Cornering the Rebel Without a Cause.

SUBMITTED BY: Noelle Boc   LOCATION: Rumney, NH (2012)

At Plain Jane’s Diner, James Dean is just waiting to be swept off his feet by the right woman.

And given that he weighs about 9 ounces, it’s not a tough task.

(Noelle Boc, a.k.a. “The Kissing Librarian,” most recently locked lips with a Giant Fish.)

Channeling an old fashioned school teacher at the Hillsborough Historical Society's Living History Event.

SUBMITTED BY: Kathie Fife   LOCATION: Hillsborough, NH (2011)

Remember when educators carried rulers and would crack your wrists for chewing gum or misspelling a word?

Well, in addition to shining the silverware of President Franklin Pierce, the Hillsborough Historical Society loves to romanticize mean old school teachers.

(Kathie Fife is a nature photographer and greeting card designer who specializes in New Hampshire scenes.)

You don't have to go to Egypt or Las Vegas to see the Sphinx!

SUBMITTED BY: Ari G.  LOCATION: Glen, NH (2011)

New Hampshire, home of Story Land‘s Sphinx, is a helluva lot safer than Cairo right now.

(Ari G. is a frequent Tacky Tourist Photo contributor who has munched the World’s Largest Box of Popcorn and bench pressed the Liberty Bell. His favorite ride is Splash Battle: Pharaoh’s Reign.)

Belting out the classics with Sonny and Cher.

SUBMITTED BY: Gerry Cronin   LOCATION: Canobie Lake Park, Salem, NH (2011)

Sonny & Cher, icons of cheesy 1970s entertainment, would be horrified by how they are being immortalized in a New Hampshire amusement park.

The late Congressman Bono looks like one of those overstuffed pantyhose puppets.

U.S. Rep. Sonny Bono (R-Calif).

And Cher’s hair looks like vinyl siding. No amount of plastic surgery could defame her more.

I Got You Babe? Click on the image to see the full horror.

Hey Donny & Marie, aren’t you glad you’re not enshrined in the Canobie Lake Music Hall of Fame?

(Gerry Cronin is a Massachusetts utility company worker with a soft spot for bell bottoms and tight plaster turtlenecks.)

Taking a bite out of the giant popcorn box at Canobie Lake Park.

SUBMITTED BY: Ari Garnick   LOCATION: Salem, NH (2011)

Imagine what this box would cost at the movies, where we just shelled out $7 for a large (free refills didn’t ease the pain)!

Does Canobie Lake Park boast the World’s Largest Box of Popcorn?

We filed an official inquiry with the Popcorn Board, the industry trade association of popcorn farmers, to find out the truth.

(Ari Garnick recently bench pressed the Liberty Bell.)

**

UPDATE: Popcorn Board spokesperson Genny Bertalmio reports that the World’s Largest Box of Popcorn is (or was) at the Avenue Mall Cineplexx Theater in Osijek, Croatia on April 16, 2011. The box, created to celebrate the grand opening of the multiplex, required a construction platform to fill — with enough popcorn to blanket the parking lot.

Guinness, Shminness… We still say that Canobie Lake has the World’s Biggest Permanent Box of Popcorn until proven otherwise!

"You're so vain, you probably think this photo-op is about you!"

Wow. Does Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney think that his tush is his greatest political asset?

Apparently.

According to Politico, Romney just posed with some waitresses at a 1950s-style New Hampshire diner and jokingly inferred that one of the women pinched his behind while she had the golden opportunity.

Here’s Politico senior political reporter Maggie Haberman‘s recap:

“In the most bizarre moment of the morning here in Derry, Mitt Romney posed with three or four waitresses at Mary Ann’s Diner, in front of a jukebox.

While posing, Mitt suddenly jumped and said: “Oh, my goodness!” — pretending that a waitress grabbed his butt. Apparently it’s a joke from four years ago, when he claims someone grabbed him at a fundraiser.

It was indeed a joke this time.
“I would never do that,” the waitress said later.

Romney agreed, saying he “was just teasing.”

Just as nerds and geeks have reclaimed those terms as a matter of pride, we here at Tacky Tourist Photos have strived to redefine the meaning of tacky — infusing it with a positive connotation of “kitschy” or “funny.”

However, Romney’s stunt clearly fits the traditional definition of tacky. You can see the whole incident unfold as captured by MSNBC:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

(Interested in other tacky expressions of political vanity?  Check out the Vanity Index, the first mathematical formula to measure Senator egos!)

New Hampshire's Story Land amusement park.

SUBMITTED BY: Greg Constantine LOCATION: Glen, NH (2010)

Alice knew it would never last. Their forbidden love was awkward, punctuated by her delicate facial hair tickling the flamingo’s razor-sharp beak…

If you’d like to read more of this interspecies romance, drop us a line at tackytouristphotos@gmail.com

(Greg Constantine is a literature buff and science fiction filmmaker with a weakness for Cheetos).

HAVE YOU HUGGED YOUR CELL PHONE TODAY? -- This US Cellular corporate mascot has often cavorted with cuddly critters "Fungo" and "Slider" at New Hampshire Fisher Cats baseball games.

SUBMITTED BY: Tacky Tourist Photos    LOCATION: Manchester, New Hampshire (2007)

Not to go all Michael Moore on you, but there really isn’t that much difference between a child hugging a giant walking cell phone and a child cuddling with a giant walking rat at Disney.

One caveat: All those conflicting medical studies warning us not to hold cell phones too close to our heads.

SUBMITTED BY: Tacky Tourist Photos    LOCATION: Hopkinton County Fair, New Hampshire (2009)

We have no problems using burly cigar-smoking guys and intimidation to sell popcorn.

Just please change the sign!