MILWAUKEE, WI. — Friday does not mark one year since the inauguration of President Joe Biden; no, it's the first anniversary of Sen. Bernie Sanders' viral mittens moment.
To honor the Democratic Senator's iconic mittens and cross-legged pose during Biden's Inauguration, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum quickly released bobbleheads depicting what we all know as the "mittens moment" now.
The Bernie Sanders Inauguration Day Bobblehead is the museum's second-most bought bobblehead behind the Dr. Anthony Fauci Bobblehead.
"As soon as one of our employees alerted us to the viral pictures of Bernie, we checked out Twitter and knew we had to get to work,” Phil Sklar, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO, wrote in a release about the Bernie Sanders bobblehead last year. “We think this will be another fun bobblehead to put a smile on people’s faces!”
Now, the Milwaukee-based museum is honoring the mittens moment with two new limited-edition bobbleheads of Senator Sanders.
The first bobblehead released commemorates the moment Sanders had a bird fly onto his podium during a rally in 2016, the start of the trending hashtag #BirdieSanders. The second bobblehead depicts yet another viral moment for the Vermont senator from his 2020 campaign video, which begins with him saying, “I am once again asking for your financial support." A screenshot of that phrase became a meme where people asked for money or support for several different (primarily comical or sarcastic) causes.
"The Bernie Sanders Inauguration Day Bobbleheads have taken on a life of their own,” Sklar wrote. “Shortly after releasing the original inauguration day bobblehead, we received a lot of requests for bobbleheads featuring the bird moment and the viral meme, and we think fans will love them.”
The bobbleheads can be ordered online for $30, and shipping is a flat rate of $8. Each bobblehead is individually numbered to mark its authenticity. For example, the bird bobblehead is marked 2,016, and the "I am once again asking" bobblehead marked 2,022.
According to Sklar, political bobbleheads were some of the earliest kinds of bobbleheads made for purchase in 1960.
"John F. Kennedy was the first politician captured in bobblehead form and bobbleheads of presidents, candidates, and other political figures have remained popular ever since," Sklar wrote.
The museum now has all 46 United States Presidents bobbleheads under its “Neglected Presidents” Series.
