# Tackiest Souvenir? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 9, 2023, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815 "2023-07-09T14:50:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/41 "2023-07-10T18:33:13Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > Does the Karl Marx rubber duck that serves as my avatar count? Looks like a [CelebriDuck](https://celebriducks.com/) . I go into the gift stores, look as the cool ~~shit~~ stuff & then ask myself where I’m going to put it before walking out with all of my $ still in my pocket & nothing in my hand. However, I was in Southern WV a couple of weeks ago; one night’s event was a coal mine tour. I literally bought the SO a lump of coal; would have saved it for holiday season if I thought I’d be able to 1) remember that I got it in six months & b) remember where I put it to give to her. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/42 "2023-07-10T18:33:17Z")
Probably that damn time traveler with the cell phone in 1937. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/43 "2023-07-10T18:44:27Z")
My folks were generally not into souvenirs. Probably because we went to a certain redneck lake resort in White Lake, NC. It was the 70’s in the rest of the world but still the 50’s in the resort. The gift shop had a LOT of racist gifts on sale. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/44 "2023-07-10T18:53:36Z")
I once entered a “tackiest souvenir contest”. I was told I had the best entry but that my souvenir was inappropriate. Our family used to go camping every summer to far flung provincial parks. We would canoe, fish, hike and play on the beach. Occasionally we could buy a cheap souvenir. At one store, they didn’t have anything that looked good. One item was a small box, inscribed “silent alarm clock”. Inside the box was a labelled candle. The label had several dashes, each representing an hour of time. One was instructed to insert the candle into a sensitive area for the proper amount of time, then light it. I don’t think the person using it would be silent even if by some miracle they managed to stay still. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/45 "2023-07-10T19:40:47Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > A visitor to the [Odessa Meteor Crater](https://www.laughwithusblog.com/odessa-texas-meteor-crater/) gifted me with a meteor crater t-shirt. It is one of my most cherished possessions. > > Apparently the crater is one of Odessa, Texas’ top attractions. Possibly the only one. I’d never seen nor heard of that crater. Despite flying over the area regularly, and having been to Odessa. Thank you. Ref > **[Odessa Meteor Crater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odessa_Meteor_Crater)** > > The Odessa Meteor Crater is a meteorite crater in the southwestern part of Ector County, southwest of the city of Odessa of West Texas, United States. It is accessible approximately 3 mi (5 km) south of Interstate 20 at Exit 108 (Moss Road). This is one of three impact crater sites found in Texas, the others being the older and much larger Sierra Madera crater and the Marquez crater. > The Handbook of Texas Online describes the Odessa meteor crater as the largest of several smaller craters in the ... It appears the crater is ~550 feet across and ~15 feet deep at the very deepest, averaging more like 5 feet deep. So more like the Odessa former stock pond. Or the Odessa former warehouse since scraped off. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/46 "2023-07-10T19:41:58Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > My folks were generally not into souvenirs. Probably because we went to a certain redneck lake resort in White Lake, NC. It was the 70’s in the rest of the world but still the 50’s in the resort. The gift shop had a LOT of racist gifts on sale. I have seen some amazingly overly racist stuff in Trump-rah-rah themed stores as recently as 2020. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/47 "2023-07-10T19:56:03Z")
However overtly racist the actual supporters are, I doubt that the souvenir could top the bumper sticker I saw in 2011-ish which said “Don’t renege in 2012”. Except the second word was spelled differently. Although maybe it could. They always have the knack for limboing below my worst expectations. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/48 "2023-07-10T20:09:21Z")
When a man tells you in plain language what he is, believe him. Jeebus that’s sad. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/49 "2023-07-10T20:19:38Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I have seen some amazingly overly racist stuff in Trump-rah-rah themed stores as recently as 2020. Yeah, he really did send the US back to the 50’s in so many bad ways. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/50 "2023-07-10T21:43:20Z")
Reminds me of [the Sherman’s Southern Tour shirt](https://www.zazzle.com/shermans_southern_tour_t_shirt-235499533311109544) that I saw once. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/51 "2023-07-10T23:04:39Z")
Oh, that’s funny! I go to our monthly Civil War roundtable, and last month’s presentation was Sherman’s march. It would have been hilarious for the presenter to have worn it. Or if I had it, I certainly would have worn it. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/52 "2023-07-11T01:33:34Z")
While this wasn’t a specific souvenir, I’m sure many of us remember the t-shirts from the 1990s that had assorted animate or inanimate objects having sex in different positions. I had a conversation with a local junior high teacher who said that one of his least likely to wear an offensive shirt students did, and was sent to the principal who told her that she had to turn the shirt inside out. It turned out that when they were on vacation, her MOTHER had bought her that shirt, because it had lizards all over it, and knew her daughter liked lizards, but hadn’t noticed that they were having something of an orgy all over her shirt. Oops! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/53 "2023-07-11T01:36:34Z")
Or the guy wearing a hoodie and shades in 1940? > **[1940s photo proves time travel is 'real' as hipster wears sunglasses and hoodie](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/1940s-crowd-photo-shows-time-28524804)** > > A 'hipster time traveller' has been spotted in an intriguing crowd photograph from the 1940s, leading some to draw the conclusion that time travel is real and not just a thing we see in movies AFAIK, nobody has come forward to say “Hey, that’s Grandpa!” but somebody out there has got to recognize him. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/54 "2023-07-11T01:41:21Z")
Unless I see another cell phone, it is hooie, however one spells it. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/55 "2023-07-11T20:28:22Z")
Let’s stipulate that a lifesize cutout, such that the tourist can put their face in the hole and have somebody take a picture of them as some character, counts as a souvenir, or at least the photo does. The tackiest I’ve seen was at the Andersonville prison Civil War historic site in Georgia. It allowed tourists to pose as prisoners of war. About 13,000 men died there, of starvation, disease, and getting shot. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/56 "2023-07-11T22:42:30Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Or the guy wearing a hoodie and shades in 1940? Not to engage in buzzkill, but it’s a stretch to call that a “hoodie”. The article also affects amazement at the guy carrying a portable camera in the 1940s, but they’d been around a long time (The Kodak Brownie was invented in 1900). ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/57 "2023-07-12T08:22:10Z")
The staple of so many bad tourist traps in Tijuana, Cancun, and other tropical places with lax offensive language laws is the Happy Fisherman shirts, which are shirts with a cartoon fisherman standing in a lake in hip deep water fishing, except under the water a fish to giving the man a blowjob and the man has an overly smiling face. I don’t think I ever saw anyone where them but they were a constant presence aimed at the drunk tourist market. Similarly but more acceptable are shot glasses except with two modeled on breasts and the name of the location emblazoned on the bikini top over the breasts. Ive seen those in all sorts of Hawaiian and Florida gift shops. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/58 "2023-07-12T11:33:20Z")
The thing that always makes me laugh is that the coffee mugs/shot glasses/ashtrays/fridge magnets emblazoned with the location are always “made in China”. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/59 "2023-07-12T13:29:18Z")
My Wife and I did a tequila tour on Cozumel. Just my Wife and I on rented scooters. Not sure if we where the worst drivers or not… Anyway, we bought a purple ceramic skull about the size of a baseball. It’s hollowed out. I think Its intended to be an incense burner. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815/60 "2023-07-14T17:14:04Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > It turned out that when they were on vacation, her MOTHER had bought her that shirt, because it had lizards all over it, and knew her daughter liked lizards, but hadn’t noticed that they were having something of an orgy all over her shirt. Oops! That reminds me of the time my husband’s grandmother unironically got him a Chucky doll for Christmas. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tackiest-souvenir/986815.md?page=4)