"Hello Kitty" is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
A California woman has more "Hello Kitty" items than she even knows. It's safe to assume the number is in the tens of thousands. That’s enough "Hello Kitty" memorabilia to fill a she-shed outside super-fan Helen’s house.
Helen stores her massive collection in a temperature-controlled mini-museum where shoe covers are required.
Helen told KCBS that the first collectable she acquired was a “Hello Kitty” eraser and “that started my obsession.”
"Hello Kitty" is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
What started in 1974 as a drawing on a vinyl coin purse has grown into an empire that includes clothing, school supplies, movies and even theme parks.
And though "Hello Kitty" has been marketed to children and pre-teens, Helen says the white cat with the big bow and no visible mouth is for everyone.
“People say that 'Hello Kitty' is for a little kid, no way, no way. Sanrio knows what he’s doing and I think he knows that it, you know, it fills us, it fills our hearts,” Helen told KCBS.
