Bits of History, Returned to Their Roots
As an inveterate thrift shopper, I often find interesting vintage items with local or regional ties, especially early 20th c. travel souvenirs. They are fun, colorful, and have a story to tell. I enjoy returning these little pieces of history to their roots when possible, and was pleased to send these items “home”:
Vintage Eldora, Iowa souvenir pin dish or trinket dish, 7.5” wide, c. 1920s/’30s. It shows the Hardin County Courthouse, built in 1892 in the Romanesque Revival style, an elaborate confection of brick and stone. This dish has now been added to the collection of the Hardin County Historical Society in Eldora.
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This was a promotional giveaway for the grand opening of Ludden’s Men’s Clothing Store in Bloomington, Wisconsin, a 1911/1912 calendar plate stamped “Opening Souvenir, Ludden’s, Bloomington, Wis.” It is now in the collection of the Grant County, WI, Historical Society.
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The 1910 high school in Holly, Michigan, is depicted on this souvenir dish, c. 1920s/’30s. This 6.75” long reticulated porcelain basket is now the property of the Holly Historical Society. For a great historic photograph of the old school, go halfway down this page.
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This lovely artist-signed plate was hand painted during a china decorating craze that swept the country from the 1880s to the 1920s. Thousands of people enthusiastically painted porcelain blanks from major china fabricators, using designs published in pattern magazines. This particular piece used a Hutschenreuther blank that dates to c. 1900-1920. Luckily the artist’s name was unusual, and I was able to locate her great-grandson, who now owns this family heirloom.
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