PLACE REPRESENTED: Lovran , Croatia
ITEM: Ornament
NOTES: I’m not sure what this is. Possibly something to hold a pen or a cigarette? Either way it is in wood adorned with traditional markings you see on a lot of Croatian souvenirs of the period.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: Yugoslavia
MANUFACTURER: Meba, Zagreb
DIMENSIONS: 8cm high, 14cm wide, 11cm wide
PLACE REPRESENTED: Salisbury , England
ITEM: Four finger bud vase
NOTES: Nifty and slightly surreal bud vase depicting the coat of arms for Salisbury in the south of England.
Salisbury was called “New Sarum” at one stage, hence the Latin on the coat of arms.
What would I do without wikipedia?
A bud vase is a small vase which is designed to held several cut flowers, especially young flowers and buds.
What would I do without google?
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1930s
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: England
MANUFACTURER: unknown (It says “British Manufacture” on the bottom but it looks very much like a Victoria ceramic piece made by Schmidt & Company (Czechoslovakia)).
DIMENSIONS: 6cm high x 6.5cm across top.
PLACE REPRESENTED: Holland
ITEM: Clog
NOTES: A wooden clog from Holland. I’ve met a few clogs from Holland. This one is personalised with “Josh” on one side and “Holland” on the other. “Josh” doesn’t sound particularly Dutch and he may be quite forgetful as he has lost this clog or, maybe, he has one leg.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 15.5cm long , 7cm high
PLACE REPRESENTED: Wales
ITEM: Ornament
NOTES: A rugby ball in the Welsh colours with the Welsh dragon. “Cymru” is Welsh for “Wales”. And, despite variable results on the field, rugby union is popular national sport which is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and national consciousness…they’d be better off with Dylan Thomas and republican agitation.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2000s
MADE FROM: Polyester
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 16cm long x 10cm high
ISLE OF WIGHT, ENGLAND – Ornament
PLACE REPRESENTED: Isle of Wight , England
ITEM: Ornament
NOTES: Curious – a spinning wheel to pick lotto numbers, a curious elf, and a small picture of a pier on the Isle of Wight. Maybe only the locals could explain this to me.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: wood , plastic
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 11cm across , 17cm high
PLACE REPRESENTED: Mauritius
ITEM: Small Ornament
NOTES: Beautiful Mauritius.
But why does this small ornament depict the ill fated Dodo bird?
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1990s
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: Handmade
DIMENSIONS: 10cm across , 7cm high
ITEM: A Viking boat in steel.
NOTES: “Norge” equals Norway in Norwegian.
Norway and Vikings ….what else? This should have been a Viking boat in wood but it’s a nice little steel trinket that could double up as a small paperweight.
It won’t float, that’s for sure.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: steel (pewter tin I think)
MADE IN: Norway
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 7.5cm long x 6.5cm high
PLACE REPRESENTED: Pisa , Italy
ITEM: Ornament
NOTES: The leaning tower of Pisa is the most well known of the buildings in the piazza dei miracoli in Pisa but there are four great religious edifices: the Duomo (cathedral), the Campanile (the cathedral’s free standing bell tower), the Baptistry and the Camposanto.
Here they are captured in something 7cm long.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: hard plastic resin
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 6cm high , 7cm long
PLACE REPRESENTED: Rockhampton, Queensland , Australia
ITEM: Souvenir Boomerang Ornament
NOTES: I’m not sure if this boomerang will come back. It’s machine shopped but it is made in Australia (in Melbourne) and made from mulga wood. Mulga is a shrub or small tree native to arid outback areas. It has adapted to its environment and makes sure it captures all rain and moisture. Accordingly, sheep and cattle love it, as do bees for its flowers. Humans, also, use it as a good source of firewood as well as a wood to make implements and … boomerangs. There is a kangaroo decal at the center just in case you didn’t know where it came from. Rockhampton has been etched into the boomerang off-center, and, perhaps, as an afterthought.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: Australia
MANUFACTURER: Australian Mulga
DIMENSIONS: 26cm long (the boomerang) x 5cm wide at its widest
PLACE REPRESENTED: Fiji Islands
ITEM: Ornament
NOTES: This trinket is not from Bula, Indonesia nor Bula, The Phillipines. It’s from Fiji and the “bula” is not a place but a famous local expression for “hello”.
I’m not sure why “hello” is on an object in the shape of a knife though … it’s hardly inviting.
Maybe tourists feel threatened and are more likely to buy when they are confronted by a local yelling “bula” and brandishing what appears to be a dagger?
I’m sure airlines won’t let you take this in carry-on luggage.
How many of these simple tourist trinkets can a local churn out in one hour?
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1990s
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: Fiji (probably)
MANUFACTURER: Handmade
DIMENSIONS: 45cm long