Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Pope-apalooza Merchandise

My favorite Pope ever is coming to America (Washington, New York, Philadelphia) soon, and the American tschotschke industry has been kicking into high gear making the commemorative gear.

The Washington Post has a rundown of some of the more interesting stuff. From the article...
“It’s amazing.This pope may sell better than sex sells,” said Rocco Palmo, a Philadelphia-based journalist who writes the “Whispers in the Loggia” blog. “You can’t walk within a mile of St. Peter’s Square without people accosting you with T-shirts, rosaries, everything but a vacuum cleaner with the pope’s picture on it.”

When my grandmother's favorite Pope (John Paul II) came to Chicago in 1979, Oma bought a truckload of this stuff. I remember when we moved to America in 1980, she gave each of us a commemorative coin. She kept the small Pope bust for herself.