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The Hunt for Olympic Red Mittens

Shot with the Canon SD960 IS.

If you Google “Olympic Red Mittens” you will find hundreds of websites dedicated to selling one of the popular souvenirs of the 2010 Games. The mittens are so popular that Official Olympic Store online is currently out-of-stock and sellers on Ebay are offering the $10 mittens at prices as high as $30.

Since I’ve kind of fallen in love with the Olympic Games since witnessing the awe-inspiring Opening Ceremonies pre-show on Monday, I’ve been on a mission to find a pair of those elusive red mittens.

I figured the best place to find them would be at the Official Olympic store at the Hudson’s Bay Company downtown. What I hadn’t planned on was waiting outside the store for ten minutes just to get in the door.

Once inside the store, I was instantly lured into the plush toy section where I made friends with a rather curious Sasquatch named Quatchi. Though we didn’t speak the same language, we bonded over the loud, annoying noises we could make with cow bells.

We spent many hours searching through Canadian hockey jerseys, slippers, furry hats, mousepads, and flasks of maple syrup. Any and anything they could smack an Olympic logo onto they did, including doggy rain wear! w00f!

Finally, I found my very own pair of red mittens! It was another lengthy wait to buy them, but it was well worth it. I slipped my hands in the fleecy warmth and headed out on the downtown streets to cheer on my fellow Vancouverites who are stuck in traffic due to Olympic road closures.

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  • clarke thomas
    February 11, 2010 at 11:28 PM

    love the time spent with Quatchi. Did you take a Sasquatch home? Did it get it’s own mittens?

  • jon
    February 12, 2010 at 10:02 AM

    There are very large bins of Red Mittens at the Zellars in Lynn Valley. They seem to never run out! Whenever a bin empties a new one appears.

  • Tyler
    February 13, 2010 at 8:40 AM

    I got a pair of the red mittens for christmas. I think I’ve only worn them once though. The weather (to me anyway) hasn’t justified having to wear them.

    Now.. if they made gloved/mittens I can use for photography I would probably wear them more often!

  • Michelle Davis
    February 18, 2010 at 1:00 PM

    Well, I live in Philadelphia, Pa (USA) and cant get a pair of those awesome mittens! I searched and searched…..and searched to no avail. yes…ebay has them…for WAY to much money. :(

  • daniel hartley
    February 20, 2010 at 2:00 AM

    Olympic Red Mittens for sale – try the on-line olympic apparel shopping website
    http://buyredmittenscanada.ca. They have hundreds of the Canada mittens still available starting at $15. GO CANADA!

  • Monica Southon
    February 24, 2010 at 4:19 PM

    I also received a pair of the red mittens for Christmas and I wear mine all the time. Especially when I go out for a smoke at darts. Gotta keep the dart hand warm. LOL

  • Ruth Blackmore
    February 24, 2010 at 5:07 PM

    I game all of my family a pair of red mittens for Christmas. I now have 2 pairs I am taking to the Dominican Republic March 2nd and I am just going to hang them on my lounge on the beach to see whom we attract and what new friends we will make due to our “red Mittens”. Love them, will leave them in my will to my yet unborn grand children!

    PS I offered to mail 2 pairs to a PA(USA)couple we met in the DR in January and …no reply! Our Zellers stores in Toronto are over run with red mittens! Should I go and buy a bunch???

  • Sheila Robia
    February 24, 2010 at 7:29 PM

    @Ruth Blackmore: OMG!! I have tried all over this country of mine for a pair of these RED MITTENS!I would be forever in debted to you if you could send me a pair .I will send you the money and pay for the shipping and handling.I too am going to Cuba the 4th of March and would love to have them with me to show my support for our Awesome Country and it’s Great Athletes. Reguardless of being able to wear them or not…I AM SOOOO PROUD TO BE CANADIAN!!! From one Canadian to another….THANK YOU!!!! :)

  • Gordon
    February 24, 2010 at 7:38 PM

    I got my red mittens in the United Arab Emirates (a gift) last fall. I love them and have worn them all over the world. My parents have shipped pairs to our family throughout the world. Once again, we have proven Canada is Cool!

    And we’re still so damn humble!

  • Ruth Blackmore
    February 24, 2010 at 8:27 PM

    @Sheila Robia:\

    where are you from in Canada? Go on-line to any Bay store and you can have them delivered to you. Walk into any Zellers and there are hundreds in bins.

  • Stephen
    February 24, 2010 at 8:32 PM

    My wife gave her’s away to a friend in Calfornia who is pro Canada, figuring that she could get another pair from The Bay. Wrong … wrong … wrong! Unfortunately we couldn’t! I am not adverse to paying more than they are worth at The Bay because the difference is going to help our Canadain Olympic atheletes … not to scalpers who want even more with, other than the original price of $10 they may have paid is going toward our team! Shame on the scalpers … that is not a Canadian trait.

