You may think you don’t know anyone who needs a Moby Dick hat. But have you seen this Moby Dick hat? Hand crocheted by a teen crafter who sells her wares under the name WhatsEatinYou, the cap comes pre-harpooned for the wearer’s safety and convenience. I found it on Etsy.com, the online handcrafts superstore, a location packed with potential for Dickmas—the traditional Herman Melville’s birthday celebration on August 1—in case you aren’t yet finished with your shopping for this year.
Sadly, someone snapped up this cruelty-free “feltidermy” Moby Dick trophy head almost as soon as it was posted on Etsy by crafter girlsavage last week. But there are lots of other options. Who could resist a Moby-Dick GYOTAKU, a fish printed onto a page of everyone’s favorite metaphysical novel by artist Barry Singer? Or a stunning map of the voyage of the Pequod by printmaker Kathleen Piercefield—whose own website, by the way, offers a slew of other Moby Dick prints, including the haunting Pip: Alone. Have a look around; you might find the perfect item for your own Dickmas list.
Some commentators rue how commercialized Herman Melville’s birthday has become, but I personally prefer the gift exchange to earlier forms of observance, including the ritual donning of the cassock.
Happy shopping!
•••••
There are only four more days of voting left in the Guardian (UK) poll that pits Moby Dick (an asskicking sea monster) against Black Beauty (a talking horse). While the whale did pull ahead last month after we first mentioned the poll on Sea-Fever, he is currently once again losing to the horse by a hair—and whales don’t even have hair.
If you didn’t vote before, won’t you take a minute to put our boy over the top in this thing? Hint: your friends can vote, too.
Margaret Guroff is the editor and publisher of Power Moby-Dick.
Sea-Fever blog 
Yes, Google is not turning up much material on Dickmas, must be some sort of bug :)
Update: Moby Dick currently winning Guardian poll by a hair … but still needs every possible vote! Poll closes tomorrow.
In a moment of doubt and weakness I googled Dickmas. This post is the first hit and mine is the second. The third is something about Cheney. Hmmm….24 more shopping days!
hey, quite delighted that you posted about Etsy! It’s a daunting site, but so great for bringing artists’s work to you that you would never have known about, from places in the world one might not have heard about. And, thanks, going to go vote for the whale!