I don’t have kids so I’ve never kept up on children’s entertainment. But recently during the holidays, I was catching up with various family members and I heard about three different young relatives who are crazy about owls. All three are pre-school age so I don’t think it’s a Harry Potter or Guardians of Ga’Hoole thing.
Is there some current TV show or other thing aimed at really young kids that features owls or is this just a coincidence?
It’s just a popular trend at the moment. My teenage sister is into owls. For christmas, she got a owl container, owl pillow, owl money box, owl jewellery, owl statue, etc etc.
There was a movie in 2010 called LEGENDS OF THE GUARDIANS (link to imdb: Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010) - IMDb ) about owls. I assume that helped initiate the fad, which is now owls everywhere.
The owls of Gormenghast probably aren’t included in the kiddie stuff.
IMHO (I have two nieces, 1 and 3) they just have been popping up as part of a decorating scheme and that makes them pretty easy to sell.
My niece got owl-themed sheets for her big-girl bed. She happened to have an owl toy and maybe an owl book (along with dozens of other toys and books) and everyone always laughed when you’d ask her what sound an owl makes and she said “hoot!” So I guess when asked what sort of sheets she wanted and was presented with the available sheets, owls seemed appealing enough.
Here’s a search on Target’s site for their owl-themed stuff. It’s fun and cute and easy to replicate.
See a similar search for ladybugs. Who like ladybugs? They don’t even make a sound! Very popular decoration for kids, though.
Anyway, owls are just there. They’re on kids’ stuff. People laugh when you’re 3 and you say “hoot!” Owl love.
So basically owls are the new dinosaurs? It’s a trend but one without a specific origin?
The movie is based on the Guardians of Ga’Hoole book series I mentioned in the OP.
Crazy, but I think true. Owls are the new monkeys. When I was pregnant two years ago, EVERYTHING was about monkeys. Monkeys were the new elephants. Now it is owls.
Obviously, you can still find plenty of kid stuff with kitties, ponies, rabbits, all sorts of animals, but yes, there is something especially trendy right now about owls.
As much as it seems organic, it’s got to be driven by something appearing at trade shows for baby/kid products because I’d find it hard to believe you could get that much variety of merchandise on the shelves so quickly. So my guess is that a few owl products appeared and did so well initially that other merchandisers were quick to copy.
My other thought is that mid-century inspired design is very big right now (the Mad Men look, and owls were big then, too.
Owl design from the real 1960s
Retro-looking owls from a current design
Owls were big in crafting and design circles starting about five years ago. It trickled into fabric design, now it’s hitting mainstream.
There’s a lot of crossover with design. Something will start big in one small circle and then it takes off everywhere. Like trucker hats. Owls are just one design trend that started with craft products/design. There are a few others, like the mustache thing. I’m sure you can think of trends that started in the circles you follow and then went big.
I’ve been collecting owls for decades now. I just like them. Part of the reason, I’m sure, is because I grew up in the 60s and 70s, and owls were big then. Owls are both easily recognized, and easily stylized.
Or you know, they’re just into owls.
