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wine bottle. Or the candle stub. every type of keepsake imagi-
Or the candle stub in the empty nable. Were you at Wall
wine bottle. Even better: you saw Drug? The House on the
the Beatles in concert (say, you've Rock? Somewhere along what
been at this for a while!), and saved remains of Route 66? Well
the ticket stub. You probably paid then, you’d at least want a
plenty for that Parisian dinner. scenic postcard to remember it
And you certainly paid plenty for by. Or a paperweight … or a
that Beatles concert. But the wine key chain … or salt-and-pepper
bottle and the ticket stub were shakers. Or an embossed
free. They were just along for the token, an egg timer, a tea
ride. And boy, what stories they towel, or your choice of chi-
could tell. naware. Yes, you really visited
West Virginia … and here’s
This Hotel Barbara Worth small soap the souvenir snowglobe to Described as a “very old West Virginia
holds some value as the hotel burned in prove it, with mica flakes drift- yellow map snow globe,” this has
1962 and the space is now a parking lot. ing down on a moving plank, a a rocking seesaw with a hunter and bear.
woodsman and a bear.
One Of A Kind? In many cases, exactly the same commercial sou-
Handcrafted items, created in actual locales venir was on sale in different locales. Tourists
visited, are among the most unique souvenirs. weren’t seeing double when they discovered that
Hand-woven baskets, hand-carved figurines, duplicate items promoted different parts of the
and hand-spun garments summon up memo- country. All it took was a different label or
ries of both their countries of origin and of backstamp … a different painting or decal. …
their originators. Visitors to Niagara Falls in and that “Souvenir Of” keepsake underwent a
the early 1900s, for instance, rarely came home geographical change – the knotty pine tooth-
without an example of Iroquois beadwork. pick holder you picked up in northern
These pincushions, purses, needle Minnesota may be an identical twin to the one
cases, and the like were painstakingly hand- you pounced on in the Great Smoky Mountains.
beaded by the Native Americans who first set- Sometimes, of course, that’s the object. Col-
tled the area, and later turned their creative talents lecting miniature metal cowboy boots from every
into a full-time venture. In the same way, early place you've ever visited, for example, can turn into a
tourists visiting Mexico were entranced by the gleam lifelong obsession. Even places with nary a cowpoke in
of silver jewelry, and their purchases put a gleam in the sight, like New York’s Coney Island, carries them.
eye of Mexican silversmiths. Soon every jewelry vendor made Commercially produced souvenirs may seem like kitsch
sure that items of “genuine Mexican silver” were to the outside observer. To the person who collects them, howev-
prominently displayed. er, they are symbolic talismans of times well spent: “and then we went
Tour organizers added to the here” … “and then we did this” … “and that’s where I lost my pass-
onslaught of handcrafted port.” The relationship is what’s important. So, if you
souvenirs, marketing Early Iroquois beaded souvenir purse bring home souvenirs as gifts for friends and relatives,
“behind the scenes” excur- from Niagra Falls you’d also better provide an interesting backstory.
sions to a wealth of exotic Otherwise, they might find that package of “genuine
sites. Each site was stocked, naturally hand-pulled saltwater taffy,” which you bought because you saw them
enough, with a wealth of site-specific take- hand-pulling it on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, as just a mass of empty
home items. Fascinated by the ruins of calories (and awfully chewy ones, at that).
Tulum? How about a limestone cat fig- When it comes to commercial souvenir purchases, artistic merit often
urine, hand-carved by descendants of the doesn’t enter into it. You want that miniature birchbark canoe because
original Mayans? Visiting a Puerto Rican you want it. It might not be a new idea. But it’s new to you, and that’s
rum factory? Well, after imbibing enough what’s important.
free samples, why not invest in a complete
set of “Don Q” barware, with Don On The House?
Quixote’s mug engraved on the mugs? Such
Seashell Doll Souvenir purchases buoyed the local economy, while Barware Burglars … Menu Marauders … Ashtray Absconders …
Norfolk Botanical Gardens Bathrobe Bandits.
only slightly depleting your own.
As the market for handcrafted souvenirs grew, so did mass produc- Restaurants lounges and motels all have their own terms for customers
tion. The byword became “buyer beware.” A bus trip along the who (perhaps inadvertently) mistake standard furnishings and
accouterments for take-home trinkets. Some sharp-eyed headwaiters
Mexican Riviera comes to mind. The itinerary promised a “visit to a
local beachside village—items available for sale—handmade!” The visit Continued on page 32
was indeed to a local village. There was even a tiny beach, populated by These state souvenir ashtrays are gaining in value for their graphics, shapes,
a squad of hungry-looking dogs. And, there were items available for and rarity. This grouping would sell for about $100-$150
sale. Only their provenance was questionable. A quick look at the base
of a shrink-wrapped basket of shells revealed a “made in Japan” sticker.
Yes, the baskets may have been handmade. Just at some distance from
the Mexican Riviera.

Remembrances Of Things Past
Found souvenirs and handcrafted ones, however, were no match
for the abundance of commercially-produced souvenirs which blos-
somed as leisure travel came within reach of almost every pocketbook.
By the mid-20th century, folks could travel practically anywhere, and
they wanted concrete proof that they had. Manufacturers obliged, with

30 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles