Bernie Sanders’ Head – and Those Mittens – Are Still Bobbing Along
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It became the viral moment during President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January: Sen. Bernie Sanders (D., Vt.) watching the swearing-in wrapped in a Burton winter coat and sustainable mittens from a local teacher named Jen Ellis. The outfit drew immediate reaction on social media, sparking thousands of memes of the politician Photoshopped into everything from the surface of the moon and the Lincoln Memorial to a cast photo of “The Golden Girls.” His campaign created a crewneck sweater featuring the image to raise money for Meals on Wheels in Vermont, and the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum jumped into the fray, creating a bobblehead of the masked Sanders sitting in a folding chair with his legs and arms crossed.
Well, just in time for the holiday season, he’s baaaack!
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The bobblehead museum — yes, there is a bobblehead museum — today will release four new Bernie Sanders Inauguration Day Mittens bobbleheads featuring different versions of the now-famous image. That includes a standing version as well as an ornament, dashboard mini and Mantle Mate.
The special-edition bobbleheads retail from $20 for the ornament and dashboard mini to $25 for the standing version and the Mantle Mate, which is designed to be featured alongside holiday stockings above the fireplace or on any table, desk or shelf. A limited number of the original bobbleheads are available at the museum’s online store or its Milwaukee location for $25.
To date, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum has sold close to 30,000 of the original Bernie Sanders bobblehead, making it the second bestselling bobblehead in the museum’s history behind the original Dr. Anthony Fauci bobblehead. The bobblehead of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the 101-year-old basketball team chaplain at Loyola University Chicago, held the top spot before Fauci and Sanders. The success of the original bobblehead led to a $10,000 donation to Meals on Wheels Vermont.
A spokesperson said the goal is sell another 20,000 bobbleheads by Jan. 20, the first anniversary of the Biden inaugural.
Political bobbleheads have been popular since 1960 when John F. Kennedy was made into a bobblehead, and all 46 presidents have now had their likenesses immortalized in bobble form.
“It’s been fun to see how much people have enjoyed the original Bernie Sanders Inauguration Day Mittens bobblehead and when we started receiving requests for additional versions, we got to work,” said Phil Sklar, cofounder and chief executive officer of the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum. “We think people will really enjoy these new bobbleheads featuring the viral moments.”
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