Yappin' Yinzers
TypeTalking plush doll
Inventor(s)Alex Kozak[1]
CompanyColloquial Enterprises, LLC[2]
CountryUnited States
Availability2006[1]–present
SloganPittsburghers with Personality[3]
Official website

Yappin' Yinzers is a line of talking plush dolls with exaggerated stereotypical Pittsburgh mannerisms and speech patterns, a personality type called Yinzer.[4] They are designed to "represent the epitome of Yinzerdom"[5]

Yappin' Yinzers were invented by Alex Kozak, a manager at software company called CombineNet.[1] He is a native of Pittsburgh who grew up in West Homestead and Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.[1] His parents are the children of Ukrainian immigrants.[1] He graduated from Duquesne University.[1]

Chipped Ham Sam was the first Yappin' Yinzer issued; he sports a mullet, jean shorts, and a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey.[1][6] One of his recorded sayings in "I'm goin' dahn a sahside ta drink some arns 'n'at."[1] Later, Nebby Debbie was added.[7]

Kozak developed Yappin' Yinzers in 2006 after having a difficult time explaining the concept of "yinzer" to out-of-state business associates.[1] He recorded the voices himself.[1] By October 2007, the Yappin' Yinzers were available for sale at 30 locations.[1] They cost $19.95.[1] They have been on sale at the Heinz History Center.[8] Within the first year, 3,500 were sold.[1] Much of the interest came from Pittsburgh expatriates.[1] As of January 2014, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that the Yappin' Yinzers "continue to be big sellers."[9]

Kozak has begun expanding the offerings to similar dolls across other American cities under the title of Talkin' Townies.[10][11] In 2012, Colliquial Enterprises developed a second line of dolls based on stereotypical localized culture, this time Beantown Sully with Boston accent and mannerisms.[12]

In her book Speaking Pittsburghese: The Story of a Dialect, Barbara Johnstone, Professor of Rhetoric at Carnegie Mellon University[13] dedicated an entire section to explaining why Yappin' Yinzers represent "Characterological Figures" of the social identity of "yinzers."[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Bennett, Samantha (October 5, 2007). "Local Dispatches: The sound of Pittsburgh, suitable for hugging". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  2. ↑ "Links". Colloquial Enterprises, LLC.
  3. ↑ "Yappin Yinzer". Colloquial Enterprises, LLC.
  4. ↑ "Pocket-Sized Pittsburgh" (PDF). Pittsburgh Magazine. March 2007.
  5. ↑ Montanez, Virginia (September 2010). "A Little Bit (More) of Yinzer". Pittsburgh Magazine.
  6. ↑ "Chipped Ham Sam".
  7. ↑ "Nebby Debbie".
  8. ↑ "Support the arts with your Christmas gift-giving". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. December 23, 2009.
  9. ↑ Weaver, Rachel (January 4, 2014). "Yinzers proud of their dialect n'at". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Stores like Mike Feinberg Co. in the Strip District cash in on the love of all things local with items covered in sayings like "dahntahn," "jagoff" and more. Yappin Yinzers dolls Chipped Ham Sam and Nebby Debbie, which spout sayings like "Jeetjet?" and "Get aht a tahn!" continue to be big sellers.
  10. ↑ ""Yappin' Yinzers" Creator Set To Take Project Nationwide". WTAE-TV. February 9, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Talkin' Townies". Colliquial Enterprises, Inc.
  12. ↑ "'Sully' doll is townie approved". Boston Herald. October 6, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Barbara Johnstone Carnegie Mellon University". Carnegie Mellon University.
  14. ↑ Johnstone, Barbara (October 14, 2013). Speaking Pittsburghese: The Story of a Dialect. Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics. Oxford University Press. pp. lxxi. ISBN 9780199374915.
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