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Sea cow souvenirs are hot and going fast
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET, Times Staff Writer CRYSTAL RIVER -- You walk into the Manatee Toy Co. expecting to see manatee T-shirts, manatee coffee mugs and plush stuffed sea cows. But you also see sterling silver manatees on toe rings, pewter manatees on bookmarks and wine bottle stoppers, manatee cocktail napkins, manatee blankets and pillows, and manatee mesh shower sponges. Somehow the gentle herbivores even inspired the store's exclusive brand of cayenne pepper hot sauce, Manateeville Madness, with a label showing cartoon sea cows in straw hats, floral leis and grass skirts doing the conga. And you think: Not since Mickey Mouse has an animal found itself on so many Sunshine State souvenirs. "People come in and they buy everything," store owner Marie Bienkowski said. Swimming with the manatees can be "an almost spiritual experience," she said, and the thousands of tourists who come each year invariably want to take a piece of the mystical moment home. To that end, no ordinary trinket will do. The Sea Treasures gift shop at the Best Western in Crystal River stocks manatee wind chimes, manatee potpourri jars, manatee-shaped lamps and tables, manatee mailboxes, manatee cutting boards -- and, yes, even toilet seat covers featuring the swimming sea cows. "The manatee -- it sells," said store clerk Betty Pelliccia, standing next to a small display of manatee address books and manatee nail files. "Once they go out there and swim with them, they just fall in love with them, and they come in and want to decorate their place in manatee." And what home would be complete without manatee salt and pepper shakers, manatee tea light holders, manatee clocks and calendars and a manatee door mat? Sea cow souvenirs are big business, accounting for about $200,000 of the annual sales at Sea Treasures, owner Jean Seaton said. Of course, the manatees mean even bigger bucks at the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, which sold about $870,000 at its two gift shops last year. The proceeds benefit the state park system. The traditional souvenirs -- T-shirts, books, jewelry and figurines -- are top sellers, but the park also has plenty of unique items: manatees on cobalt shot glasses, manatees imprinted on golf balls, manatee charms on collector's spoons and bells, manatee letter openers, manatee candle snuffers. "If it has a manatee on it, it's pretty much gone," park concession manager Evelyn Astore said. The sales are good for the merchants and the park, but what has commercialization done for the sea cow? As conversation pieces, the mementos can help teach people about the endangered animal, said Helen Spivey, co-chairwoman of the Save the Manatee Club. "I think a lot of people who buy the souvenirs take them back up north, and it sort of has an educational value," she said. "People who don't know anything about manatees will say, "What's this?' and get some information about it. I think that helps." Manatee champagne glasses that are swank and educational? That's a souvenir worth taking home.
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