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The hottest souvenir at Portland International Airport right now is a $27 plush frog at the card shop Paper Epiphanies. If that sounds like the perfect gift for this moment in Portland history—a playful nod to the frog costumes worn to protests at the local headquarters of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, of course—you better hop on over to Paper Epiphanies, nicknamed PiPH, in a hurry.
“We just can’t keep them in stock,” says Victoria Venturi, founder and CEO of PiPH.
The airport location of Paper Epiphanies (7000 NE Airport Way, 503-841-6783, piphpaper.com) has always carried stuffed animals for kids. But in early October, Venturi moved the frogs to the front of the store, along with other pro-Portland merch, on the hunch that they would do well there. PiPH sold 200 frogs the weekend of the No Kings march.
Venturi has ordered as many frogs as possible from the manufacturer in Vermont and started stocking them at PiPH’s flagship location (2501 SE Clinton St.), too.
“We’re using it as a sign of the resistance, which I love,” Venturi says.
On Nov. 7, U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut permanently blocked the National Guard from being deployed in the city. President Donald Trump may appeal the decision, but for now, the threat of a military takeover in response to protests over immigration policy appears to have passed. But this political season has already inspired many local businesses to respond the best way they know how: merch.
After Trump said Portland was “like living in hell” in September, Portland jewelry design and retailer Betsy & Iya (1777 NW 24th Ave., 503-227-5482, betsyandiya.com) took the insult as inspiration. Betsy & Iya launched a new collection called “Hell Yes,” a series of necklace medallions and key chains celebrating Portland in October.
“Portland isn’t perfect, but it’s not hell,” says founder and designer Betsy Cross in an accompanying video to the collection. “It’s where I built a business and where I’m raising my daughter. It’s the city I love, the city I’m here to help. Portland is my home—and no one deserves to have that feeling taken away.”
The “Hell Yes” medallions can be made of brass ($44), sterling silver ($94) or yellow gold ($1,490) and feature the words “Hell Yes” with a pair of roses or a peace sign (“half harmony, half see ya later,” is the apt description from Betsy & Iya.) The jeweler sold 229 medallions in the first week. The collection is also a fundraiser for four local nonprofit organizations and has raised about $1,400.
Portland fragrance house Imaginary Authors (available at many gift shops in town and at imaginaryauthors.com) launched its scent A City On Fire ($115 for 50 ml) back in 2014 with the men’s boutique Machus, but its relevance to the political moment did not escape house perfumer Josh Meyer. After Trump said Portland “is burning down” Oct. 10, Imaginary Authors ran a “not on fire” sale and discounted the entire A City On Fire product line of fragrances, candles and soaps by 15%. Alas, that sale has passed, but the line is still as available as ever, with fragrance notes of cardamom, dark berries and burnt match.
Last week, the window display at Powell’s Books on Hawthorne (3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-228-4651, powells.com) was overrun by frog merch, all under a banner that said “Ribberty & Justice for All.” That, of course, is a nod to the trend of protesters wearing inflatable frog costumes to the nightly demonstrations at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s local headquarters on South Macadam Avenue. Powell’s created an eclectic lineup of Haribo mini rainbow frog candy ($3.25 for 5 ounces), plush Palm Pals brand frog key chains ($7), and many, many books about amphibians. Children can choose one of Jonathan London’s illustrated Froggy books, such as Froggy Goes to the Library (used paperback for $3.95), while adults have the new releases A Protest History of the United States by Gloria J. Browne-Marshall (hardback for $32) and Revolutionary Nonviolence by James M. Lawson Jr. (hardback for $13).
One block down, Presents of Mind (3633 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-230-7740, presentsofmind.tv) carries a few lines of enjoyably rude political greeting cards, many by Pittsburgh’s Sapling Press. There’s “Trump Is a Racist Prick. Mazel Tov!” “Trump Is a Dickhead. Get Well Soon!” and “Say what you will about fascism, but I’ve totally forgotten about seasonal depression” ($6 each). Another choice offering is a letterpress of a protest scene with the heartfelt sentiment “I would punch a Nazi for you” (Ladyfingers Letterpress, $6).
Finally, meet the latest addition to artist Mike Bennett’s cartoon menagerie, Mistletoads ($12 each, mikebennettstudios.com). Bennett says he started working on this trio of toads prior to the ICE protest, but they fit neatly into the trend. The acrylic decorative toads are depicted with sprigs of mistletoe and are named Klormp, Grumpus and Schwerb. The Mistletoads will work as key chains or Christmas ornaments or to woo your sweetheart over the holiday season, if they’re into chubby cartoon amphibians tied up in bows.
