November 24, 2016

I saw this in the email yesterday but sloughed it off as some hucksters using Trump's brand.



But no, it really is a brass-and-gold Christmas tree ornament in the shape of a Make-America-Great-Again hat sold for $149 by Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a joint fundraising committee authorized by and composed of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and the Republican National Committee.

I had to give it a second look after John linked to it at Facebook.

But let's think about this. Is it shocking hucksterism that says something about Trump in particular? Hillary Clinton had — still has — her on-line merchandise store, and she's got Christmas-themed stuff:



But you might say, the "ugly sweater" is a long-standing Christmas tradition and since when is there a Christmas hat? Why would there be a Christmas tree ornament in the shape of a hat?! And yet there are standard Christmas-related hats that one sees as ornaments: the Santa Claus hat, the elf hat, the top hat that makes Frosty the Snowman come alive. And there's a long tradition of making Christmas ornaments to represent a particular type of person for whom the household might feel some love: a sailor hat, a U.S. Army combat uniform hat, a chef's hat, a cowboy hat, an Air Force military hat, construction worker's hard hat. And as some crazy testament to the Christmasiness of hats, there's Cthulhu with Santa hat:



Now, don't be so prissy about Christmas. And by the way, why don't we ever see Jesus wearing a hat? Hats are kind of a big deal in religion, no? Here, George Carlin has an opinion on religion and hats:

48 comments:

Gahrie said...

But let's think about this. Is it shocking hucksterism that says something about Trump in particular?

No. apparently you haven't been paying attention.....there is nothing new or outlandish about this in today's culture.

AllenS said...

How about a good investment from Jan 2009:

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28538944/ns/business-consumer_news/t/obama-inaugural-coins-good-investment/#.WDbS27IrKM8

AllenS said...

OH! ... and don't forget the plates! YES WE CAN!

http://www.bradfordexchange.com/products/108595001_patriotic-plate.html

Darrell said...

People have shed blood for that hat.

Fabi said...

Make Christmas Great Again!

Wince said...

That Hillary sweater looks like an old, low-resolution Nintendo screen.

Wilbur said...

The Trump ornaments do make perfect holiday gifts for your progressive friends and relatives. At $149 a pop, you can buy 'em for the while crowd!

Mark said...

AllenS, was his campaign selling those or are you making yet another false comparison?

MayBee said...

Trump probably needs to raise money for the inauguration, no?

RNB said...

Hey! I own that Cthulhu ornament...

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

There are people who collect empty beer cans or beer bottles and have them proudly on display.

Hundreds of them.

This should matter to me why?

AllenS said...

You might want to read this, Mark --

http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/using-name-or-likeness-another

Someone had to give the ok, Mark, and that person would be Barack H Obama.

tim maguire said...

How many Trump supporters can afford $149 christmas ornaments?

That Carlin clip is typical Carlinesque self-righteous stupidity. He was too smart for religion by the age of two, but at 70 he still doesn't get that it's the willingness to make the gesture, not the gesture itself, that matters.

Quaestor said...

The Cthulhu ornament is too octopussy.

Sally327 said...

At least we won't see Donald Trump behind a table at the mall offering to sign it for a mere $49.99 extra. Will we? No, we won't. But it's an idea!

Quaestor said...

On the same Amazon page is a link to this Krampus ornament, which is really nasty, and is a real Xmas tradition in Holland.

We Americans have inherited much of our Xmas traditions from the Dutch settlers of New York, Santa Claus (Sinter Klaus) in particular. Thankfully the charm of distance allowed our Dutch colonial antecedents to dump the worst aspects of the holiday, Krampus in particular, so we don't have to explain to our children that Santa travels with a demon appointed to gather naughty kids in a bad and deliver them to Hell.

Being delivered to Hell brings up the subject of that Hillary sweatshirt. Sold out, is it? That makes me cringe. The thought of that wretched piece of propaganda being hauled out every Thanksgiving and worn at every party and gathering until Superbowl Sunday... yuck. Perhaps by next year the bulk of them will have been chucked into the Goodwill dumpster, and we'll see them worn most often by hurricane survivors in Haiti.

Frankly, a Christmas tree should be a politics-free zone. The military hats are an exception since they are mostly used to honor family members in national service. If somebody wants to hang Cthulhu or Yog-Sothtoth on their tree — well, to each his own

Ron said...

Where's my Althouse head Christmas ornament?

Fabi said...

Are you suggesting that Trump supporters are poor, tim maguire? Trump won the majority of votes from income brackets above $50,000.

Freeman Hunt said...

The ornament is for people with money who like Trump and are amused by the gilding of an ordinary thing. It's funny, and, I think, intentionally so.

Anonymous said...

I want to hear what Trump plans to do about the illegal immigrant in the flying sleigh who's been dumping merchandise below cost and taking jobs away from American workers.

Quaestor said...

I want to hear what Trump plans to do about the illegal immigrant in the flying sleigh who's been dumping merchandise below cost and taking jobs away from American workers.

Kringle, eh? Where's your green card?

