Why those, standard, souvenirs?!

arianne_nl

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Monday, July 26th 2010, 11:41am

Why those, standard, souvenirs?!

When you're on holiday or just walking around in your own country you usually can't get away from them: souvenir shops and standard souvenirs!

Usually souvenirs denote 'famous' objects from the country you are visiting or the country you live in. Here in Holland they are easy to find: mills, pottery, tulips, clogs and so on. But in Amsterdam it's even different 8| There they combine the typical 'Dutch' souvenirs with stereotypes from Amsterdam like: lighters decorated with marijuana leaves, penises in all shapes and sizes (mugs, hats, clothing.. what ever you can think of), and of course little statues of famous buildings.

There is no escaping, souvenirs in all thinkable sizes and shapes are haunting me everywhere I go. I was wondering if the designers can't think of something better than old, stereotypical national symbols. Have they lost inspiration or is it just an easy way to make money. Money is of course the main reason. Tourists buy souvenirs.. if they like them or not. It reminds them of the places they've been to.

What is it like in your country? Do you have certain national symbols which are melted into 'strange' souvenirs? Do you have any great ideas to improve this 'souvenir market'? Or should tourists just boycott souvenirs and stop buying them? (Which is I think is rather impossible..)

Some of our famous Dutch souvenirs:


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Nike

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Monday, July 26th 2010, 12:15pm

You forgot the Sheep souvenirs, mainly found on Texel :D, ranging from pluches to woolen products etc.

In New York you could see the I love NY shirts everywhere, ranging in price from 15 dollars a shirt to 10 for 5 dollar (in China Town) :P
Have to admit that I sometimes secretely like the stereotypical souvenirs, like in Rome the mini Colosseums and in Mediterranean countries the evil eye products.
"A room without books is like a body without a soul" - Cicero

arianne_nl

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Monday, July 26th 2010, 12:19pm

@Nike: yeah sometimes they are nice... but I see some really strange ones appearing in Amsterdam for example. It makes me wonder if those designers really lost inspiration or not :D
Just be yourself, there are enough 'others'!

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Silvio

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Monday, July 26th 2010, 6:33pm

People love to collect things - it doesn't matter whether this are panini pictures (soccer), pokemon sticker or souvenirs. There's no way to change this, I suppose. We want to store memories on our shelf, in a photo book or elsewhere and then show it off to our friends. That's just the way it is.

In my countries you can buy Swiss chocolate, pocketknifes, hats, pullover, army shirts, food specialities and much much more. There's simply no way to write it all down now. ;) There's just everything for every kind of tourist in short. I can't really think of a strange souvenir but that's mainly because I haven't really looked out for some... you'll find lots of strange stuff, I assume.

Do we want to improve the souvenir market? So what would be an improvement then? It's all about making money, isn't it? So no, no ideas. :P Souvenirs just meet the tourist's demands... what we think as citizen of this country is not as important... or is it?

I don't think we should boycot souvenirs. They're not just meaningless and you'll hide them somewhere (at least I don't). It reminds you of a time in your life where you made valuable experiences abroad. Usually it's a time where you opened your horizon and got to know new people. Due to this reason you can't convince many tourists to boycot souvenirs.
Everyone chases after happiness, not noticing that happiness is right at their heels. - Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956)

Sara

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Monday, July 26th 2010, 10:40pm

Well I work at a place where we sell many, many souvenirs. I always ask myself: Why do they buy this stuff? Ok, I understand it when they buy swiss chocolate, but why cow bells (you forgot that Silvio!:P)? Or metalcups which you can cling on your trousers. The most annoying is the marmot which can yodel... almost everyone who passes this thing, is like: ooh! let me press this cute plushie! and then... they yodel... and yodel.... and yodel.
声が枯れるまで。。。歌おう。

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arianne_nl

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Tuesday, July 27th 2010, 8:09am

those yodel things almost killed me :P (thanks to dad... ) was reading a book :D and suddenly Mr Dad hangs that thing next to my ear.. thank you dad!
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wit

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Tuesday, July 27th 2010, 1:51pm

Quoted

from sara " The most annoying is the marmot which can yodel... almost everyone who passes this thing, is like: ooh! let me press this cute plushie! and then... they yodel... and yodel.... and yodel. "

i really wanna hear the yodel ,that sounds interesting, doesnt it? in my view, those souvenirs is the symbol of the sight spots in the tourism. what they need to do is improve and creat more unique souvenirs. more traditional and creative souvenirs, more fun we have. ;)
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Nike

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Sunday, August 1st 2010, 1:25pm

^I think it's this: (correct me if I'm wrong :P)


In Prague I again saw that they're not really creative with their souvenirs; within a few meters all shops with the same stuff, including a lot of useless things as shirts with "Prague Drinking team"
Things you see a lot there are the crystal/glass objects, marionettes and figures of the astronomical clock.
"A room without books is like a body without a soul" - Cicero

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