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Kitschmas Kitsch

For all the latest and greatest festivities, follow World of Kitsch's guide to seasonal kitsch and tack.

"Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, but not as fat as the pockets of the companies that produce these fabulous items of kitsch!"

A recent visit to New York, was disappointing from a kitsch point of view as all the shop windows were extremely tastefully decorated, with very few signs of kitsch artefacts on display.

Kitsch comes in so many different guises, but this one was a real find! This fantastic burger bar in Lubeck, Denmark, was taken at the Christmas "Julemarkedet", courtesy of the Danish Tourist Office. Open over the festive period, the snack bar is a distant cry from the poorly lit and poorly maintained burger bars of UK coastal resorts at this time of year.

However, it is the individuals who seem to make the most effort where kitsch value is concerned. There are a surprising number of individuals who completely cover their houses in lights and decorations, in an attempt to compete with their neighbours, often leading to skirmishes! It seems that kitsch is considerably bigger overseas than in the UK itself as this picture from the Phoons website demonstrates:

Kitschly decorated house courtesy of Phoons website

However, an article by Michael Dalder from Reuters News agency in the US reports "Large numbers of tourists are expected to flock to Bethlehem Christmas Eve, to visit the birthplace of Jesus Christ and buy Christmas junk.

"Nothing is too holy or, it seems, too kitsch for it not to appear as a tourist knick-knack in street markets in Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem, the sites Christians revere as the places where Jesus was born, lived and died."

So it appears for the ultimate in kitsch and tack, a trip to the holy land to buy a "Jesus lampshade" is in order. The final image in our Christmas kitsch collection is also from the holy land and symbolises the journey the Saviour made on a donkey to Jerusalem. Have a Merry Kitschmas!

Two kitschly decorated plastic donkeys wearing Santa hats

Manger Scene - Click for Kitschmas 2003 mini site
Kitschmas 2003 - your complete guide to Kitschmas.

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Page Last Updated 22 November 03