What are some foods/clothes/souvenirs that are unique to USA?
Asked by
jlm11f (
12416
)
July 20th, 2010
I am going to an international conference, where we’re expected to wear attire that is representative of our country and also bring some food/drinks/souvenirs to share with people from other countries that is also unique to USA. I will be driving over 10 hours to this conference in the 80–90 degree weather so this fact is important in choosing food/drinks to carry. For drinks, alcohol is acceptable too.
Edit – But I could hold off to get them in the last few hours of driving that I’m in the country if they are found in practically any grocery store etc.
When I think of national clothing, I imagine something like cowboy boots/hat, or some native american attire? Unfortunately I don’t own any of these, so I am looking for a) more suggestions or b) how/where I can acquire this stuff for cheap.
Apparently people love Obama paraphernalia, but other than that, what souvenirs can I bring? And is there a place where I can find this stuff cheap to free? Thank you for any suggestions as always!
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30 Answers
Popcorn, peanut butter crackers, Dr. Pepper…...
Little American flags?
yankee baseball caps
cracker jacks
lays potato chips
You can pick up some Native American turquoise jewelry maybe at a flea market or thrift store.
Well; chocolate chip cookies, potato chips, corn dogs, philly cheese steaks, s’mores, buffalo wings, peanut butter, cold breakfast cereal, chewing gum, TV dinners, cobb salad, fast food, ice cream cones, and soda.
These are some things that were ‘invented’ in the US.
Coca-cola. Hot dogs. Spurs. Gold (gold rush? Maybe fool’s gold?). Milkshakes. Poodles skirts and cuffed shirts (think Happy Days and American Graffiti). Sparklers. Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey. Green Army men. Barbie.
Things I miss because I can’t get them easily in Europe: Pop Tarts, Cracker Jacks, Oreos, Root Beer, Icecream Floats, pretzels in knot form, big red chewing gum ...... Miller Beer, American Bourbon. but on top of that list is WISCONSIN CHEESE! especially cheese curds…....I miss those vulgar little cheese foetuses.
Attire: Cheerleading uniforms, baseball caps, cowboy/girl stuff
Hot dogs, hamburgers, Coke.
Baseball hat, denim jeans. Keds sneakers.
Statue of Liberty with thermometer in its middle.
You should totally try to get your hands on some cheap “I <3 NY” stuff to use as souvenirs.
We could ebay @ChazMaz baseball cap and get plenty o dough to buy stuff.
clothes from holliester! ambercrobie and stuff like that! For me it seems like everyone has something from there!
Ranch dressing springs to mind.
American designers like Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein are saught after by people who live outside of the country. But, I guess that will cost a lot, even if there are some trinkets within the brands.
Candy could be a good idea and easy: M&M’s, Snickers, Taffy, Twizzlers, etc.
It’s tough, I always say America is really good at trying to perfect the foods of other countries. Hot Dog, really is German, same with the Hamburger I think. Pizza, Italian, obviously. Mexican and Chinese food are almost American to me. LOL. I think BBQ is one food that trully is American; bottles of BBQ sauce maybe? Georgia Pecans and Peaches, Michigan and NY Apples, FL oranges.
Funny, I would not think of Cowboy or Native American, but of course it is appropriate.
I guess anything with an American flag would work. Cup coasters, deck of cards, key chains. Statue of liberty trinkets.
A quick visit to the Ag or farm store in your area and you can come home with all sorts of interesting American farm items. I bought a bag of these for $7 and handed them out to everyone in the group with the challenge “What are these things?” During dinner they all had time to examine and inspect.
Nobody guessed. After dinner I told them. (Thankfully nobody brought up their dinner.)
One woman wanted extras. I don’t know why…
I thought of flip flops, but have no idea if they originated in the US. You can get them cheap at the Dollar Store.
A GAP-labeled t-shirt.
Bubble-gum and coke are typical US, to me, be it not unique.
Unique: peanut butter-jelly sandwiches. That is a typical American snack that I have rarely, if ever, seen outside the US.
Cheesehead! It’s a hat. People from Wisconsin are nicknamed “cheeseheads”.
GAP is a great idea. Swatch also, but that would be expensive.
@JLeslie What do you mean with swatch? The swiss watch company that stemmed from swiss ETA enterprises? ;-)
@whitenoise LOL. You know I was not thinking it through. Good you said something. People used to buy up Swatch watches to sell them in Europe, but it was because they were cheaper I guess, not because it was American. I was just thinking back to my retail days and what the Europeans and Latin Americans used to stock up on while in America.
GAP got into all sorts of problems with using child exploited labour… I wouldn’t use that…
Make sure the items you buy are not made in China. That defeats the purpose.
Levis, Jack Daniels or other bourbon [a peculiarly American spirit— maybe little single serve bottles], Yankees or Nationals [DC] ball caps and jackets, black FBI Tshirts with the big white letters just like tv, a Timex watch,
Foods
Spam, Hershey candybar, Wrigley’s gum
Clothes
Levi’s jeans, Converse hi top sneakers, cowboy boots, baseball caps
Souvenirs
Rabbit’s foot keychain, Native American jewelry, Mickey Mouse t-shirt
@PnL I’d watch out for the made in China label on the orientaltrading site. If you regularly go to those conventions like IT, medical, or military, that are hyping things you might already have some cute Americana among the giveaways like laundry bags from Lockheed Martin or mousepads with NASA imagery. You might even be able to request some of this stuff from government agencies that might want to put a friendly face on for the conference.
Don’t forget All-American bourbon whiskey. Or moonshine if you can find it.
peanut butter
pecan pie
chocolate chip cookies
cornbread
beef jerky
bourbon
For a souvenir, a bobble head. I don’t know if the rest of the world is as taken with them as we seem to be at the moment. Maybe a bobble head Obama.
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