Bush gnomes?
Bush gnomes
It was in 2004, during the presidential election
campaign, when Athens resident Sam Girton first began selling his small
garden gnomes that look like President George W. Bush. The Bush gnomes
proved quite popular during the election season and as Christmas gifts,
and Girton sold them around the country.
The Bush gnomes were shown on the "Tonight Show" on NBC-TV, they were
part of the set on the ABC-TV sitcom, "Rodney" and were featured in an
article in The Los Angeles Times, as well as articles in other
newspapers around the country and in Argentina and Brazil.
Girton had 5,000 of his Bush gnomes made, and now only has 500 of them
left. He commissioned local artist Sandy Plunkett to draw images for the
Bush gnomes and worked with a ceramics company in Roseville to make all
of the items The Bush gnomes sell for $29.95.
Girton will not make any more of the original models, but now is making
new versions of the garden gnomes. Girton calls the new version
Bush gnome 2.0.
The new version is made up of three designs, one with the gnome wearing
army camouflage clothing, one with the gnome wearing red, white and
blue, and one with the gnome wearing a brown shirt and blue pants. Each
gnome is about 10 inches tall.
Girton said the new gnomes are designed to appeal both to people who
support President Bush and those who oppose him. Each gnome has been
built so that it can hold an item such as a small flag or an army gun,
and Girton is also including modelling clay that can be shaped to look
like a bag of money or other items, he said.
He is only making a limited quantity of each version of the new
Bush gnome, and is having each one numbered, he said. Each gnome is
hand-painted, and a company in Zanesville is making them this year, he
said.
Girton will be holding a contest inviting his customers to send in
pictures of how they have accessorized their Bush gnomes.
He got the original idea for his Bush gnome from political cartoons that
often depict President Bush with pointy ears. Girton thought President
Bush looked like a gnome in the cartoons, so he decided to create the
garden gnome based on President Bush. He also had the gnomes made so
that Bush would have his fingers crossed behind him.
He already has ideas for Bush gnome 3.0 and 4.0, featuring Dick Cheney
and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and possibly Hillary Clinton. He also is
looking at other ideas for his Bush gnomes.
In addition to all of his work on his own products, Girton also works as
an assistant professor in the Ohio University School of Visual
Communications. He spends much of his time during the school year
working on his work with OU, but spends his summers and his evenings
working on the Bush gnomes and other projects.
"I do this instead of watching TV," Girton said.
The new Bush gnomes are on sale in Athens already at the Import House and
Mt. Nebo Herbs and Oils in Athens, in addition to being sold on his Web
site.
By Nick Claussen. Athens News (28.11.2005)