When I was a kid, three of my aunts had souvenir spoon collections. I recall asking my mom why my aunts didn’t use them for eating instead of hanging them on a rack. I don’t recall my 6-year-old self getting a satisfactory answer. They seem so antiquated now, but people must still collect them because I see them in the tourist shops.
I’m not a collector. I’m a disposer. Steve often claims he lives in fear of the day that he is no longer of use to me because I’ll immediately stuff him into a black garbage bag and haul him off to Goodwill. Several years ago, though, something odd happened. We got a free Paris fridge magnet on a bike tour we took there. When we got home, I slapped it on the side of the fridge.
When we visited Berlin a couple of years later, I totally fell in love with the pedestrian streetlight figures located on the east side of the city. If you haven’t seen them, they are adorable. Called Ampelmännchen (little traffic light man), they are one of the few holdovers of communist East Germany. The lights on Berlin’s west side are garden-variety symbols, so you always know what part of town you’re in.
Anyway, virtually every souvenir shop in Berlin sells an array of stuff with the beloved little guys imprinted on it. I wanted to get something, but we were travelling to multiple cities and I didn’t want to load down my luggage. So … I bought … a fridge magnet.
That’s how it started.
We now have a bit of a collection, which kind of embarrasses me, but there you have it. One day, when adding the latest magnet to the assembly, Steve and I came to terms with the fact that they are the souvenir spoons of our day (sigh). They are a nice visual reminder of some great travels, but anxiety about becoming tacky magnet hoarders, led us to create some strict rules:
- They reside on the side of the fridge next to our kitchen counter (never the front). Casual visitors likely would never realize they are there.
- We only purchase magnets for locations of significance. They have to be far flung or have special meaning to us.
- They can’t be of crappy design. They need to have a bit of style.
Do you have a souvenir collection of some kind? Fess up here. You’ll feel better.
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