Over the years Sue and I have been acquiring fewer and fewer souvenirs of our cruises as it has been becoming more and more difficult to store them ... and what we do acquire now tends to be smaller and/or easier to store. In Sue's case, she collects shot glasses with the names of places we have visited, and I collected flags. On our recent cruise I managed to add several quite interesting ones to my collection, and these are shown below.
Canadian National Flag
Flag of the Province of Nova Scotia
Flag of the Province of New Brunswick
Flag of the Province of Quebec
Flag of Cape Breton Island
Acadian Flag
I also acquired some dice from a toy shop in Freeport, Maine. These included three with images of local wildlife in place of the 'one' ...
... and a dice game called TENZI that had loads of unusually-coloured dice.
In Freeport Sue spotted a pre-painted cast-iron toy soldier that was an absolute 'must buy'.
I was also given some books as a present by Ross Macfarlane. These included CANADA'S FIGHTING SHIPS by K R Macpherson (published in 1975 by Samuel Stevens, Hakkert & Company [ISBN 0 88866 566 0]), inside which he has inscribed his service history in the Royal Canadian Navy, ...
... and a history of the Spanish-American War entitled PICTORIAL HISTORY OF OUR WAR WITH SPAIN FOR CUBA'S FREEDOM by Trumbull White (published in 1898 by Freedom Publishing Co). This contains some wonderful contemporary illustrations and it a worthy addition to my small collection of books about that conflict.
Canadian National Flag
Flag of the Province of Nova Scotia
Flag of the Province of New Brunswick
Flag of the Province of Quebec
Flag of Cape Breton Island
Acadian Flag
I also acquired some dice from a toy shop in Freeport, Maine. These included three with images of local wildlife in place of the 'one' ...
... and a dice game called TENZI that had loads of unusually-coloured dice.
In Freeport Sue spotted a pre-painted cast-iron toy soldier that was an absolute 'must buy'.
I was also given some books as a present by Ross Macfarlane. These included CANADA'S FIGHTING SHIPS by K R Macpherson (published in 1975 by Samuel Stevens, Hakkert & Company [ISBN 0 88866 566 0]), inside which he has inscribed his service history in the Royal Canadian Navy, ...
... and a history of the Spanish-American War entitled PICTORIAL HISTORY OF OUR WAR WITH SPAIN FOR CUBA'S FREEDOM by Trumbull White (published in 1898 by Freedom Publishing Co). This contains some wonderful contemporary illustrations and it a worthy addition to my small collection of books about that conflict.
Nice haul there sir!
ReplyDeleteNice goodies!
ReplyDeleteFrancis Lee,
ReplyDeleteCheers! I was very pleased with what I brought back with me.
All the best,
Bob
How much did the ship lean on the way back with all that aboard?
ReplyDeletePaul O'G,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks. They will always remind me of what was an excellent cruise.
All the best,
Bob
Conrad Kinch,
ReplyDeleteWe acquired relatively little whilst we were away when compared to some people. I know of at least one couple who bought an extra suitcase to take all their new stuff home in.
All the best,
Bob
One of the delights for me is going around the shops and seeing what I can pick up for future wargaming use. The Greek isles have provided a lot of buildings and statues and Portugal will provide various bits for a HoTT army (Cataplanian Republic - a cataplans is a covering cooking pot and Portugal has a neat story of a cleric and a dead chicken. Makes an interesting future army).
ReplyDeleteOh, my wife collects fridge magnets, postcards and teddy bears!
Rob
Xaltotun of Python,
ReplyDeleteI get similar pleasure from shopping in souvenir shops. Croatia and Greece have been excellent sources for small Mediterranean/Balkan buildings, as has -to a somewhat lesser extent - Italy.
My wife used to collect Teddie Bears as well ... but decided to go for something smaller when space and storage became limited.
All the best,
Bob
Ahhhh teddy bears, so was she collecting them when she met you?
ReplyDeleteA good collection of flags, I didn't realize that Cape Breton had its own flag!
I hope you enjoyed Nova Scotia, too bad we couldn't have met, I Live in Dartmouth
ReplyDeleteRoss Mac,
ReplyDeleteYes Ross, she was ... and i don't think that she would have looked at me twice if I hadn't been wearing the bear-suit at the time! :^)
I'm not sure how 'official' the Cape Breton or Acadia flags are, but they both seem to have been designed to reflect the origins of the original settlers and/or the current population, hence the 'Irish' colours and saltire cross on the Cape Breton flag and the mixture of the French Tricolor and the Star of St Mary on the Acadian one.
All the best,
Bob
Irishhighlander,
ReplyDeleteFrom what I have seen of Nova Scotia (which is Halifax, Sydney, and Louisburg) it is a very nice place. We didn't have time to cross over to Dartmouth, but perhaps we will if - or perhaps when - we visit Canada again. Then a meeting with you would be a distinct possibility.
All the best,
Bob
The Acadian flag has been around quite a while now and there are Acadian communities in all 3 provinces with distinct cultural heritage and language. (quite different from Quebec)
ReplyDeleteA Cape Breton flag is interesting since it is neither a political entity nor a cultural one entirely. Both Acadian and Gaelic roots spill across to the mainland. I suspect tourism marketing. There is a move afoot to replenish the shrinking population by encouraging a new wave of emmigrants and refugees.
Ross Mac,
ReplyDeleteMy understanding was that the Acadian flag was adopted on August 15, 1884, at the Second Acadian National Convention, and was a statement of cultural identity ... but that it had no official status within Canada as such, in the same way that the LBGT Rainbow flag doesn't have official status but everyone knows what it stands for.
The Cape Breton flag was sold to me as a souvenir, and the shop informed me that it had no official standing as such ... and is - in fact - one of four designs that have been or are used on Cape Breton Island. It was explained to me that it was the way that the people of Cape Breton could show that although they were part of Nova Scotia, they regarded themselves as being a separate entity within the Province.
If they want people to settle there, I can think of a lot worse places to go ... although one might have to go quite some distance for the odd wargame or two!
All the best,
Bob