Skeptical Voter said...

You want a Christmas tree ornament with a hat; way back in the wayback in Mexico City I purchased a very colorful ornament, made of tin of a fellow with a sombrero and a poncho over his shoulder. He coulda lost a little weight--built sort of like the Michelin man, but he's been hanging on my Christmas tree in Los Angeles for 40 years.

I'd be willing to bet that I could go back to the same market stall in Mexico City and get a Christmas tree ornament that looked like Donald Trump today.

Of course I could go into a gift shop in New York City and find a wax doll that looked like Trump --the shop owner would throw in a couple of dozen pins for free. They're ready to try voo doo to get rid of Trump.

mockturtle said...

It would make a great collector's item, at least. Hillary's sweater is as shapeless and unflattering as her typical wardrobe.

mockturtle said...

Paul says: I want to hear what Trump plans to do about the illegal immigrant in the flying sleigh who's been dumping merchandise below cost and taking jobs away from American workers.

And what about all those elves? Santa thinks he can keep those undocumented workers locked up in a sweatshop at the North Pole with no hassle from either ICE, DOL or OSHA.

readering said...

For the people who sheLled out during the campaign for membership in Trump's donor club. That was soon marked down and this will be too.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Mockturtle,

Doing the jobs American elves just won't do.

mtrobertslaw said...

George Carlin? Is he still around? I thought he died in a strange case of spontaneous combustion.

Quaestor said...

American elves work for Goldman Sachs in the technical analytics department. It'll take another Black Friday to send them back to the toy shop.

Michael K said...

For the people who sheLled out during the campaign for membership in Trump's donor club. That was soon marked down and this will be too.

Some of us did it to elect the guy we preferred. I saw that ornament. My younger son has a Christmas Eve party that ends with an exchange of Christmas tree ornaments. The exchange works so that you can take one you like better than the one you got. I was thinking of buying that ornament and taking it to the party. The problem is that almost everybody at the party is a Trump supporter and they would be fighting over it.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

I would never spend $150 on a Christmas ornament, but someday it'll be a great piece of Americana in a Keep Cool With Coolidge kind of way.

David Begley said...

If Meade was thinking he would commission some Althouse bobblehead dolls. There a bobbleheads of SCOTUS Justices so why not.

Creighton had some bobbleheads made of Doug McDermott. There was a limited supply (5,000, I think) given away free. During the game the free bobbleheads were being sold on eBay for $100-200. During the game! In Omaha!

Sprezzatura said...

I just went to buy one of those hats because it seems funny.

But, they want an extra $7.95 to ship it. What's up w/ that, I'll buy your tacky gold plated junk, but don't charge me shipping.

Who charges for shipping?

Until I reconsider my initial bristling at shipping my HRC-for-prison bobble-head will not be joined by a tacky hat.

David Begley said...

Link below to SCOTUS bobbleheads. They are annotated. I will leave it to Meade to figure that part out.

http://www.greenbag.org/bobbleheads/Thomas_annotated_bobblehead_2011.jpg

David Begley said...

One suggestion. Have the Althouse bobblehead standing on the (unsinkable) OED.

David Begley said...

Unsinkable. Unlinkable. Whatever.

Bad Lieutenant said...

PBJ, better unbristle fast if you want it in time to trim the tree. Didn't the other ship slow?

Drago said...

PBandJ_Ombudsman: "I just went to buy one of those hats because it seems funny. But, they want an extra $7.95 to ship it. What's up w/ that, I'll buy your tacky gold plated junk, but don't charge me shipping. Who charges for shipping?"

Those who are offering products that are in such demand that premium charges can be sustained.

It's called supply and demand.

You should look it up.

rehajm said...

The Hillary Hospital sweater is ironic. The cool kids love them their bad sweater parties!

rehajm said...

The price point strategy is borrowed from the friendly folks at Hamilton: Keep the resale markup for yourself!

mockturtle said...

Who charges for shipping?

Um....FedEx? UPS? USPS?

traditionalguy said...

Trump is Old Hickory redux. And President Jackson said something about victors and spoils.

Paco Wové said...

"this Krampus ornament, which is really nasty, and is a real Xmas tradition in Holland."

That made me think of the traditional caganer figures that show up in some European Christmas scenes, and I discovered that the only caganer you can get via Amazon is one of .... Donald Trump.

Paco Wové said...

P.S. buy your Donald Trump caganer via the Althouse portal™!

Fabi said...

Shipping, like healthcare, should be free!

AllenS said...

When you order something on line, shipping also means handling. Handling means, someone has to go to the bin where they grab the right size, color, length of the dildo that you purchased. Got it? Too bad so many of you people want others to work for nothing, just to satisfy your proclivities.

Bad Lieutenant said...

PBJ would rather that cost 159 incl free s&h as opposed to being adult and pay 149 + 8 s&h

Bad Lieutenant said...

It is remarkable the power of some Merchants to include the shipping costs where others can't. You wonder how they make the decisions.

walter said...

Sold Out should be the Hil shirt.