50 AMERICAN TRAVEL SOUVENIRS

When it comes to preserving precious vacation memories, travelers are faced with few options. The human brain is unreliable and photos are for suckers, so the only viable choice is commercially produced souvenirs. I've been patronizing souvenir shops for most of my life and figure it's time to share a hefty sample with the internet.  Many of these were bought on location, even some of the vintage ones, like the time the Seattle Space Needle put out some old World's Fair store stock in time for my visit.

Several of the experiences these represent deserve their own lengthy blog posts like my honeymoon at Niagara Falls, my fateful stay at South of the Border, and my visit to House on the Rock, my favorite of all roadside attractions. I have already written about a couple of them like Rock City and South Dakota. However, I've reserved my souvenir pennant collection for future bloggery. 

This is my technique when it comes to souvenir hunting:

• Seek out the most outmoded shops and the most outdated inventory. Check behind merchandise for older stuff. I love it that most tourist meccas have at least one shop that hasn't changed for decades.
• Try to sample the various souvenir subcategories, i.e. ceramic thimbles, tiny spoons, postcards, plates, shot glasses, patches, snowdomes, magnets, pennants, etc. 
• While abroad, check local flea markets and antique shops for vintage souvenirs.

And now let the journey BEGIN...

Empire State Building with King Kong replica- New York City, NY

Plastic Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building- New York, NY

Decorative dish from the 1964-65 New York World's Fair- New York City, NY

Bluff Dwellers Cave decorative thimble- Noel, MO

California sewing kit

Plastic Capitol Building- Washington, DC

 

Key to the City thermometer- Washington, DC

Colorado book mark

Collectible spoon from Corn Palace- Mitchell, SD


South Dakota metal cup

Stuffed Cozy Dogs from Cozy Dog Drive-In- Springfield, IL

Disneyland decorative plate- Anaheim, CA

Disneyland paperweight- Anaheim, CA

Dogpatch U.S.A ticket- Harrison, AR

Wall Drug glass container- Wall, SD


Flocked Jack-a-lope from Wall Drug- Wall, SD

Flocked Donkey Salt and Pepper shaker- Branson, MO

Bonus photo of three flocked animal friends

Drake Well patch- Titusville, PA

Fin and Feather pencil case- Gore, OK
(blogged about HERE)

Florida alligator in toilet with shells magnet- Orlando, FL

"Orange Purse" from Florida

Aloha from Hawaii ceramic bank

Salt and Pepper shakers from Hawaii

House on the Rock serving tray- Spring Green, WI

House on the Rock coaster- Spring Green, WI

Mt. Rushmore souvenir photo booklet- Keystone, SD

Christ of the Ozarks mini-statue- Eureka Springs, AR

Niagara Falls ashtray

Niagara Falls jumbo cigar

Niagara Falls ship's wheel frame

El Rancho Motel mini-soap- Reno, NV

Rock City Gardens souvenir booklet- Chattanooga, TN

Rock City Gardens pan flute- Chattanooga, TN

 

Rock City Gardens postcard book- Chattanooga, TN

Rock City snowdome- Chattanooga, TN

Rocky the Gnome mini figure- Chattanooga, TN

Postcard with attached bag of salt from Salt Lake, UT

Mold-O-Rama Gorilla- San Antonio, TX

San Francisco snowdome

Seattle World's Fair flexi-disc

Wisconsin Dells souvenir photo booklet

South of the Border ashtray- Dillon, SC

South of the Border billboard booklet- Dillon, SC

South of the Border glitterdome- Dillon, SC

South of the Border pinback button- Dillon, SC

Denver Mint penny in a bottle- Denver, CO

Winchester Mystery House patch- San Jose, CA

Various faux currency

Various squished pennies

Various matchbooks

1989 CONVENTION SWAG

The first convention I ever attended was the Star Trek Expo '89 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It blew me away.  I was expecting a pure Trek event, but I walked into an enormous building brimming with every facet of geek culture. The fun started before I ever set foot on the vendor floor. The ticket line ran past tables of freebies including flyers, posters, bags and my favorite, pinback buttons. Naturally, I picked up one of each (well, two Batmans) and twenty three years later I took pictures of them, which I uploaded right here...

(Having date-checked a few, I realize I must have grabbed a couple of these at later conventions, and some were being recycled from previous events.  They must have received a ton because they were still giving out a lot of these the following year.)

In those pre-internet days this table was good as six months worth of Slashfilm or Aint It Cool News. The existence of all but a few of these films was revealed to me in this single promotional blitz.  In a marketing sense it was almost a level playing field. There was an equal chance that my next favorite movie could be The Abyss or Free Willy. Speaking of which, I couldn't wait to see a movie about flying killer whales.

All I really had to judge each production by was the graphic design. Actually, this book-by-its-cover approach was somewhat valid.  There is a strong correlation between the level of artistry behind both the movie and the button for I Come In Peace. I'm also fond of the ones that seem to pre-date the film's style guide like Hamlet, which turned out to be the Mel Gibson version, and "The Dude With The 'Tude" which refers to Arachnophobia.

The most misleading piece of marketing here is for Robotjox which got me quite excited because it looked like Transformers: The Movie was going to arrive twenty years early.  I was confused when it showed up at my local video store having skipped the cinemas entirely.

For some additional pleasure, here are some relevant trailers...