apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This does not infringe on Travelocity's 'Roaming Gnome' trademark?

I thought the concept behind the gnome was that it was stolen and pictures of the gnome on its travels were sent back to the person from whom you stole the gnome. And then put the gnome back one day. One way to avoid this is to grease up your gnome, and that's not meant as a euphemism, either.

Yes, I was just going to make the same comment as Lady J. Why not send an owl or some other trendy tsotchke that people like to rip apart on here (no need to send the KCACO poster since it's already spotted everywhere in the world).

What about sending around the orange AT squiggle instead of the gnome?

This has been done...and done. On Wikipedia, no less than 8 variations of the Gnome thing are listed, plus there's plenty more to find elsewhere. Maybe the gnomes are tired now, and would rather stay at home.

Anything but the gnome! Anything!

http://www.gnomeoutlet.com/

The first gnome I clicked on weighed a pound.

When you say "send," does that mean it will be mailed or personally handed off to each individual? IF mailing is involved, what about sending a full-color cardboard cutout of the gnome to reduce shipping costs?

you should use Monchichi!

How about dashboard hulu girl? A friend did that on a business trip and took photos (cabs, cockpit, etc.)

I vote for the Stanley Cup.

If it must be a garden icon how about a pink plastic flamingo? Or even better, a lawn jockey. The gnome is so over.

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You can get miniature furniture at MomaStore.org. Might be funny to send a mini Eames chair.

I vote for Munny doll. At each location he could acquire a new doodle or signature on his blank canvas of a body (perhaps something that relates to that specific home/location), that way he comes back much changed from how he first set off...

http://www.kidrobot.com/2008/munny/

We have a small (5 inch) bendable Gumby figure that we hide around our home. Whoever finds it has to hide it again. I found him peaking out of my books last week. I stashed him behind the jam in the fridge. He's really fun because all of his limbs are posable.

Damn. I love the mini Eames chair idea.

My vote goes for Flat Stanley!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Stanley

I'm with the AT squiggle design idea. If you could get it rendered in 3D foam, that would be even better. It's cheap advertising!

I know that this idea has been done before (i.e. Amelie) but I think its a really cute idea to use for Apartment Therapy. Its a nice way to make you feel included in the site and connected to others. If you don't send a gnome at least send a guest book around with whatever item does get sent around. That way you could have random entries by the people the item gets sent to if its not just signing it.

This is so Flat Stanley!

I work for the Peanuts and there's some sort of fanclub or something we just heard about this week that has been sending Snoopy around the world over and over to take pictures. It's so cute!

I too vote for a chair that you can have people sit in at different places, although shipping it would be a little difficult. ;-)

a really hideous lamp? how about those "touch me!" lamps? too heavy perhaps...
or one of those horrid coathangers for kids' rooms covered with fake orange or blue fur and with a teddy's head impaled on the top that you find in every thrift shop? too big.
Or a tiny porcelain kitsch vase or something, polly pocket like in size?
A crochet doll made to hide a roll of toilet paper on the back shelf of the car?
Should be something that looks bad anywhere.

Warning if you send me a mini Eames Chair you might never get it back! ;-)

Inflatable moose head - note the snazzy antlers! Also, easy to send through the mail.

http://www.prankplace.com/moose.htm?KBID=1103&sub=moose&gclid=CLO504fS-pcCFRlRagodkEOCDA

A Maxwell bobblehead doll.

http://www.headbobble.com/
http://www.webobble.com/Custom-BobbleHead-Dolls-FAQ_ep_7.html

I like the squiggle idea way better than a gnome.

I love gnomes, so I voted for go gnome. This little gnome is small and mailable: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076242298X

NO MAS CON EL GNOME!

Please, for all that is well-designed and holy, no gnomes! I love gnomes, but enough is enough.

Now... what to send out? I'm thinking the Mini Eames Chair already suggested would be fitting, no pun intended. Of course, it's rather fragile, but damn adorable and oh-so design-o-licious.

Bobblehead! Definitely! Pics of people partying with the bobblehead.

Can we just send Audrey Tautou instead. She'd look much better in my apartment.

This idea is not original to Travelocity or Amelie, but apparently began back in the 80s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelling_Gnome_Prank
I think that the idea is a lot of fun! Go Gnome!

HenryP wins. Most of the things above have nothing to do with this site. As most pics on this site already have [at least one] mid-century modern icon in them, one more would gild the proverbial lily.

How about a Flat Maxwell?

Why not send around a looseleaf binder, where folks can paste/insert design ideas for you to share with readers later.

I vote the AT Squiggle, definitely. I am super excited to participate in this.

I want to see Bacon out exploring!

If not the real guy, maybe: http://www.stuffedark.com/bulldogfrfn.htm?source=googlebase

Snort! Love Flat Stanley!!!

Love Bacon! How 'bout Bacon carrying Flat Stanley in his mouth?

What about Hi Monkey? Hi Monkey's been to many interesting places too. He's an adventurer who has a great deal of experience with blog writing as well. And he's a cutie!

www.himonkey.net/index2.html

Oh, definitely another vote for the orange AT squiggle! No fear of infringement/wannabe issues... Perhaps fashioned from colored aluminum tubing, like the stuff carabiners are made of?

