Memorabilia...

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Memorabilia/vintage/repurposed/junk/antique/archaic/obsolete/out-dated/olden… whatever you want to call it if it is old I normally love it.  Most of my favourite things are from another era.  When my parents cleared out their den in the roof and sent me boxes of my old belongings it was a walk down memory lane, and I decided to make a display of them to be my constant reminder.  It takes pride of place in the kitchen.  Below are the descriptions pairing them (1-31 starting left to right from the top row down to the bottom).

  1. Dance Your Smurf Off!:  The Smurfs were penned by the Belgian cartoonist Beyo and in the 1970s, Smurf Fever everywhere – even BP (British Petroleum had a collaboration with them) and this fabric patch took pride of place on the knee of my favourite jeans.
  2. The Championships Wimbledon: this patch was given to me by Noelene and Gordon after they had been to watch the Men’s Final in SW19.
  3. Happy Halloween pin badge: my mum bought me this whilst on holiday in USA in 1979 – I think it was the first time I had heard of Halloween.
  4. DPD label badge: my Dad was given this by the Dallas Chief of Police – whilst on a scholarship trip to the US.  On the day my dad spent accompanying him, they responded to several murders in one day – just hideous.
  5. Red Nose Day pin: love all the sketches done by comedians/comediennes for this noble cause – the other day we watched Ali G interviewing Posh and Becks for RND – too funny and yes too rude.
  6. Dorset Police Seagul pin: my brother, N, gave me this :)
  7. Snoopy and Woodstock:  oh gosh I was Snoopy mad back then.
  8. I heart NY : enough said …
  9. Precious gold stone: Mrs. Jones my old next door neighbour gave me this – I remember thinking it was really valuable and cherished it.  I think it is glass filled with bronze glitter. Still love it though.
  10. Noddy: can’t remember where this came from!
  11. Fabric strawberries:  these were also patches for my jeans J
  12. Crusaders Badge:  Sunday afternoons  I often went to the local meeting of Crusaders and had fun with my friends there!
  13. My Cycling Proficiency badge: my chain came off my bike during my test – I remember being in a right mess.
  14. Minnie Mouse in Disneyland: yep it was on my jeans also!
  15. I.S.T.D. Foxtrot bronze medal: slow, slow, quick, quick, slow, with that very lovely side sway move.
  16. Love Heart sweet bracelet:  OK so this isn’t really old – Thibaut gave it to me about 6 years ago, but I do love it.
  17. Metal studded bow: Mrs. McGlone another neighbour gave me this – I thought it was awesome
  18. Silver Seahorse badge: Lucy gave me this when I was about 14 – we were fascinated by them: the slowest fish in history, reaching the dizzy heights of 5 feet per hour and the males give birth to the eggs; I can never remember the French word for it – l’hippocampe, which derives from the Greek words hippo (horse) and kampos (sea monster).
  19. Mexico hat:  picked it up in Olvera Street, LA back in 1979 with my parents, used to fit my Pippa doll!
  20. London Underground pinbadge: one of my splurges whilst on a school trip up to the big smoke.
  21. I.S.T.D. Paso Doble bronze medal:  my mind is a blank page I am afraid so far as this dance is concerned…
  22. See 11 above!
  23. DPRK pin badge:  not the omnipresent badges of Kim Jong Il or Kim Il Sung (of which I have a fake one somewhere) but this is available for purchase at # 1 Department Store.
  24. 101st Airborne Division Wings:  I was “awarded” my wings when the Division’s Parachute Demonstration Team came to Kosovo in 2000 and did a huge airshow at Camp Bondsteel – quite unbelievable and I went up in one of the huge aircraft carriers and did a tandem parachute jump with one of them, but of course no cameras were allowed on the base and YES! I did scream the WHOLE way down ;$
  25. Brownie badge:  still remember the motto “Lend a hand” and the promise “I Promise that I will do my best, To love my God, To serve my Queen and my country, To help other people, And to keep the Brownie Guide Law”.
  26. My ribbon name badge: my name embroidered in red on the white ribbons – memories flooding back of my school days J
  27. Libra patch: at least on one pair of jeans – yes I obviously had lots of holes in the knees.  I am a little skeptical about zodiac signs and horoscopes, but a quick rooting around on the web listed the following as traditional Libran traits: diplomatic and urbane; romantic and charming; easy-going and sociable; and idealistic and peaceable.  On the dark side.... they cite indecisive and changeable; gullible and easily influenced; and flirtatious and self-indulgent.  OMG I am all of the above…
  28. Let the sun shine in!: this badge was on a Birthday card which my m&d gave me.  How sweet isn’t it?
  29. B.A.G.A. Gymnastics Award 4:  I was bloody good at doing roly polys.
  30. UN Cares Red Aids Ribbon : they handed these out on World Aids Day at the staff gate of the UN, I wore it for months.
  31. I.S.T.D.  Silver medal for Cha Cha Cha: I hope these dances are all ingrained in my brain – who knows when I may be called upon to do a little Cha Cha Cha ….. baby.
At the Lakeview playgroup one little French tot was wearing these darling vintage polyester, sort of fake denim effect, short dungarees.  I commented that I am sure I had some when I was his age et son maman told me they were hers when she was a baby and that her maman had kept almost all of her clothes!  So I am not alone… there are hoarders and lovers of vintage pieces all around us.   Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow...


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