Obama Kitsch

Kitsch … do you know what it is? It’s “excessively garish or sentimental art, usually considered in bad taste” (Princeton University).

When President Barack Obama was inaugurated, Obama kitsch erupted onto the scene like a Hawaiian volcano spewing hot lava. For you see, Mr. Obama went to school here and the people of Hawaii have claimed him as their own favorite son.

And so … they paid tribute. Heck, even I got into the game, publishing special souvenir envelopes that sold out at a collectors show last year.

But y’know, enough already. The stuff is still being made. Or at least, it’s still hanging around in the cheap-o gift shops that pepper the shopping landscape in tourist-oriented Waikiki. You can see Obama kitsch all over the place there.

I talked to the person at the store where I saw these Hawaii-themed Obama dolls, and asked if they were moving off the shelves. “Only when I dust them,” was her reply.

Apparently, store owners overestimated his popularity and stocked up on the Obama kitch. But the demand was never that great, and with the President’s popularity at a historic low, the gift shops are now stuck with lots of inventory.

Still, one of the side principles of collecting/investing is to buy what nobody wants, at cheap prices, and hope that the demand eventually goes up. Plus, if YOU like it, that’s all that counts, right?

(Giggle)