PLACE REPRESENTED: Fiji
ITEM: Place Mats
NOTES: Eight placemats like the one above in a native design from Fiji Island. Simple and washable.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: Linen
MADE IN: Fiji
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 44cm x 28cm (each)
PLACE REPRESENTED: Indonesia
ITEM: Fridge Magnet
NOTES: Indonesia with the Borobudur buddhist temple in Java depicted.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1990s
MADE FROM: Stoneware
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 4.5cm x 4.5cm x 2cm
PLACE REPRESENTED: Amsterdam , Holland
ITEM: Stationery
NOTES: A novelty, oversize pencil with a bell attached depicting all the sites of Amsterdam, well almost everything … there is no Red Light district. Maybe that’s what the bell is for. That’s cryptic. Actually, that makes no sense. In any event the bell becomes annoying when writing, though the a novelty oversized pencil is not commonly used.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: wood , pencil .
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 23cm (including bell)
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: 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: 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: Zanzibar
ITEM: Coasters
NOTES: Zanzibar is an island archipelago and an autonomous region of Tanzania on Africa’s west coast. Jambo is a Swahili greeting and similar to “Hello”. Most of the most famous African fauna are depicted on these sturdy and evocative stone tiles.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: stone
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: Coaster holder : 9cm diameter, 5cm high. Coasters: 7cm diameter.
PLACE REPRESENTED: Sydney (specifically the Sydney Tower), New South Wales , Australia
ITEM: Vase
NOTES: A small vase depicting the Sydney Tower, the second tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere, which opened in 1981. The Sky Tower in Auckland is taller.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 10cm tall
PLACE REPRESENTED: The Basilica of St Peter , Vatican City
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: The Basilica of St Peter (S Pietro) done in thin tile mosaic on wood. This is small, but in its own way, quite striking. The mentioning of Rome as the location of the Basilica (and Vatican City) is probably superfluous.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: wood , tile
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 17cm x 12cm