Where the heck did all these owls come from?

It was a slow realization, dawning lightly on my consciousness as first a trickle, and then a gushing wall of OWL-themed merchandise that began deluging popular culture. My question came to be- why? Surely there are other, cuter animals out there that are not enjoying this torrent of publicity.

I haven’t seen even one potto-shaped ring, for instance. (I did a search to be sure. "Did you mean 'pearls?'"asked the search engine.)

Or tapirs! These are darling tube-nosed snufflers. To be fair, there were a few hits on my search for tapir-themed jewelry. Just a handful, compared to the 29,400 results that popped up on my “owl jewelry” search.

So what is it that has allowed the popularity of the owl to soar? In my eternal quest for knowledge, I galloped straight to the source of all wisdom – the internet. Through some forum-lurking and depressing Yahoo questions (honestly, my opinion of the average US citizen’s intelligence always falls a few numbers after too many minutes of browsing Yahoo questions), I found a handful of speculations, but no hard answers.

Speculation 1:

The influx of owls is due to the owls seen in the movies in the past few years – the Harry Potter series that began in 2001, and Legend of the Guardians more recently in 2010.

Speculation 2:

Owls were huge in the 70’s, and now they’ve resurfaced, like leggings and all sorts of things that seem to fade and return in cycles over the decades.

http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/vintage-1970s-ceramic-owl-figurine-yellow-orange-rust-hand-painted-ooak

Speculations 3 (by far the most popular):

I don’t know why owls are so popular, but aren’t they so cute?! I freaking love/adore/am married to an owl, so I’m just super hipster happy that they’re around for me to buy!!!

Now, my confession: I have allowed myself, if not to be swept up in this craze, than at least to be lazily carried along in some of the class 1 rapids. That is to say, I’ve utilized owls in a few of my jewelry pieces recently – but not, I ardently defend myself, because I’m a slave to pop culture or the masses or whatever devious force is churning out owls at the speed of greyhound.

*Takes a moment to collect excuses*

My sister likes owls. So, I make them thinking of her.  And some of them can be cute. And sometimes, goshdarnit, you just need to create with an owl!

*Puts head in hands*

http://www.etsy.com/listing/74077030/pocket-owl-necklace-a-brass-pocket-watch