Sou•ve•nir
"a thing that is kept as a reminder of a person, place or event"
While making our individual journeys through life we acquire and surround ourselves with special artifacts. Little fragments that trigger bursts of sentimentality and often bring a smile.
A New York Theater Playbill is only folded paper until it is autographed. A cocktail napkin or book of matches from a cocktail lounge or special dinner on a date won't tip off anything to anyone but you.
Everyone decides what is important to them.
I believe carefully chosen souvenirs are wonderful. My mom patiently acquired a charm from each of the special places she visited; a spinning windmill and sterling silver wooden clogs from the Netherlands, a tiny Eiffel Tower and a little poodle from Paris. All eventually added to a bracelet of treasured memories.
The main thing is to avoid obsession. Turning travel into a scavenger hunt is a sin.
My own concept of a good souvenir runs a bit eclectic.
To me a great souvenir touches the senses. Food favorites include a bottle of amazing cherry syrup from Croatia, a jar of apple calvados jelly from Androuet in Paris (with cheese on a water cracker - yum!), a jar of creamy smooth cajeta caramel from Mexico or Pandan kaya (coconut jam) for toast from Singapore.
Sweet Croation Cherry Syrup
For smells I love the piñon incense from Santa Fe and soap and shampoo's from great hotels (one hotel in Sweden won me over with its Rituals toiletries). I'll never forget the fragrance of the lovely citrus shampoo they used to offer at the Treasure Island in Las Vegas (a city Roadboy otherwise despises).
I really appreciate souvenirs that are useful everyday things; articles of clothing or a unique kitchen tool.
Why pack an umbrella for a trip to London when you can buy a treasure like a Fulton when you get there? I love a blue pleated wool scarf I found on a bitterly cold winter day in Paris and the splendid leather manbag I bought from a fragrant leather shop in Pienza.
And, then there are everyday lime green glasses from Ottica Carraro in Venice. Some items (like my glasses) are souvenirs that go on become personal trademarks.
Fine Venetian Eyewear By Carraro
On a steamy trip to Japan in June we admired the blooming Hydrangeas and I found a handcrafted fan from a little studio in Kyoto. The fan was useful on the trip and now awaits mounting in a shadow box at home.
Japanese Fans
I'm not sure why I have a fixation with handmade marionettes, but I do. So when Frank and Frida were available at Wright's masterwork Fallingwater at Bear Run, Pennsylvania, well they came home with me. Later, they were joined by a "rocket" vase from Wright's Taliesin studio in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
Frida and Frank
And then there was the downright goofy three-headed dragon I found in a spectacular Czech Marionettes gallery in Prague.
Makes Me Smile Every Day
Happily, I've inherited a few souvenirs too. Much loved are the 1942 era golden bear bookends from Yosemite (where my dad saved up enough WWII gas ration coupons to go propose to my mom who was working summers as a maid at the Ahwahnee).
After living in Alaska I developed deep affection for alabaster carvings, scrimshaw, the enamel pins of William Speer in Juneau and Ray Troll's quirky art from Ketchikan.
"D" is for Dogfish by Ray Troll
Speer is one of those "only in Alaska" stories. A lawyer from Nebraska who came to Alaska and "gave up the practice of law when it changed from being helpful in making people useful and productive into an insidious cancer eating our society alive"
True that.
And, of course, there are souvenir's for souvenir's sake. My daughter presented me with a poster from my favorite Disneyland attraction; the original 1963 vintage Disneyland Enchanted Tiki Room (Disney's first audio-animatronic attraction). The computer room for the original version was nothing short of a marvel.
The Place for Dole Whip!
Well there's a sample of what I like, what are your favorite souvenirs?
Roadboy's Travels © 2021
