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A souvenir (French for 'a remembrance or memory'), [1] memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance [1] is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a memento of a visit. The object itself may have intrinsic value, or be a symbol of experience. Without the owner's input, the symbolic meaning is lost and cannot be articulated. [2]
The tourism industry designates tourism souvenirs as commemorative merchandise associated with a location, often including geographic information and usually produced in a manner that promotes souvenir collecting.
Throughout the world, the souvenir trade is an important part of the tourism industry serving a dual role, first to help improve the local economy, and second to allow visitors to take with them a memento of their visit, ultimately to encourage an opportunity for a return visit, or to promote the locale to other tourists as a form of word-of-mouth marketing. Promotional tchotchke at trade shows serve a similar function. [3] Perhaps the most collected souvenirs by tourists are self-generated: photographs as a medium to document specific events and places for remembrance. [2]
Souvenirs as objects include mass-produced merchandise such as clothing: T-shirts and hats; collectables: postcards, refrigerator magnets, key chains, pins, souvenir coins and tokens, miniature bells, models, figurines, statues; household items: spoons, mugs, bowls, plates, ashtrays, egg timers, fudge, notepads, coasters, and many others.
Souvenirs also include non-mass-produced items such as folk art, local artisan handicrafts, objects that represent the traditions and culture of the area, non-commercial, natural objects such as sand from a beach, and anything else that a person attaches nostalgic value to and collects among their personal belongings. The collecting of natural items such as seashells, plants, or rocks is often discouraged due to ecological damage. Especially the export of endangered plants and animals (or products made of their fur or leather) as souvenirs is strictly regulated by international laws.
A more grisly form of souvenir (here as an example of war booty) in the First World War was displayed by a Pathan soldier to an English Territorial. After carefully studying the Tommy's acquisitions (a fragment of shell, a spike and badge from a German helmet), he produced a cord with the ears of enemy soldiers he claimed to have killed. He was keeping them to take back to India for his wife. [4]
Similar to souvenirs, memorabilia (Latin for 'memorable (things)'; plural of memorābile) are objects treasured for their memories or historical interest; however, unlike souvenirs, memorabilia can be valued for a connection to an event or a particular professional field, company or brand. Memorabilia can also be related to collections, such as action figures, or video games.
Examples include sporting events, historical events, culture, and entertainment. Such items include: clothing; game equipment; publicity photographs and posters; magic memorabilia; other entertainment-related merchandise & memorabilia; movie memorabilia; airline [5] and other transportation-related memorabilia; and pins, among others.
Often memorabilia items are kept in protective covers or display cases to safeguard and preserve their condition.
In Japan, souvenirs are known as omiyage (お土産), and are frequently selected from meibutsu , or products associated with a particular region. Bringing back omiyage from trips to co-workers and families is a social obligation and can be considered a form of apology for the traveller's absence. [6] Omiyage sales are big business at Japanese tourist sites. Unlike souvenirs, however, omiyage are frequently special food products, packaged into several small portions to be easily distributed to all the members of a family or a workplace.
Travelers may buy souvenirs as gifts for those who did not make the trip. A common tradition is to bring a thank-you gift for someone who provided a service such as pet sitting during the trip.
In the Philippines a similar tradition of bringing souvenirs as a gift to family members, friends, and coworkers is called pasalubong .
Media related to Souvenirs at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of souvenir at Wiktionary
A collectable is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms to denote those types. An antique is a collectable that is old. A curio is something deemed unique, uncommon, or weird, such as a decorative item. A manufactured collectable is an item made specifically for people to collect.
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Exonumia are numismatic items other than coins and paper money. This includes "Good For" tokens, badges, counterstamped coins, elongated coins, encased coins, souvenir medallions, tags, wooden nickels and other similar items. It is an aspect of numismatics and many coin collectors are also exonumists.
Tourism in the United Kingdom is a major industry and contributor to the U.K. economy, which is the world's 10th biggest tourist destination, with over 40.1 million visiting in 2019, contributing a total of £234 billion to the GDP.
A gift shop or souvenir shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs, memorabilia, and other items relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, toys, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collections and other souvenirs, intended to be kept by the buyer as a memento of their visit, or given to another as a gift.
A replica is an exact copy or remake of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Copies or reproductions of documents, books, manuscripts, maps or art prints are called facsimiles.
