Originally published 2021-01-30.
The photo of Bernie Sanders sitting cross-legged in a parka and oversized mittens at Joe Biden's inauguration on 20 January 2021 became one of the most shared images of the year. Within a week, Sanders had turned it into a fundraiser: sweatshirts, T-shirts and stickers bearing the image, sold as "Chairman Sanders" merchandise, raised about $1.8 million for charities in his home state of Vermont in just five days.
Here is how a cold-weather snapshot became a charity campaign, who made the famous mittens, where the money went, and what the episode shows about turning viral fame into real help.
The photo behind the meme
The picture was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Brendan Smialowski. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, guests at the inauguration were seated apart, and Sanders sat alone on a folding chair, masked, arms folded, in a practical brown Burton jacket and patterned mittens. Next to the formal coats around him, he looked like someone who had come to wait for a bus.
That contrast made it irresistible. Within hours, people were editing him into almost any scene imaginable: a subway seat, the surface of the Moon, the couch from Friends, famous historical photos and film stills. One website even let users drop him into any Google Street View location. Brands joined in too; IKEA used the image in an advertisement.
How Chairman Sanders merchandise raised $1.8 million
Rather than ignore the joke, Sanders leaned into it. His campaign website put sweatshirts, T-shirts and stickers featuring the photo on sale on the Thursday after the inauguration. According to the Associated Press, the first run sold out in under 30 minutes. More stock was added over the weekend, and that sold out by Monday morning.
On the following Wednesday, Sanders announced the total: $1.8 million in five days. Thanking supporters, he said he and his wife were glad to use his "internet fame" to help Vermonters in need, while stressing that charity was no substitute for relief passed by Congress during the pandemic.
Other organisations added their own gestures. Getty Images, which licenses AFP photos, said it would give its licensing proceeds from merchandise using the picture to Meals on Wheels America. Burton Snowboards, maker of the jacket, donated 50 coats to Burlington's Department for Children and Families in Sanders' name.
Where the money went
The proceeds from the official merchandise were directed to organisations working with older people, families and people on low incomes across Vermont. The AP listed:
- Area Agencies on Aging, which fund Meals on Wheels programmes delivering food to older and housebound people around the state;
- Vermont community action agencies, which help with heating, housing and food;
- Feeding Chittenden, a food shelf in Vermont's most populous county;
- the Chill Foundation, which runs board-sports programmes for young people;
- Vermont senior centres;
- Bi-State Primary Care, for improving dental care in the state.
Some early reports also named the Vermont Parent Child Network among the beneficiaries. The choice reflected the timing: in early 2021, food banks and services for older people were under heavy strain because of the pandemic.
Jen Ellis and the famous mittens
The mittens were not a designer product. They were made by Jen Ellis, an elementary schoolteacher from Essex Junction, Vermont, who knits mittens as a side business using wool from old sweaters, lined with fleece made from recycled plastic bottles. She had given Sanders a pair years earlier, and he chose to wear them on one of the coldest, most watched days in Washington.
After the photo spread, Ellis was swamped with requests she could never meet by hand. She made three more pairs: two were donated to the Vermont charities Passion 4 Paws and Outright Vermont to auction, and she planned to sell one on eBay for her daughter's college fund. She later partnered with Vermont sock maker Darn Tough on a line whose proceeds go to food banks. She also shared that Sanders had phoned her to say how much the "mitten frenzy" had raised, though she could not yet reveal the figure.
Bernie Sanders called me earlier today to tell me that the mitten frenzy has already raised an enormous amount of money for Vermont charities. I am not authorized to disclose the amount yet- but it's BIG and it's amazing! Thank you!! Generosity brings joy. @People4Bernie
— Jen Ellis (@vtawesomeness) January 25, 2021
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The $20,000 crocheted Bernie doll
The most talked-about single item was a small crocheted figure of Sanders in his chair, mask and mittens, made by Tobey King of Corpus Christi, Texas, who runs Tobey Time Crochet. She adapted a Bernie pattern she had made earlier, spending around seven hours on the doll, and listed it on eBay. Bidding pushed the price to more than $20,300, with the proceeds going to Meals on Wheels America.
King then put the pattern itself on sale on Etsy and Ravelry, and more than 30,000 people bought it, a reminder of how many crafters wanted their own version of the moment.
The Bernie pattern is up on Etsy and Ravelry! Holy cow this is madness! I am overwhelmed with emotion! Thank you to everyone who has liked, shared and commented on my Bernie doll!!! I love you to the moon and back!!! #tobeytimecrochet #crochetbernie #berniesmittens pic.twitter.com/1UA12rjh4J
— Tobey Time Crochet (@tobeytimecroche) January 23, 2021
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What the meme shows about viral fundraising
Viral moments rarely last more than a few days, which is why the speed of the response mattered. A few lessons stand out for anyone hoping to turn online attention into donations:
- Move fast, but be clear. The official merchandise named its beneficiaries from the start, which built trust while interest peaked.
- Separate the official from the unofficial. Hundreds of independent sellers also used the image. Only items sold through the campaign, or makers like King and Ellis who stated their charity plans, can be linked to specific donations, so headline totals should not be read as covering everything sold.
- Credit the people behind the image. The photographer, the teacher who knitted the mittens and the company that made the jacket all became part of the story, and several turned their sudden attention into extra giving.
Sanders went on to chair the Senate Budget Committee that year. The mittens, meanwhile, became a small piece of American pop culture, and a rare inauguration meme that left Vermont food shelves and senior programmes better off.
Sources: WRDW/Associated Press, 27 January 2021; Wikipedia: Bernie Sanders mittens meme; Yahoo News: Crochet artist turns viral Bernie image into a doll that sells for $20,000. Photo of the inauguration: Brendan Smialowski/AFP. Story first spotted via I Heart Intelligence.
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