Rachel, my wife and I do the same thing! Only ours is with a mini Storm Trooper action figure from a McDonald's happy meal. When we find him, we leave ransom notes on a post-it...

How about a house mouse, keeping in line with the home theme of AT? Gnomes belong in gardens, not really AT's forte, but mice are apartment dwellers.

My vote is for the AT squiggle in 3D foam! It's original, true to AT, and just an all around fantastic idea.

Though I am worried about shipping costs and having it get stuck with a reader (I've had too many bad experiences with travel journals doing this).

Rachel@oneprettything.com, I do the same thing with a former roommate! Only we hide a Mr. Hankey on each other (a horrible, long-ago holiday present).

You've just reminded me to ask her about it. Because I hid the thing so well in 2003 that she *still* hasn't found it. Heh.

One word (okay, two)

SOCK MONKEY!

This TOTALLY makes me think of Flat Stanley.

I like the idea of the AT Squiggle, but I think something this fun needs a character of some sort. How 'bout a contest to come up with an AT mascot, and readers can vote?

1) yes. it's been done to death. i remember a long time ago someone doing this with a small plastic or ceramic sheep or something? it went around the world and i swear they did a story on it on like....20/20 or something. i tried to find it online but the closest thing i could get was http://www.youssouf.com/ which isn't it but oh well.

2) i've definitely done this myself....although it was right after high school and myself and 3 friends took a 2.5ft tall concrete statue of st. francis and sent ransom notes/pictures from different parts of the U.S. almost did it again a few years later with a plastic xmas lawn wiseman decoration but - we couldn't hand it off anymore and shipping costs k-o'd that idea.

3) Eames chair wins. although....i suspect it may "disappear" in its travels.




4) done to death or not, it's still fun

FLAT STANLEY without a doubt!

SOCK MONKEY!!

Love the squiggle idea and also the Sock Monkey ( actually like the monkey idea best). A book or something similar seems kinda lame. Photographing the "object" in our homes would be great fun since AT'ers are so creative. At any rate I love this idea!!!

Something from IKEA would probably be more on the money than a mini Eames chair, but who would be able to tell it was the silly thing we were passing around. I'd also like to suggest the Eames aesthetic isn't universal to AT readers. I don't like the squiggle because I honestly think it's a little whorish for a commercial site to send out their logo for this purpose and for people to want their homes to pose with it.

It's fun to try and think of how we can boost the community morale and make something fun - that we all share - to symbolize our common interest. I voted other, but struggling to come up with something that hits the mark. The gnome is done, but that doesn't mean we can't do it too. Something that most of us don't already have, probably wouldn't keep, and yet friendly enough to let visit, is essentially a gnome. Other suggestions would be a surprise exchange (like secret santa only in January/given month), but that would interfere with having things and trying to get rid of things that are junk. Forums are another way to share, but another vector of time suck, and another way for people to be unhappy about comments for one reason or another.

I noticed there was no option to choose this idea isn't that great. I think it still needs to finish cooking.

I personally favor Uncle Traveling Matt over the Roaming Gnome

How about a hybrid of Flat Stanley meets Eames meets Squiggle.

I like the idea of the mini Eames chair.

dianalily I haven't heard someone speak of Mr. Hanky in an AGE! I love that he's still kickin around since you last hid him (I recently found our Storm Trooper, aka Stormy, in a little hammock deep in our Ficus plant). My wife hid a mini Princess Leia in our friend's pool filter last time she visited there and the friend has yet to find that, either...

I agree with all of you really.

It's still cooking.

It should be a person or being (but I sorta like a lava light).

And it should be fun and spirit raising.

I also like handmade.

I like the Munny idea, b/c it gets to the idea of people customizing it to go with the environment. It'd be heavy - but a glass bowl or vase would be cool. It'd be neat to see folks integrated it in their environment. Something somewhat functional?

I like Flat Maxwell, mini Eames, orange squiggle, whatever.

But please---no gnome.

Oh, how fun! Send it to me, send it to me!
Friends of mine did this on a trip around Australia in a van with a kids toy plastic dinosaur (a bit like the toy story one) and had a whole series of photos where he was in them all, but usually it took quite a while to find him. It made their travel photos really exciting and fun.
I agree it needs to be something with a bit of personality.

There shouldn't be any copyright infringement issue, because the "Roaming Gnome" idea was taken from folklore. (I've a Masters in Folklore & Mythology.) This practice has been going on for much longer than references here show. I'd be willing to be that someone carried such a doll on the Silk Road.
Sending Flat Stanley around has become a practice among elementary school classes. I would rather leave that to them.
For my taste, the orange squiggle isn't "person-like" enough. The idea of the gnome is that its a small person who, in the photographs, seems to be enjoying the trip along with the big people.
How about making a paper doll figure? Since these are design-loving people, those who take pictures could make paper outfits. Use a sturdy plastic, and design it so it folds flat for mailing, but can be folded out so that it stands. It could be imprinted with the face of some design icon whose image is not copyrighted (use an image over 100 years old.)

A troll doll!