‘Hey Osama, Tell Hitler We Said Hello’

THE killing of Osama bin Laden quickly spawned a mini-industry of memorabilia, with street vendors and online stores busily peddling trinkets to celebrate and commemorate the moment.

Hastily designed mugs and T-shirts appeared for sale online, many with bin Laden’s face, sometimes crassly doctored, with the word “DEAD” scrawled in large letters.

“Sorry it took so long to get you a copy of my birth certificate. I was too busy killing Osama bin Laden,” said one T-shirt for sale for $22 on the CafePress website that sells customised T-shirts, posters, mugs and gifts.

Another shirt depicted bin Laden with a bloody gunshot wound in his forehead while another said, “Hey Osama, Tell Hitler We Said Hello.”

On the more patriotic side, some designs featured an American flag and Sunday’s date.

At Ground Zero, vendors rushed to sell small American flags, at $3 a piece, to members of the euphoric crowd cheering bin Laden’s demise.

On the online auction site eBay, users were selling copies of the morning’s New York newspapers at a hefty mark-up.

A packet of three New York Posts with the headline “GOT HIM!” was listed at $18.99, while a packet of six papers — including New York’s Daily News with the headline “ROT IN HELL” was listed at $39.99.