T-shirts already lament Boston tragedy

Less than 24 hours after the deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon, some commerce is already trading on the tragedy.

In some cases, as with T-shirts lamenting the terrible day, people are being given another way to share their sorrow and grief.

"PRAY FOR BOSTON," and "PRAYERS FOR BOSTON" (written inside a large heart) promise that all proceeds will go to Boston charities, but "BOSTON 2013 WE WILL NOT FORGET GOD BLESS AMERICA" makes no such claim.

A different "PRAY FOR BOSTON" design is also available on hoodies ($37 for pullover, $42 for zippered) and stickers ($4) at Redbubble.com.

Also on sale at eBay, though, were more than a dozen copies of the front pages of the Boston Globe (headline: "Marathon terror"), the Boston Herald ("TERROR AT THE FINISH LINE"), the New York Times ("BOSTON MARATHON KILLS 3 AND MAIMS DOZENS"), the Wall Street Journal (Deadly Blasts Rock Boston") and USA Today ("TERROR RETURNS"), selling for $7.99 to $19.99.

There's even at least one Kindle book, "The Boston Bombings (First Photos)," $7.99. It describes itself as more than 50 pages of "vivid pictures taken by both professional photojournalists and amateur photographers just moments after the explosions," capturing "the complete horror and mayhem that filled the city of Boston as well as the Heroes who put themselves in harms way to rescue and assist to save the lives of the injured."

But such a book might be compared to TV news specials, like NBC's pre-empting of Revolution Monday night, and other expanded media coverage of important events.

Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com.