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OFFICIAL BLOG OF NIAGARA FALLS TOURISM |
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NIAGARA SOUVENIRS
By GEORGE BAILEY
2010-03-09 17:06:12
|  | 2 comments Latest by guylaine 04/09/10 22:54:14 EDT |
One of the Niagara books I find most interesting in my library is a book by Virginia Vidler called, "Niagara Falls-100 Years of Souvenirs". In this pictorial book she talks about how since the turn of the 18th century people have been buying souvenirs of Niagara to remind them of the time they spent in Niagara. Even though some of the souvenir items have changed,there's still today plenty of items to choose from. Today's popular items are postcards, T-shirts,key chains,coffee mugs and the ever popular Niagara Falls pillows with the gold fringe around them.I still have one of these ugly pillows!
One of the most interesting souvenirs in the mid 1800's was Niagara Spar Jewelry. Spar is gypsum, a soft white mineral that was at one time found in abundance at the base of the falls.Hucksters of the day called it Petrified Mist and tourist were eager to scoop it up. It was a great fad and beads,chokers and other jewelery were made from it. Once the Niagara supply ran dry it was imported from England. On one of my trips below the falls I have been able to gather a few of these rare rocks. Now I have my own Niagara Mist.
When the Honeymoon Bridge collapsed on January 28th,1938 (there's a blog already written about this event) entrepreneurs made all kinds of things from the steel of the collapsed bridge. I've attached a photo of a souvenir coaster that I have in my collection.
Probably in another 100 years someone will be writing about souvenirs of the early 2000's!
For more details, visit:
http://www.niagarafallstourism.com
Comments
Mike
Very interesting post George, and cool picture of your coaster! Next time I'm down at the base of the falls I'll be on the lookout for some spar!
guylaine
Wow. A souvenir made out of the collapsed bridge. Now that's creepy!
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Photos by George Bailey...
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