Spencer Gifts blinks in battle over 'pornaments'

A photograph of a "pornament" that News4Jax.com fogged in order to be able to show it on television

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Pornographic ornaments, reportedly similar to those used in the Clinton White House, disappeared briefly from a novelty company's website and apparently were being pulled from its stores after a Miami, Fla., lawyer warned the company displaying those items where children can see them is illegal in many states.

The "pornaments," featuring various snowman, elf and Santa characters in sexually explicit poses, were not available on the website of Spencer Gifts for a time, but some did return later, and Florida lawyer Jack Thompson told WND that he's working to make sure the company faces criminal charges in any state where they continue to appear in stores and state laws are similar to Florida's laws.

The "pornaments" graphically depict anal intercourse between a snowman and a bare-breasted "snowwoman," sexual intercourse between reindeer, a naked elf with a gigantic, erect penis, a bare-breasted female elf, and so on, Thompson reported in a letter to authorities.

Site searches of the company's online sales catalogue produced "no matches" in a search for "pornaments" for several hours. But then some of the items, including Mr. North Pole, Snowman Sex, Snow Job, Reindeer Sex and Mrs. North Pole, reappeared with list prices of $8.99 apiece.

The ornaments are similar, Thompson said, to the ones former FBI Agent Gary Aldrich described in his book, "Unlimited Access," about security lapses during the Clinton tenure in the White House. That book recounts the placement of pornographic tree ornaments on the official Clinton White House Holiday tree, Thompson said.

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The novelty company sells a variety of products ranging from a "Brokeback Cookie," and a reversible Playboy jacket to a "Pole Dancing Kit," a fiber optic butterfly and "Tinkerbelle Tote."

But when the "pornaments" got the attention of a Baptist pastor in Florida a few days ago, Thompson noticed some local coverage, and the battle was on.

In one of the initial local reports, Hillcrest Baptist Church Pastor Jim Patterson said it was "sad" companies would stoop to such levels.

"It says we are nothing more than sexual acts or physical beings and we are much more than that. We are spiritual beings and this is a spiritual holiday. And, why bring it to that level. It makes no sense to me," he said.

"It's quite a leap we've made in 30 years of culture rot from mistletoe to Spencer's naked, tumescent elves and 'S&M Santa' tied up for a whipping," Thompson said. "Not to mention a Spencer's snowman engaged in anal sex with Spencer's promotional copy describing 'Frosty's F--- Face.'"

A call by WND to a Spencer Gifts retail outlet at the Colorado Mills Mall in Golden, Colo., generated a terse response from Janelle, the assistant manager: "Actually, we can't answer any questions. We have to send you to the corporate office."

While she was looking up the number, she apparently whispered to another store staffer: "He wants to know about the pornaments."

At corporate headquarters in New Jersey, an assistant to the corporation's counsel said she was taking messages to pass along. However, WND's request for a comment wasn't returned.

Thompson said he started out with a letter to Spencer Gifts warning them of Florida's law against displaying sexually explicit products where minors can see them, and a deadline to remove them from local store shelves.

"Spencer Gifts complied, pretty much," Thompson said. "The company issued a corporate directive to pull some of the pornaments."

But since they were being displayed on the Internet and in company stores in other states, Thompson continued his campaign. He said more than half the states have laws similar to Florida's.

In a letter to Attorney General Jim Petro of Ohio, where the law concerning the display of obscenity is similar to Florida's, Thompson noted, "However, what Spencer Gifts apparently did not understand is that in admitting, in effect, their wrongdoing in Florida and then continuing to display these same items in other states which have laws prohibiting such displays, they have exposed themselves to successful criminal prosecution in Ohio."

Thompson said he checked out the availability of the ornaments in Ohio, and talked with a store employee. He was informed the ornaments still were being sold, but workers had been ordered not to call them "pornaments" any more.

"'Are they segregated into any adult section of the store?' He said, 'No, they’re readily accessible by anyone,'" Thompson wrote. "I then asked which ones he has, and he called one, of which I had not heard, 'Santa and the woman.' I asked, 'What is that one like?' He said: 'I'm not allowed to describe it over the phone.' 'But it’s being sold and in plain view in the store?' 'Yes,' he said," Thompson related.

He cited the advertising for the products as equally offensive as the products themselves: "These snow people sure know how to kick up their heels and have a grand ol’ time! Can’t decide if the best thing about this ornament is the snowlady’s breasts or Frosty’s f--- face. Either way, that’s one fine snow-job!”

In his letter to Ohio, Thompson cited some news coverage of the local issue is available at News4 in Jacksonville and at a nearby CBS outlet.

Jacksonville also is where school children protested in front of the store carrying the display, he noted.

Thompson told WND that the publicity and following reaction applied enough heat to the company to make them rethink that particular sales strategy.

Thompson said the decision by Spencer's to display the items was aggravated by the architecture of their mall stores, which generally don't have an area available to be screened off from children.

"Plus the venue of being in a mall, which is a family-friendly, family-magnet situation, it's a disaster," Thompson told WND.

"Nobody's contesting their right to sell this stuff, but they've got to comply with state law," he said.

Spencer Gifts was founded as a mail-order catalog in the 1940s, then expanded into retail outlets with the advent of malls in the 1960s. It's ownership has been transferred several times, and it was acquired by Seagram Company Ltd. and was run under the name Universal Studios. It later was acquired by Vivendi, and then in 2003 GB Palladin took over.

Thompson, who has included a battle against pornography and obscenity as a regular part of his work, appeared a number of years ago on ABC's "Nightline with Ted Koppel" to talk about the court verdict that 2 Live Crew's "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" was obscene.

His current targets include the more extreme graphics available to children in today's video games.

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