Even as Barack Obama delivered his gravest warning yet about prolonged recession, at least one corner of the American economy was enjoying an unprecedented boom because of him.

Last year’s historic election victory and the looming inauguration of the first black US president have spawned an industry estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars in clothing and collectibles.

In addition to the ubiquitous T-shirts, baseball caps, key rings, pens, paper-weights, mugs, commemorative plates and badges, people can buy Obama-branded cigars, boxer shorts, hot sauce, golf balls, lipstick and wristwatches.

Ben & Jerry this week launched its Yes Pecan ice cream, an Obama doll is being marketed under the slogan of “an action figure we can believe in”, and a skateboard decorated with pictures of the President-elect as a young man is available for $77 (£50).

Adverts for a 22-karat-gold-trimmed Obama Victory Plate bombard TV viewers who are invited to buy “this priceless work of art” for $19.99, plus shipping and handling costs, because “his confident smile and kind eyes are an inspiration to us all”.

Although Mr Obama’s website has done a healthy trade in official merchandise, most of the profits are going to American free enterprise ranging from the T-shirt hawkers — who massed like medieval markets outside his campaign rallies — to sizeable retail businesses.

Jim Warlick, who has just opened his second souvenir shop a stone’s throw from the White House, said that he was planning to have three more temporary sites operating from next week when millions of people are expected to begin arriving in Washington for the inauguration.

He started out selling Jimmy Carter badges 28 years ago and claims that Mr Obama has made him a millionaire.

Mr Warlick, a life-long Democrat, has given money to Mr Obama’s campaign, but acknowledges that he may have more than political reasons to declare: “I absolutely love the man.” The margins are sky-high: a T-shirt that costs between $5 and $7 will retail for $15 to $25.

“There has never been a better time to be in this business,” he said. “My biggest concern is running out of merchandise. You can’t give Bush stuff away at the moment but anything with Obama’s picture on it is walking out of the store.”

The market for Obama products, added Mr Warlick, has been worth as much as $250 million since the start of the campaign. “It feels like every entrepreneur in America is trying to make a little money out of this. I have boxes and boxes of stuff being sent to me although some of it, like Obama flying pigs, is in questionable taste.”

Mr Obama’s celebrity power to affect much bigger brands is also being tested. Last month, when he was spotted walking to a gym with a Microsoft Zune, rather than his usual iPod, calls flooded into the President-elect’s transition office asking if he had forsaken Apple.

The troubled newspaper industry is seeking to cash in on Mr Obama. The Washington Post, which is already offering bags, clothing and coffee mugs with images of its election victory front page, plans to print a special section that invites readers to send personal messages to the new president at $10 a time. Mr Obama even features in a special inaguration edition of Spiderman being printed this week by Marvel Comics.

The New York Times, which has not been slow to peddle commemorative photographs from the campaign, published a long article asking if Michelle Obama could help to revive America’s fashion houses. “She’s 25 years younger than the last few First Ladies, and her age opens her up to a more youthful approach,” said the designer Anna Sui.

“She could potentially do what Jackie Kennedy did, bring about a new awareness and a fresh outlook. She can give a big boost to the American fashion industry — we need all the help we can get.”

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