Nazi memorabilia are items produced during the height of Nazism in Germany, particularly the years between 1933 and 1945. Nazi memorabilia includes a variety of objects from the material culture of Nazi Germany, especially those featuring swastikas and other Nazi symbolism and imagery or connected to Nazi propaganda. Examples are military and paramilitary uniforms, insignia, coins and banknotes, medals, flags, daggers, guns, posters, contemporary photos, books, publications, and ephemera.
Clarecraft was a company which produced fantasy figurines. Its most popular series was an officially licensed series of figurines based on the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. The company was founded in 1980 by Bernard and Isobel Pearson and acquired the rights to make Discworld figurines in 1990. In 1993, Clarecraft was purchased by Sally Couch and Trish Baker. It is one of the few large-scale vendors of Discworld merchandise, along with Stephen Briggs, Paul Kidby, and the Discworld Emporium.
A refrigerator magnet or fridge magnet is a small magnet, often attached to an artistic or whimsical ornament, which may be used to post items such as shopping lists, Christmas cards, child art or reminders on a refrigerator door, or which simply serves as decoration. Refrigerator magnets come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, and may have promotional messages placed on them. In addition to refrigerators, refrigerator magnets are commonly placed on steel-backed whiteboards and bulletin boards, as well as other metal furniture such as filing cabinets and tool chests. Refrigerator magnets are popular souvenir and collectible objects.
Scouting memorabilia collecting is the hobby and study of preserving and cataloging Boy Scouting and Girl Guiding items for their historic, aesthetic and monetary value. Since collecting depends on the interests of the individual collector, the depth and breadth of each collection varies. Some collectors choose to focus on a specific subtopic within their area of general interest, for example insignia issued prior to the 1970s Boy Scouts of America requirement that all insignia have either the fleur-de-lis or the acronym BSA; or only the highest ranks issued by each nation. Others prefer to keep a more general collection, accumulating any or all Scouting merchandise, or Scouting stamps from around the world.
Pasalubong is the Filipino tradition of travellers bringing gifts from their destination to people back home. Pasalubong can be any gift or souvenir brought for family or friends after being away for a period of time. It can also be any gift given by someone arriving from a distant place.
Omiyage(お土産) is the Japanese tradition of travellers bringing gifts back from their destination to friends, family, and colleagues. Unlike a souvenir, it is not bought for oneself, and are typically region specific food products packaged into several small portions to be easily distributed to those who did not make the trip.
A party favor is a small gift given to the guests at a party as a gesture of thanks for their attendance, a memento of the occasion, or simply for fun.
Funko Inc. is an American company that manufactures licensed and limited pop culture collectibles, best known for its licensed vinyl figurines and bobbleheads. In addition, the company produces licensed plush, action figures, apparel, accessories and games. Founded in 1998 by Mike Becker and Claudia Becker, Funko was originally conceived as a small project to create various low-tech, nostalgia-themed toys. The company's first manufactured bobblehead was of the Big Boy restaurant mascot.
Bradford Kelleher reinvented the Metropolitan Museum of Art's gift shop and merchandise marketing program in the 1960s. He also served as the vice president of the Met from 1978 until 1986. His ideas for marketing the Met's gift shops and collectible reproductions have been mimicked by other museums and nonprofit institutions worldwide. He actively worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1949 until his retirement in 1986. He continued with the Met as a consultant from 1986 until 2007.
DC Comics Bombshells refers to a line of figurines released by DC Collectibles depicting DC Comics superheroines in a retro 1940s look based on designs by Ant Lucia. The line has further expanded to encompass variant covers of DC Comics and licensed memorabilia such as art prints, T-shirts, mugs and their own ongoing comic book.
The Jew with a coin is a good-luck charm in Poland, where images or figurines of the character, usually accompanied by a proverb, are said to bring good fortune, particularly financially. The motif was first described in articles from 2000, and probably dates back to the early 1990s. While widely recognized, the figurines are not the most popular good-luck charm in Poland.
Kirby Café is a restaurant chain in Japan, themed around Kirby, the Nintendo video game character and franchise. The chain currently comprises two permanent locations—one within the special ward of Sumida City in the Solamachi entertainment complex, the other within Hakata-ku in the Canal City Hakata entertainment complex—and a number of temporary locations which have run continuously since August 2016.
Golden Age Collectables, described as the world's oldest comic book store, is located at Seattle's Pike Place Market, in the U.S. state of Washington. It was established in 1961.