We’d love to hear about them and how they bring you happiness (or have done so in the past.) I hope #InternationalDayofHappiness brings you joy as does reflecting on your own collections. Please tell me and everyone else here about your own collections. Give it away, sell it, or if is of no value (emotionally or monetarily) to anyone else … chuck it! And if you have a collection that you don’t love or is no longer bringing you happiness, perhaps now is the time to let it go. They all make me happy!Īs March 20th is recognized globally as International Day of Happiness, I thought it was the perfect time to salute our beloved collections. I have quite a number of other collections that include wood carvings, seashells (pictured above), books on certain topics (I recently realized I have at least 20 books on Feng Shui!) And I have about that same number of books about chocolate and cacao. It had to be ME who was doing the acquiring (or in the case of the chocolate … the tasting.) □ So I never accepted any matchbooks from someone who went somewhere. But everyone who knows me and follows this blog knows I’m all about the experience and experiential travel. Sure enough, you can order just about anything via the internet. It’s the travel that may add a very pricey component to the acquisitions. The I’ve highlighted here today all cost me very little for the products themselves. Writing this post made me realize one thing. And the Betty Boop chocolate bars below are part of my friend Betty’s extensive Betty Boop collection in which there are roughly 300 pieces. I must say they shame some of the rather drab chocolate wrappers that some of our North American chocolatiers and chocolate makers are using to house their wonderful chocolate creations. The photo above shows the artistic, colourful and enticing wrappers from the chocolate bars I enjoyed while in Trinidad. what characterizes your collections?Īnd of course, since 2009 when I launched Chocolatour, I’ve been collecting chocolate wrappers, boxes and packaging from my chocolate travels that to date have taken me to hundreds of destinations in 20 countries. What I really loved about collecting matchbooks, is that I could personalize an entry written on the inside of the matchbook cover indicating the date(s) I was there, with whom, and what of interest we were there for (a conference, convention, concert, wedding, etc.) Today, when taking the photo for this post, my collection reminded me of the amazing time I had at the Shangri-La Hotel in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates.) To date, the UAE is the most culturally different place I’ve been, and that trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi was one of the most memorable weeks of my life as every day was filled with unique and unexpected moments. But with fewer people smoking and smoking banned in most places, the availability of matches in bars and restaurants has truly become more difficult and I rarely come home from a trip with more than a couple specimens to add to my collection. I’ve written a post about this wayside hobby in this post, which you may find of interest. I love the matchbook covers because I can write inside them and personalize the experience to remind me years later of when and why I was there.Īlas, the art of being a matchbook cover collector (or phillumenist) is a dying art. Pins usually apply to a place (city, town, province, state, country) whereas matchbook covers usually apply to a specific business or establishment. my matchbook collection has made me a phillumenist! □ I also have pins from most of the organizations I’ve belonged to and places I have worked. That was SO incredible, and the event netted me a handful of different pins as well as some terrific new friends. Taking a close look at them has reminded me of some smaller, marvellous places that I’ve been, but hadn’t thought of recently including Labrador, Ferryland (Newfoundland,) Baddeck (Nova Scotia) as well as special events that have meant a lot to me including the Pan American Games that were held right here in Manitoba in 1999, at which I was a volunteer in the media tent at Birds Hill Provincial Park. I’d say the majority of the pins are from travel. It’s far too heavy to wear, but now and then I take it out of the closet and admire it as each pin brings back some special memory or reminds me of an affiliation I’ve had over the course of my lifetime. This denim vest holds a collection of lapel pins I’ve collected over the past 35 years.
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