Llamas are so in for this year’s religious festivals
NEW YORK — Happy Falalalallamakkah, one and all.
With Hanukkah and Christmas bumping together this year, a holiday theme for the ages is ready to go — llamas.
That means cute and funky sweaters, T-shirts, holiday cards, wrapping paper and more showing off the cud-chewing pack animal for Christmas and Hanukkah, which begins the night of Dec. 24 this time around.
Oddly, the long-necked beast lends itself to holiday catchphrases for both: “Happy Llamadays” on a Christmas tree ornament with a little white one in a Santa cap, for instance, or “Fa-La-La Llama” on cards.
Looking to keep this quirky celebrant simple?
Jews can enjoy “Happy Llamakah” instead on paper products and sweaters. How about the Hanukkah-blue sweater with a brown llama in black hat, ear holes included. Also, he’s sporting Hasidic sidelocks.
These festive outfits are definitely of the “ugly sweater” ilk, with a side order of hipster. And lest you wonder the difference between a llama and an alpaca, look no further than the Christmas T-shirt with tree and a beast apparently named Larry declaring “Not a llama (alpaca).”
Online sellers from Amazon to Zazzle are awash in holiday llamas ho-ho-ho-ing it up with antlers and Christmas lights, wreaths around their necks and wearing ugly sweaters of their own.
For Hanukkah, they’re also in yarmulke, urging fans to belt “Llamakah, oh Llamakah,” like the holiday classic.
The Paper Source is selling blue-and-white Llamakah gift wrap with the animals in scarves toting menorahs and wrapped presents.
So where does all this lead? Well, directly to Barry Sellers in Manchester, England, for one.
Sellers is a 34-year-old artist who used to do street graffiti under the tag “llamaphish” using llamas or a goldfish in an Army helmet, depending on his mood. Now, he’s selling a T-shirt of his own design in 40 different colours with a goofy, bug-eyed llama as a Christmas tree itself, a topper star on his head, lights and garland wrapped around him, wishing all: “Fa lla lla lla llama.” Why did he do it? “To be honest, I have no idea. I’ve always drawn llamas,” he said. “I think it’s their facial expression. They’ve got a really funny face, almost condescending, like they’re laughing at you.”
Sellers is selling through the DIY site Teepublic at the moment, where designers upload images for use on all sorts of stuff, including shirts, mugs, baby onesies and phone cases.
He has plenty of company from others doing llamas.
“They’re just a funny animal,” Sellers said. “Even the name — it’s one of those words that’s just nice to say. It makes you laugh.”
Yasmeen Eldahan, 29, a New Yorker living in Cairo, is a school teacher by day and a seller of all things llama at Zazzle on her own time. She does it because they sell, she wrote in an email.
“I suppose it has something to do with the quirky nature of llamas themselves,” Eldahan said. “They’re not traditionally cute, nor are they particularly cool. They’re unusual and humorous. And I think that appeals to people.”
Eldahan said she hasn’t branched out into Llamakkah items yet, “but I might consider it for future llamas.”
Andrew Sutton, head of operations for the website TipsyElves, on which the sidelocked-llama sweater is sold, said one characteristic sets the animals apart — indifference.
“People absolutely love llamas because they live a carefree lifestyle,” he said.
“They don’t desire any love in the first place.”