Today is the 250th birthday of America, that is, the semiquincentennial date of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. I’m celebrating by seeing the Detroit Symphony Orchestra do the 1812 Overture with “cannon fire and a brilliant fireworks finale” this evening at Greenfield Village.

This is the only big anniversary of my home country that I can count on seeing in my lifetime. I’m not sure 275 is a number we’ll be as excited about, and I’ll be 78 when the 300th anniversary comes around, so that one’s a coin flip. My younger sister’s lifespan is more definitely within reach of the tricentennial year of 2076, and for that I am somewhat jealous, because it’s a much cooler anniversary when it actually ends in “76.”

I think it’s a bit of a shame that the anniversary is wrapped up in so many bad vibes, presided over without much flair by an administration devoid of taste, but there’s probably never really a good time for it. The 1976 bicentennial seems to be fondly looked back on today, even though it came in its own post-Vietnam era of stagflation and “malaise.”

I don’t really know how it overcame those headwinds, but even today there is a chipper and charming patriotism about 1976 memorabilia that tends to bring a smile to my face when I come across it at an antique store or garage sale. I’m curious to see whether “America 250” ephemera achieve the same effect. The merch I’ve seen on the shelves so far this year hasn’t been very impressive — lots of generic trinkets and bits of apparel with a mention of the anniversary stamped on. A perfect example is the very first item I noticed, back in November (which I wrote about in my first post on this blog): souvenir bells in the gift shop at Grand Traverse Lighthouse.

Bells

The one great artifact of this year, for Michiganders at least, is the commemorative license plate, which is a reissue of the one Michigan made for the 1976 bicentennial, just with a “26” in the corner instead of “76.”

License plate

The 1976 plate is one of my favorite license plate designs. I see it every once in a while, because people like to put it on random old vehicles, and I’ve always wished I could have it. This reissue is only available for purchase in 2026, so I had no real choice but to buy it now.