I'm sitting here drinking my coffee from my "Becky Says..." mug. At the moment I'm wearing something other than my "Becky Says..." t-shirt, but it has had a few outings in the several weeks I've had it. And I've had fun having an advertising gimmick of my very own. (Shameless plug: you can get your own "Becky Says..." items by following the link to your left or by clicking here).

That's one of the main reasons I set up the Cafe Press site---I have always loved advertising gimmicks. These follow two of my main criteria for gimmicks I want: they're useful and they're fun.

I also like gimmicks that create opportunities for conversations. And as I said when I set the thing up a few weeks ago, you have to admit that people are probably going to ask what in the world that's all about if you have something with my name and URL on it!

Over the years, I've managed to collect quite a few advertising gimmicks. Most of the ones I have aren't things that would bring big bucks on eBay, but they do make me happy. Some remind me of places I've been or things I like to do. I have advertising gimmicks that I use nearly every day, such as a tape measure from a favorite needlework magazine, a perpetual calendar from a pharmaceutical supply house, lots of notepads, lots of ballpoint pens, several refrigerator magnets, several coffee mugs, several t-shirts, and a couple of totebags.

Every so often I use a cigarette lighter from a poultry feed supplier that definitely gets comments: the brand name is Hi Sex. I also have keyrings from lots of places---some bought as souveniers, and some that were given to me.

I have a good collection of things from a cousin who was a car dealer. He at various times gave out ballpoint pens, letter openers, and at least three different keyrings. The keyring I liked best was the one with a disk about the size of a half-dollar connected to a second disk. They were attached by a grommet which allowed them to swivel apart. The first disk was the advertising part---it had the business name. The second was actually five flathead screwdrivers, of varying sizes. I can't tell you how many times those screwdrivers have come in handy. Suffice it to say that I still use that keyring.

And smile every time I think of it.