PLACE REPRESENTED: Yandina (specifically The Ginger Factory), Queensland , Australia
ITEM: Tray
NOTES: Every kid in the 1980s had to go visit the Ginger Factory at Yandina, didn’t they? Well, every kid in south east Queensland had to. It was much better than the box factory from The Simpsons as they had activities, a train ride and err ginger products! https://www.gingerfactory.com.au/
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: bamboo
MADE IN: Taiwan
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 30.5cm diameter
PLACE REPRESENTED: Alaska , USA
ITEM: Trivet
NOTES: A trivet or wall tile this is a nice modernist take on usual Alaskan themes of mountain, snow and moose.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1990s
MADE FROM: tile
MADE IN: China
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 15.5cm x 15.5cm
PLACE REPRESENTED: Slavonia , Croatia
ITEM: Box
NOTES: A very familiar Croatian souvenir from the “Yugoslavia era”, though still manufactured now. Wood, pyrography (wood decorated with burn marks), some basic colours and a postcard glued into place. As I have said before, I love these souvenirs. They are sturdy, vivid and distinctive. This one depicts five towns (Đakovo, Valpovo, Osijek, Vinkovici, Vukovar) in Slavonia, Croatia’s north easter region. Functional and decorative.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: Croatia (probably)
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 20cm x 16.5cm x 5cm high
PLACE REPRESENTED: Queensland , Australia
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: “I got a boot out of Queensland”. I’m sure you did. Getting a boot can be good or bad, depending who you ask, though it’s generally meant to be favourable. A souvenir of the “insert place name here” variety, this boot is usually used for ‘cowboy country” type places. So, in that respect it does apply to Queensland, at least inland and the outback.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 13.5cm across x 16.6cm high
PLACE REPRESENTED: New Caledonia, France
ITEM: Wall Plate
NOTES: New Caledonia, or more appropriately, Nouvelle Caledonie, is an archipelago in the south pacific popular with tourists. This everyone knows. It was colonised by the French. This everyone may know. It is still a dependent territory of France. This everyone should know. It has had political power since 1998 and the Nouméa Accord which was “a promise by the French Republic to grant political power to New Caledonia and its original population, the Kanaks, until the territory decides whether to remain a special collectivity of France or become an independent state in a referendum to be held in November 2018” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noumea_Accord) That everyone probably does not know.
The referendum was held in 2018, then another 2020 and 2021. On each occasion New Caledonia voted against independence.
They are , however, sufficiently devolved, though, to have their own nation entry here.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: plastic (melamine by the looks of it)
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 15cm diameter
PLACE REPRESENTED: Chihuahua , Mexico
ITEM: Ashtray
NOTES: A wonderful Mexican made ashtray in earthy light sand coloured pottery with sparse but vivid glazing. All the stereotypes (though not necessarily negative, so perhaps “symbols” would be a better word) are here … the cactus, the agave, the lagenaria siceraria (Mexican Water Bottle Gourd), and the local in traditional clothing and sombrero having a siesta.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: pottery
MADE IN: Mexico
MANUFACTURER: Mexico Co
DIMENSIONS: 10.5cm diameter
PLACE REPRESENTED: Gold Coast (specifically Surfers Paradise), Queensland, Australia
ITEM: Tea Pot
NOTES: A tea pot celebrating the famous suburb of Queensland’s beach city the Gold Coast. The suburb is at the heart of the Gold Coast and was (and perhaps still is), for many years, the public face of the Gold Coast and, perhaps, encapsulates all the good and the bad of the suburb. This, tea pot, hand made and colourful is for the upmarket tourists who go to Surfers.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2002
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: Australia
MANUFACTURER: Jazz (hand made)
DIMENSIONS: 22cm (from spout tip to handle end), 12cm high, 14cm wide, 6.5cd diameter hole for lid.
PLACE REPRESENTED: Norfolk Island , Australia
ITEM: Bud Vase
NOTES: A large bud vase (in the shape of a T Shirt!) depicting the flora of Norfolk Island
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 6.5cm tall x 6.5cm across
PLACE REPRESENTED: Rijeka , Croatia
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: Hand made and home made. i love it. Trsat is a steep hill overlooking Rijeka. On top is perched, not surprisingly, a castle / fortress and a church, Majka Bozja Trsatska (Our lady of Trsat). Building of the (current) church began in the 13th or 14th century but it has been significantly added to and remodelled over the years. Mary’s house in Nazareth is said to have appeared here then mysteriously disappeared sometime later, to be discovered in Italy, in Loreto, where it still stands today as a shrine. The church is famous for its numerous concessions and for the pilgrimages by numerous believers (from Croatia and abroad) throughout the year, and especially on the Assumption of Mary holiday. http://www.kvarner.hr/hodocastiti-svetistima/en/trsat.html
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1998
MADE FROM: pottery
MADE IN: Croatia (I assume)
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 19cm x 14cm
PLACE REPRESENTED: New Zealand
ITEM: Cap
NOTES: A baseball style cap in red depicting the native Kiwi bird.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2000s
MADE FROM: cotton
MADE IN: China
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: One size fits most Buckle and strap adjustment.