These days many bookshops rely on the sale of novelty items in order to survive. Literary jigsaws, coffee mugs adorned with quotes, Christmas decorations that feature authors or characters, and quirky gift books all help bookshops entice customers and bring in much-needed income. I love browsing such items and filling my home with unusual reminders of my literary tastes – Dickens, Shakespeare and Jane Austen as bath ducks (my granddaughters love them), calendars with a literary theme which note birth dates of writers, coffee cups with Balzac’s signature on them, and wine glasses that are replicas of those Chopin gave to George Sand – I have a fabulous range of literary memorabilia / souvenirs / decorations. I suspect my husband and children think it slightly mad, but I’m a sucker for a literary tea-towel or fridge magnet.
Some shops specialise in such items. There’s the fabulous Crow Emporium in that very literary town of Whitby, which posts greeting cards, literary wrapping paper and pins and keyrings to Australia if you want to order. There’s also the unusually named Unemployed Philosopher’s Guild in America which sells ‘Pride and Peppermints’, Shakespeare soap, a Mad Hatter pill box, and an Edgar Allen Poe finger puppet. Book Geek in Australia offers brooches, notepads, carry bags and socks displaying books.
And state libraries often have bookish accessories in their shops, as do museums and writers’ house museums (which are in sadly short supply in Australia). They make great gifts for book-loving friends, and for oneself too. Probably my coffee tastes no better from a Robbie Burns mug than it would from a floral mug from Myers, but I enjoy contemplating handsome Burns’s face and being reminded of his brilliance as I sip. The family cringes when I hang Jane Austen and her characters on my Christmas tree, but as I’m the one who puts the tree up, decorates it and takes it all down again, I feel I have some right to hang on its branches something that gives me far more pleasure than would a red bauble. And I’m sure dishes wiped with a cloth depicting Hardy Country, or covered with Boswell quotes are better wiped than they would ever have been with a K-Mart tea-towel. Literary merchandise is fun, creative and ideal for book nerds like me.
Do you also buy such items, even though you suspect your children will dump it all in a skip when you die? Do you have any favourite novelty items? Do you know why you find it hard to resist bookish things? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment.
Selected links for relevant websites, books, movies, videos, and more. Some of these links lead to protected content on this website, learn more about that here.
Penny Morris
I have 2 tea mugs bought in Stratford-upon-Avon many years ago. My favourite is the Shakespeare insults one which after a frustrating interaction, allows me to regain composure with a soothing cup of tea while selecting the most pithy insult I could sling at the offender!
Susannah Fullerton
I have seen those insult mugs. Shakespeare certianly knew how to creat a memorable insult – great fun!
Vanessa Coldwell
Oh yes, love them. I usually buy from The Literary Gift Company here in the U.K. Last year I even had a Bookish Advent Calendar.
Susannah Fullerton
I have never had a bookish advent calendar, but I am glad you share my love of literary merchandise.