Old Souvenirs Are Always Worth The Trip

The impulse to take something home from a trip is as old as the Huns. Today we call such things “souvenirs,” from the French verb, “to remember,” and the way we collect them goes back to the Victorians, only about 150 years ago.
These early souvenirs were not created to be souvenirs. Instead they were keepsakes or mementos picked up by those on the “grand tour,” trips taken to broaden one’s education, or just make one more interesting at tea time back home. Cameos, micro-mosaic jewelry, and majolica are just some of the hot items that became fads in 19th Century England and America.
Soon, enterprising businessmen in some foreign cities began manufacturing items just for the tourists. Miniature bronzes of important buildings and monuments were especially popular. They were expertly made and make valuable collectibles today.
In those days a visit to a county fair could be far enough away to make it a trip to remember. Bringing back a porcelain “fairing” figure always made a nice keepsake or gift to someone left at home. Today, the fairing boxes and “naughties” are the most collectible and range from $75-$250.
World’s Fair keepsakes are particularly collectible today, especially the American Centennial exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. Many of the souvenirs from that fair were very well made.
Also well-made were sterling souvenir spoons, a fad that got off the ground in 1881 in Niagara Falls with a spoon featuring the full figure of an American Indian. The craze really took off in 1890 when Salem, MA introduced a spoon with a witch on a broomstick, adding a crescent moon the next year. Most sterling souvenirs are only worth a bit more than their weight these days, but there are still those rare, special pieces that can get a premium retail price of $30-$75 from a collector.
Common around this area is the color-stained pattern glass souvenir ware made between the 1880s to the First World War. Glass stained with a color (popularly ruby and cranberry) was surface scratched with a place name, like Atlantic City, a date and a message. A small vase or tumbler today retails for $45-$75. Later, pieces were stamped or stenciled, and they will have less value.
It’s about this time that the quality of many souvenirs begins to slip. The word “kitsch” is from the German for “thrown together,” and that’s just how some of these items were made. German porcelain pink pigs are a good example. Molds are often uneven and color is not applied well. But these little piggies were so cute that they became a screaming fad almost as soon as they appeared. Today, they retail for $75 to $150.
It’s the kitschier the better for some collectors, and manufacturers have always obliged. Anyone who has driven to Florida and stopped at a place called “South of the Border” knows of the hilarity that can be found there.
Many souvenir items will be nominally useful—towels, t-shirts, scarves, compacts, jewelry, dresser trays, salt and pepper shakers, cream, pitchers, etc. Others qualify as “ephemera,” meant only for the day—menus, programs, scorecards, match books and beach tags. As a resort area, we are awash in old souvenir wares like items from bygone casinos, which there are usually collectors for.
Collecting antique and vintage souvenir ware is a fascinating field, where items are available and affordable, and there is an endless number of ways to specialize. Check them out in the local antique shops. Who knows, you may find a memento of your own, as in the old days, something that was not meant to be a souvenir until you made it one. In any event, it will be worth the trip.
Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things,” and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Send your comments, questions, and appraisal requests to aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.