Last week I got a peek at the future—the future of inaugural souvenirs, at least. A full week before the election and months before our 44th president is sworn in, I got to see what a button honoring the inauguration of McCain and Palin would look like. I approved a sample of a spinner keychain that would commemorate the Obama and Biden inauguration.
At the museum we report history; we don’t play favorites or make predictions. We play it safe, so two full lines of tchotchkes are approved but only one is actually produced. I won’t deny that I fantasized about buying a pen with my favorite candidate’s name on it but I didn’t know until today whether that would be possible.
We can all continue to participate in our democracy by coming to Washington for the inauguration, visiting the museum, and buying a tchotchke or two.