Millions of people visit D.C. every year, and they spend plenty of money on memories of their time here. Some of those souvenirs are great, some less so. In this new periodic series, we look at a sampling of the things—good, bad and just plain strange—that visitors to our fair city can pick up to commemorate their travels. Feel free to send your submissions our way.
The last time we went shopping for D.C. souvenirs, we came across the congressional toothpick holder, which oddly enough looks exactly like a shot glass. Today, it was more standard fare—the t-shirts and sweaters sold by mobile vendors just off of the National Mall.
But these aren’t your run-of-the-mill Washington, D.C. t-shirts and sweatshirts, though. They’re not even those age-old FBI or CIA garments that vendors peddle to tourists. No, these are different. They’ve got zebra stripes and cheetah dots; they’re brightly colored, and they refer to D.C. as “Power City” and Obama as “Super President.”
If those standard t-shirts and sweatshirts you were used to were a reflection of a staid government town, these new alternatives are evidence—for tourists, at least—that President Obama’s D.C. is a much more happening place. You certainly won’t catch us in any of them, though.
Martin Austermuhle