1st Ever Official Hello Kitty Con

My love for Hello Kitty started back in 1980, when my cool cousin from Los Angeles sent me a package containing Hello Kitty stickers and Hello Kitty ponytail holders.  To this day, she is a master at picking out the perfect gift. Unlike today, in the 1980’s midwest, Hello Kitty merchandise was very difficult to find. In fact, I remember several years of unsuccessfully searching for Hello Kitty after receiving that initial gift. I eventually found her in the children’s section of Dayton’s department store at West Acres Mall in Fargo, North Dakota. And people like to make fun of Fargo! Well not me.  Hidden in the middle of racks of clothing was a display containing shelves and shelves of Sanrio merchandise. This was the first time I felt the joy and rush of seeing so much Sanrio merchandise all in one place.  Not only was Hello Kitty there, but I was introduced to My Melody, and the Little Twin Stars.  I could have spent hours there.  My parents, however, thought and felt exactly the opposite.  They tried to make it a quick pass by thing and said “we will come back.” I knew this wasn’t true from previous experience. TORTURE! I had finally found Hello Kitty! How could they not understand I needed time with her and all of her merchandise? To look each item over meticulously and determine on which item I would spend my allowance.  It would not have been quite as big of a deal to me had I been a child growing up in 2014, where Hello Kitty merchandise is everywhere and on everything.

Over the years, as we have all seen, Hello Kitty has become universal and omnipresent.  I am relieved to have something I love finally be available to me with ease, Pink Unicorn right? Only about 35 years later than I would have liked, but such is the story of my life.  And with perfect timing for my shared milestone birthday with Hello Kitty, the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles will be opening its Exploring Hello Kitty exhibit. During one of the weekends the exhibit is open, MOCA in downtown Los Angeles will hold the first ever official Hello Kitty Con!  I am hoping the exhibit and convention will have more information about what I just read in the L.A. Times, Hello Kitty is not a cat.  Apparently, she is a little girl?  It was stated that she has never been depicted as walking on all fours.  But what about her cat face and her cat name? She has whiskers, a tail, and cat ears that I don’t think I have ever seen removed.  And why does she have a pet cat (Charmmy Kitty) that looks confusingly almost just like her?  Things to ponder and learn more about, hopefully this fall in downtown Los Angeles.