Souvenirs as Treasure?

Main page content begins here

Treasure case

Treasures are valuable objects, but what is valuable is subjective and up to each individual to decide. Sometimes souvenirs are treasured for their meaning-making value, nostalgia value, and collecting value. Here are some examples from the City of Edmonton Heritage Collection.

Jump to: Meaning Making | Nostalgia | Collecting

Meaning Making

Edonton Postcard
Postcard, Edmonton c. 1915–1920 view of Low Level Bridge and Hotel Macdonald [2021-31-10]

Edmonton pin, c. 1920s [1982-25-112]

A magnet, postcard, or t-shirt in a gift shop is just a simple object until you find the one that represents your trip to that location, attendance at that event, or memory of an experience. Once you choose your object, it not only becomes a true souvenir, but a precious treasure that links you to a meaningful time and place. Regardless of the cash value of the souvenir, its ability to evoke a fond memory and hold the meaning you have attributed to it, makes it into a touchstone of remembrance.

According to travel writer Rolf Potts, “souvenirs are a metaphor for how lived experience can endow most any object with personal significance.” Once a souvenir takes on that meaning-making function, it is considered treasure.

Well, this meaning-making treasure status is only good as long as someone continues to associate significant meaning with that object, which is often only as long as their memory lasts. Once the personal memory or meaning fades, it may be treasure no more.

Nostalgia

A selection of nostalgic souvenirs from the City of Edmonton Heritage Collection

Nostalgia operates in a variety of ways. One is a tie to collective identities or values perceived to be lost. Souvenirs can serve as reminders of these ties and connect us to these feelings of nostalgia. For example, the images of souvenirs above and below depict Edmonton sports, attractions and events that have ended, or have been significantly altered. Yet many people still have fond connections to these former iterations and their experiences with them.

A selection of nostalgic sports memorabilia from the City of Edmonton Heritage Collection

Since we know that experiences and places may change after you’ve visited them, and since you may never get a chance to go back again, people often want a souvenir as proof that they were there. In this way, souvenirs provide proof to mark certain milestones in one's life script. Which is another type of nostalgia about connection to the significance of one’s life history and experiences.

According to experts in the travel souvenir industry, how people generally select their souvenirs is not as complex as we might imagine. More often than not, it is the most eye-catching, affordable, and easy to pack in your luggage item that was convenient to come by that is chosen. No matter how small, shiny or inexpensive the souvenir is, it becomes proof that one can nostalgically associate it with memories, people and events in their life history, therefore making it a treasure.

New Edmonton souvenirs
2023 Edmonton Souvenirs. Visitors of today's proof, tomorrow's nostalgia?

Collecting

Hotel Mugs from Edmonton c. 1950s from the City of Edmonton Heritage Collection

Museums are known for collecting and their role in representing societal identities. Many who have analyzed museum collection, such as Michael Hitchcock, have pointed out that many objects collected by museums were originally souvenirs. But individuals collect too and it can be very much linked to their personal identities.

Some people go after particular types of souvenirs such as coffee mugs or magnets, and some people have to complete sets of things such as a series of coins or figurines. What does this say about the person and why they collect in that way? There can be fun and a thrill in the experience of hunting down the perfect addition to one’s collection, as well as a sense of pride in showcasing that collection to others back home. Perhaps there is a point where the souvenir becomes more about these feelings and experiences than the object itself.

Edmonton Starbucks mugs
Starbucks Mugs depicting Edmonton. Can you spot an error in the landmarks of the top mug?

Klondike collector coin sets from 1970s and 1980s from the City of Edmonton Heritage Collection

It turns out that the deeper one analyzes the purpose of souvenirs and the motivations for collecting souvenirs, their connection to place is often not as strong as we might first assume. Souvenirs, especially of the mass-market age, consist of branded trinkets, exoticized and stereotyped fictions, and are determined by the market demand of what tourists buy, not by what actually accurately represents an attraction, city or region. If we contemplate Rolf Potts' notion that, “when we collect souvenirs, we do so not to evaluate the world, but to narrate the self,” perhaps we realize that the true treasure of a souvenir is what it tells you about yourself.