers will still be there.

Obamorabilia: Change We Can Buy Into

Barack Obama will go down in history for, among other things, being the president who lent his image to the most merchandise. If his economic stimulus doesn't work, hopefully at least Americans will buy enough Obama-themed objects to put the economy back on track. Obamathon Man chronicles the popular trends, the quirky deviations and the utterly tasteless byproducts of Obama mania in a series known as Obamorabilia.

What an appropriate gimmick to cover while here at the home of the world's largest mint: Obama commemorative coins! Now for a limited time, get these wonderful gold-plated coins for three easy payments of $4.95. How would you ever remember Obama's historic election without a coin bearing a likeness of his face? Check out the testimonials, all from smokin' hot babes - hey, it works for beer ads. No word as to whether or not these coins are actually legal tender, but the people making them hope they will be worth $14.90 to you.

Obamorabilia: Denver Edition

Barack Obama will go down in history for, among other things, being the president who lent his image to the most merchandise. If his economic stimulus doesn't work, hopefully at least Americans will buy enough Obama-themed objects to put the economy back on track. Obamathon Man chronicles the popular trends, the quirky deviations and the utterly tasteless byproducts of Obama mania in a series known as Obamorabilia.

Obamathon Man comes from a bookish family, and has a keen interest in literature himself. There's so many books in my blood that after I die my corpse will be recycled. So I've been to many of the bookstores of the Denver area, and each of them has one book well stocked and prominently displayed: Democratic National Convention 2008: Obama's Mile High Moment. The book is loaded with glossy photos, includes shots of prominent democrats and our new friend Hick. There is heavy coverage of protests which took place, including a shot of an anarchist swollen from pepper spray. Plenty of got snaps of Obama's closing night speech as well. A 72 page book, it lists for $15.95, a price that can only be described as "Mile High Markup". But on Amazon the price is $10.85, a fair price for any Demorcat or Denverite.

Obamorabilia: The Obama Store

Barack Obama will go down in history for, among other things, being the president who lent his image to the most merchandise. If his economic stimulus doesn't work, hopefully at least Americans will buy enough Obama-themed objects to put the economy back on track. Obamathon Man chronicles the popular trends, the quirky deviations and the utterly tasteless byproducts of Obama mania in a series known as Obamorabilia.

Get your life-size Obama cardboard cutouts! To those in the DC area who just can't get enough Obama-themed stuff, there's a new store in town just for you: The Obama Souvenir Shop! Conveniently located next to the White House so as to scoop up the optimum amount of tourist junk spending, the Obama Souvenir Shop features every type of clothing, stationery, sundry, toiletry, cosmetic, or other frivolity imaginable - with an Obama logo on it! Why, just the other day, they unveiled their new Obama-flavored hot sauce, which quickly began selling like hot cakes. Hot damn! The owner, Jim Warlick, was astute enough to buy a zillion copies of the Nov. 5 Washington Post for $2 apiece, they're up for resale now at the Obama Store for $20. But while most newspaper profiteers would just give you the paper for $20, Warlick is charitable enough to throw in a protective plastic sheet too. Of the rest of his inventory, Warlick says, "We're seeing the average sale is four to five times the normal sale purchase." Gosh Jim, you remind me of the old rich guy from Monopoly.

Obamorabilia: Commemorative Newspapers

Barack Obama will go down in history for, among other things, being the president who lent his image to the most merchandise. If his economic stimulus doesn't work, hopefully at least Americans will buy enough Obama-themed objects to put the economy back on track. Obamathon Man chronicles the popular trends, the quirky deviations and the utterly tasteless byproducts of Obama mania in a series known as Obamorabilia.

First up: commemorative newspapers. You've all seen them at some point. You may even have been one of those folks who bought a chunk of newspapers on Nov. 5. Yes, newspaper sales that day went waaaay up, and the paper companies sensed an opportunity to make extra bucks on this trend. Ideally, they would have had Barack Obama elected again the next day, but since that was kinda unconstitutional, they did the next best thing: commemorative editions! Here in Los Angeles, the LA times made available all kinds of collectible goodies: original copies of the newspaper, coffee mugs, t-shirts, and "authentic" aluminum plates of the front page. As of mid-December, they are all still available, but you better buy em now! They might run out, or Tribune co. might just pull the plug on the poor old Times. Obamathon man is too lazy to go city by city to check for whether commemorative papers are still available elsewhere, but you can do it yourself. I have a feeling plenty of other papers nationwide are willing to cash in.