  • Ruth Blackmore
    February 24, 2010 at 8:41 PM

    @Stephen:

    I am going to go to my local Zellers tomorrow and see what is there. The last time I was there there were hundreds. If there are some I will buy 5 pairs and mail one to Sheila Robia if she sends me her address. The others I will hold for ransom…just kidding

  • Laurie Anderson
    February 24, 2010 at 10:54 PM

    Who knew that a pair of mittens could unite a country so completely?!!! Hunted for months to find mine and wear them everyday! Thanks to the Bay for giving Canadians a symbol of our Canadian Pride and a way to show our athletes how much we love and support them!!!

  • norma stewart
    February 24, 2010 at 11:44 PM

    looking for a pair of red mittens size med, do you know where i can get them
    norma

  • B Kopulos
    February 25, 2010 at 12:02 AM

    I managed to get hold of 2 pair when I found when the Bay restocks their shelves it was mon and wed in Wpg MB and when i went early in day I bought couple of pairs large/XL and one pair of med/small and donated my HBC points to Haiti fundraising cause. I have pix of them up on facebook.com/mafiamedia

    I am honored to have one of the 3 million I have heard they have sold so far.

  • Terri Krueger
    February 25, 2010 at 6:30 AM

    I ordered my mittens from the HBC and received them promptly last week. They’ve already appeared twice on the local TV station I work at in St. Louis, Missouri. My co-workers fell in love with them and kept threatening to keep them. I made sure to get them back as soon as they got off the air!!

  • Ben
    February 25, 2010 at 11:21 AM

    If you can’t find your red mittens at a Bay or Zellers, you can order them on-line from anywhere in the world and have them shipped. I got my whole family a set of them this morning at http://www.buyredmittenscanada.ca I didn’t even have to pay more – they have them listed starting at $10.00 and up.

  • Eleanor
    February 25, 2010 at 1:12 PM

    Bought all my family the red mittens for the torch relay coming through town and even sent them to friends in Europe so they could wear them while watching the events but because it’s been so cold and snowy there they’ve actually been wearing them and loving them! Seeing people wrapped in the Canadian flag on Robson St made me think someone missed a huge market not designing a fleecy Canada flag shawl/cape (maybe fringed) – I would love one! GO CANADA!!!

  • Sheila Robia
    February 25, 2010 at 2:05 PM

    @Ruth Blackmore: Oh @Ruth Blackmore: Hey Ruth! I am serious! If you’d get them for me I would be honoured to wear them! Here’s my email address and then I will send you my home address. sheilarobia@hotmail.com. Can’t wait to hear from you! A BIG CANADIAN THANKS!!!! :)

  • Janet Hart
    February 25, 2010 at 10:04 PM

    Hey gang:

    I live in Saskatoon and have been trying to get a pair at either the Bay or Zellers since Christmas without any luck. If you have a pair of SM that you would like to see me I can certainly pay for the shipping, etc. Just one pair!!! I am trying to be a good Canadian…

  • DiGirl
    February 26, 2010 at 9:08 AM

    I just finally found a whole bunch for sale at the canada red mittens shop. http://www.buyredmittenscanada.ca. Site is listing thousands of them in all sizes. I bought some in every size for my whole extended family to give as gifts at our closing ceremony party this weekend.
    This makes ME the Hostess with the Mostess!
    GO CANADA!

  • Leslie Saeta
    February 26, 2010 at 9:31 AM

    I live in Los Angeles and I found a pair of them on ebay. I was so inspired by them I did an oil painting of my mittens! http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Available_Paintings.html#0

  • Gayle Mudrick
    February 26, 2010 at 7:05 PM

    @eddy Iam sure that absolutely true

  • Sharon
    February 27, 2010 at 7:46 AM

    Hi everyone,

    I have a pair of L/XL red mittens that I was given only they are way too big for me (perfect for guys though!). Does anyone want them? I’ve listed them on eBay for $10 CDN (plus shipping). Here’s the listing: http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110500401239&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

    Since I’m not a regular eBay purchaser I can’t do the “Buy it now” button or I would.

    I will now start the hunt for a S/M pair!

    Go Canada!!

  • Michael
    February 27, 2010 at 1:08 PM

    Yeah I’ll take ’em! Do I have to do the whole bidding thing though?

  • Stu
    March 2, 2010 at 11:11 PM

    I would like to find a website, or somewhere where I can buy a pair of mittens and the money would go to supporting the canadian athletes, but how do I find the real ones. People on ebay are just trying to make money for themselves. I live in New York so a website would help. Thank you

  • MG
    March 21, 2010 at 8:05 AM

    Does anyone know if the http://www.buyredmittenscanada.ca site is legit?

  • diane
    March 31, 2010 at 1:53 PM

    The Red Mitten Shop IS a great site run by a Canadian family on Vancouver Island.
    http://buyredmittenscanada.ca You can still get mittens and the ad profits for the website are being used to support their local special needs athletes. I bought 10 pair of red mittens from them and they were really helpful. They don’t own the mitts, just directing visitors to where they can buy them. I bought one of the team Canada black hoodies there too. SO COOL!

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