DENVER – That familiar old refrain about getting a lousy souvenir wouldn't sell very well in the city hosting the Democratic National Convention.

It would be difficult for anybody to legitimately grouse that his aunt went to Denver this week and all he got was that lousy T-shirt. Truth is, there is a veritable cornucopia of souvenirs being offered by the more than 800 street vendors massed in “Mile High City.” Buttons, hats and American flags are in plentiful supply as well as those standard-issue theme shirts.

Vendors who paid over $80 to the city for licenses to work the streets are selling items ranging from Obama T-shirts to buttons, hats and American flags are working with increasing intensity as the convention approaches the homestretch.

“I've been in Obama's tour since the beginning of it,” said Knowledge Allah, a native of Trinidad, who is among those hawking their wares here.

The 33-year-old Allah said that even though the convention has brought tens of thousands of people here, vendor sales vary significantly each day.

Street license applications have picked up dramatically. In May, for instance, there were about 80 such permits. As of Aug. 22, that figure jumped to 686, and as of Aug. 27, the total of permits grew to 823, not including food vendors, said Bryan Thiel, a spokesman for the DNC's Joint Information Center.

Kate Horle, a spokeswoman for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that there are many people whose businesses are somehow involved in the convention and benefiting from it, “whether it's restaurants or (street) vendors who are selling Barack Obama paraphernalia.”

For Jeff Reul, a resident of St. Louis and a street vendor who sells campaign buttons for $5 a piece, every day “is long and unpredictable.” He works from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day almost nonstop.

But the heavy competition has made it more difficult for some vendors to sustain a healthy sales pace.

On the way to the Pepsi Center, Denver resident Jerry Ludke, 59, who sells buttons, flags and hats during the Colorado Rockies baseball games, said his sales have not increased in the last couple of days. But it still is “very exciting” because it is a unique experience “just for the atmosphere and to meet people from different states,” he said.

Allah said the street vendor business, as far as he is concerned, is “not so much about economics, but about to keep Obama in everybody's minds. We need change.”