Whales have been on my mind as of late. I'm not talking about the actual mammals; rather depictions of them in art, clothing and everyday objects. Whales are hip, preppy, cool and adorable -- and they're everywhere. I searched "whale" on Etsy and found 115 pages of delight.
Whales are hip. They're a throwback to childhood: large, easy to draw and the word "whale" rhymes with many different words. The Twitter "fail whale" is a good example of this. Its picture shows a humpback whale being ridiculously lifted out of the ocean by a flock of birds. I used to draw whales incessantly in third grade on account of our school's theme that year: "tall tails from snails to whales." (Thanks, Mrs. Frater!)
Whales are also preppy. The Vineyard Vines label showcases a blue whale archetype spouting on almost every polo shirt, sweater and totebag. To them, the whale symbolizes New England's historic whaling ports, where these large creatures were harpooned to death. Nowadays all that remains of this industry are museums and expensive gift shops. The cute whale, however, endures.
More images to follow.
Whale graphic by Ben.
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