Tosh World: IRONIRS #001 IN AN OCCASIONAL SERIES: IPSWICH

Thursday, July 23, 2009

IRONIRS #001 IN AN OCCASIONAL SERIES: IPSWICH

The Caravan Gallery started the trend of ironic souvenirs: what we have very cleverly dubbed "ironirs". We've always loved their work and we're sure they will feature in this, our most celebrated of occasional series.

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ABOUT

Contrary to very popular belief, the word souvenir is not French for "tacky crap", yet over the years it seems as though this innocuous little loanword (meaning 'memory') has become synonymous with all that I hate (yet secretly love) about the modern tourist experience.

Even though I have traveled to over 100 cities in more than 40 countries, my most indelible memory of the dire state of souvenirs comes from when I was just 12: trudging the dark, cold streets of London just before Christmas 1979; desperately trying to find something half-decent worth buying. Sadly my recollection is not one of style and originality, but that of dank, fluorescent-lit basement shops, cracked vinyl floors – and the most depressing array of poor quality tat known to man. Fast forward 29 years and very little has changed, in fact thanks to Princess Diana, things have probably got just that much worse!

So let's just say that this is a blog is dedicated to the "love" of souvenirs – tacky, good, weird, obscure, funny – and trying to answer the age old question: why do people continue to buy this stuff?

My collection is always growing and my interest in stuff from around the world is insatiable. Anything fun you've seen, please share it with us! Enjoy.