Book Riot Managing Editor Vanessa Diaz is a writer and former bookseller from San Diego, CA whose Spanish is even faster than her English. When not reading or writing, she enjoys dreaming up travel itineraries and drinking entirely too much tea. She is a regular co-host on the All the Books podcast who especially loves mysteries, gothic lit, mythology/folklore, and all things witchy. Vanessa can be found on Instagram at @BuenosDiazSD or taking pictures of pretty trees in Portland, OR, where she now resides.
I have been obsessed with Dorothy Zbornak, Blanche Devereaux, Rose Nyland, and Sophia Petrillo since I was a kid watching The Golden Girls with my mom. I don’t know that I understood 75% of the humor, but there was something about the bond between the ladies of the lanai that I found comforting even before I understood why it was funny that Blanche’s initials were B.E.D. or when Sophia’s sister said she hoped her marinara sauce never clung to her pasta. Sick burn, Aunt Angela! Rude, but sick.
Decades later there is still so little media that centers women of a certain age and portrays them in the fullness of their human experience the way The Golden Girls did, a show that feels so ahead of its time for daring to let these women be not just mothers, grandmothers, and widows, but women with vibrant social and sex lives doing life on their terms. I hope that when I, too, am of a golden age, I have friends with whom I can sit around eating cheesecake till the wee hours of the morning talking about love, life, loss, sexy times, workplace drama, and everything in between.
A friend recently gifted me a fantastic sticker of Rose flipping the bird over the “Stay Golden” text, which sent me in search of stuff to put the sticker in or on. It turns out there’s lots of great bookish Golden Girls swag out there, so I’m sharing some of that with you today. From bookmarks and stickers to totes and notebooks, I hope you find something here to make you laugh, make you smile, and remind you why these girls will forever stay golden.
image from EllieBlueDesigns on EtsyIf you like your bookmarks of the clip-on variety, you can stay well-read and golden with this cute magnetic bookmark. $5
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image from Wildflowerbookmarks on EtsyEach of the bookmarks in this Golden Girls-inspired set features an adorable illustration of a Golden Girl paired with one of her best lines. “Eat dirt and die, trash!” will simply never get old! $4+
image from PaperPrintMagic on EtsyHere’s a printable set of bookmarks that also pairs one Golden Girl with one of her most famous lines. “Flirting is part of my heritage!” is one of my favorite lines from my favorite episode (“The Case of the Libertine Bell”), which features a murder mystery with bookish references. So good! $3
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image from JustAddJewelry on EtsyI couldn’t present you a list of Golden Girls goods and not include a Shady Pines reference. It’s a bookmark and a threat! $8
image from 302SaltyTideDesigns on EtsySophia has some nerve judging our smutty reading habits when she’s been known to rent a ‘dirty movie’ herself! But I love this shady lady and thus this judgy bookmark. $4
image from PhaseApparelCompany on EtsyThe gals get the arcana treatment in these beautiful tasseled tarot bookmarks. Each one comes with an explanation card to tell you what your bookmark card means. $7
image from SmileThenStick on EtsyI like to use stickers as bookmarks because there are just so many good ones out there. I don’t know about you, Rose and Blanche’s quotes in this Golden Girls sticker set are feeling a little too real right now. $8+
image from BushelandPeckCrafty on EtsyThis sticker will either make you some friends with good taste in television or set you up for some very uncomfortable conversations. Real ones know all about Pfeiffer’s Pfuneral Home and that the “p” is definitely not silent. $5
image from LunaseaGifts on EtsyAll of these items remind me how many one-liners from the show I use in my everyday life. I challenge you to tell someone getting on your #%@! nerves to blow it out their tubenburbles this week, or just add this set of Golden Girls insult pens to your cart. $5+
image from TheBlancheBoutique on EtsyThese sticky notes are another reminder to stay golden while writing out your to-dos, TBR, grocery lists, etc. $12
image from LiviLouDesigns on EtsyYou can’t tell Dorothy Zbornak what to do on a good day, and definitely not if you’ve just denied her Sinatra tickets (iykyk). I love this Dorothy notepad for those shoulder pads alone! $9+
For even more of Miami’s finest, check out the books I’d recommend to each of the Golden Girls and this exhaustive list of literary references on the show.
English (US) · 