PLACE REPRESENTED: Ireland
ITEM: Trivet or Plate place mats.
NOTES: Beautiful plate place mats (they are not big enough for plate and cutlery), trivet or pot stands depicting Ireland in all it’s 1960s beauty.
Was Ireland ever like this? Of course it was and is … you just have to look a little harder sometimes.
Made in England though!
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s
MADE FROM: wood, cork, material
MADE IN: England
MANUFACTURER: Win-El-Ware
DIMENSIONS: 15cm x 15cm (each)
PLACE REPRESENTED: Prague , Czech Republic
ITEM: Dinner Bell
NOTES: A (ornamental) little dinner bell depicting Prague’s Charles Bridge over the river Vltava with the Prague castle in the background.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 5cm diameter x 8.5cm 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
PLACE REPRESENTED: Woombye (specifically The Big Pineapple), Queensland , Australia
ITEM: Snow Globe
NOTES: It doesn’t snow anywhere near the “Big Pineapple” so why a snow globe? Why not I say!
The “Big Pineapple” was a big and a major tourist attraction in the 70s … people would travel for miles to see the “Big Pineapple”. They don’t as much any more but they should as there is should be a market for “retro chic hipster tourism”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Pineapple
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: plastic
MADE IN: China
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 18.5cm high x 7cm
PLACE REPRESENTED: Papua New Guinea
ITEM: Paper Weight
NOTES: Papua New Guinea and a shell. Simple and effective.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: resin , shell
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 6cm across , 3cm high
PLACE REPRESENTED: Budapest , Hungary
ITEM: Key Chain
NOTES: Budapest in leather.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: leather
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 4cm across , 5cm high
PLACE REPRESENTED: Brisbane, Queensland , Australia (specifically Queensland Parliament)
ITEM: Coasters
NOTES: Four coasters in a tin case depicting the Queensland Parliament’s coat of arms.
Queensland’s Parliament sits in Brisbane and is often quite surprising. Well, more surprising than this souvenir.
It’s a good thing the coasters don’t depict governments as they seem to change frequently.
Why would anyone buy a souvenir like this? Perhaps an ex-politician took it on the way out.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2000s
MADE FROM: tin , rubber (base)
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 9.5cm diameter
PLACE REPRESENTED: Ballina , New South Wales, Australia
ITEM: Coasters
NOTES: Ballina on the NSW North Coast is a small, urbanised, seaside town, hence the, perhaps, unspectacular pictures on the coasters.
I note the bikini swimmer on two of the coasters seems to be the same girl, albeit in different bikinis. Must have been the photographers girlfriend? I think I saw her the last time I was in Ballina.
Most people head off to the beaches of nearby Lennox Heads or Byron Bay.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: cork
MADE IN: Australia
MANUFACTURER: Murray Views
DIMENSIONS: 28cm x 9cm (packet)
PLACE REPRESENTED: Grenfell, New South Wales , Australia
ITEM: Fridge Magnet
NOTES: A outback man and his swag. How, err, outback Australian. Henry Lawson, the bush poet, was born near Grenfell so this is appropriate.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: plastic
MADE IN: Australia
MANUFACTURER: Crystal Craft
DIMENSIONS: 4.5cm x 7cm (at its biggest)
PLACE REPRESENTED: Vancouver , Canada
ITEM: Ceramic Mug
NOTES: A mug depicting Vancouver.
I know a lot of mugs who have visited Vancouver. Boom Boom!
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1990s
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: Canada
MANUFACTURER: Capilano Glass
DIMENSIONS: 7cm diameter , 10.5cm high