Why do we buy souvenirs? Because we like being reminding of a place or an event. It’s the same reason we buy vintage. We like remembering an earlier time or place. This week’s fresh to market vintage has two vintage souvenirs, one probably from a R&R trip post WWII and the other from a drive down a toll road.
Some souvenirs have function, like mugs or desk accessories or t-shirts, but others exist purely as decor, making them a little luxury. You don’t need a souvenir because you have the memory of that place you went. But decorative souvenirs serve to trigger that memory whenever you pass by them. Who doesn’t love the warm memory of a trip to a beach when it’s below zero outside?
There is a robust market for vintage souvenirs, perhaps we should write a post about that some day…but in the meantime, here is this week’s fresh to market vintage.
1940s Mexican Coat of Arms Ring
This style of ring was quite popular in the late 1940s, they were often made of silver or gold and set with gemstones. This one is unusual due to its bright orange color. The eagle and snake depicted on the face of the ring are the centerpieces of the Mexican Coat of Arms. This one belonged to my uncle. I’m guessing he picked it up as a souvenir after returning from duty during WWII.
Mexican Coat of Arms Ring, $72.95
-Pam, Vintage Renude
Set of 10 Sixth Plate Tintypes, Mostly 19th Century USA
I love tintypes which capture these children in a few moments of time. I see love, anxiety and even cool stare downs at the photographer and camera. I enjoyed looking at their clothing for this special event. What I want to say that the boys are mostly in tunics because they are young. I found out why by reading When Little Boys Wore Dresses.
Tintypes of Babies and Children, $149.99
-Mary Ellen, AuntHattiesAttic
Red Wing Butter Crock, Marked, c. 1900s
This is a nice example of a Red Wing butter crock embellished with a spongeware design. The iconic Red Wing Stoneware company opened in Red Wing MN in 1877. Pottery and stoneware were produced by the company under a number of names including Minnesota Stoneware (1880-1906), North Star Stoneware (1892 – 1896), Rumrill Pottery (1933 – 1937) and Red Wing Dinnerware (1935 – 1967), Red Wing Pottery (1967 -1996). The last owners sold pottery from a single retail storefront in Red Wing until the doors closed in 2013. In a sad sign of the times, the closure of the 142-year-old company was announced on Facebook.
Red Wing Butter Crock, Spatterware Pattern, $65
-Linda, Selective Salvage
1950s Connecticut Turnpike Souvenir Plate
It’s hard to imagine rest area gift shops selling souvenir plates of the interstate highway they’re located on now, but back when President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 they were both a novelty and an innovation. Road trips prior to interstates involved local roads. Interstates cut the time for going from place to place monumentally. That is not to say it was a perfect program. The location of the roads through cities, for example, intentionally sectioned low income and neighborhoods of color off from the city proper in many cases. The results of that have lasting detrimental effects today.
This souvenir plate from the Connecticut Turnpike likely dates from the late 1950s or early 1960s, just after the highway was finished in 1958. And while taking a highway trip was not exactly a vacation, you could stop and eat at a sit down restaurant and perhaps treat yourself to a souvenir like this to commemorate your first ride an interstate highway.
Connecticut Turnpike Souvenir Plate, $35.
–Laurie, NextStage Vintage
That’s this week’s fresh to market vintage. Are you imagining homemade butter packed into that Red Wing butter crock? We are. And are you having flashbacks to when you took your kids to a photography studio? Imagine the pressure on the photographer and the subject to get it right in one take.
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