The mittens that spawned 1,000 memes

Illustration by Juli Badics.

Jen Ellis, a teacher and crafter from Essex Junction, didn’t expect to sell out her Etsy inventory on inauguration day. But when Vermont’s own Senator Bernie Sanders attended the Presidential Inauguration ceremony wearing a pair of her repurposed wool and fleece mittens, her store began flooding with orders.

Since then, Ellis has sold out several times over and auctioned off several pairs of mittens to raise money for both a number of Vermont charity organizations and her daughter’s college fund.

Sen. Sanders had been wearing the mittens on the campaign trail since Ellis made them for him in late 2019. The now iconic image of Sen. Sanders in his folding chair, mittens crossed, is strewn across the internet, photoshopped into historical photos, shots from beloved films, and WWE matches alike.