15 May 2011

in a nutshell

You may or may not know this about me but I have a "thing" for the 1904 World's Fair :)

The grandeur, the beauty, the excitement, the innovation, it all intrigues me.
I have started a little collection of things from the 1904 World's Fair but it is really small.
Items from the World's Fair are not only really hard to come by, they are also a bit on the pricey side.
My grandpa's best friend, Ruthie, who passed away when I was a child, actually attended the 1904 World's Fair and my dad inherited a few souvenirs of hers, including the "Official Guidebook to the 1904 World's Fair."  I have read through this book and a few others and became more and more mesmerized.
After all of my reading and researching, I knew that there was ONE thing that I HAD to have in my collection.  This would have been the item I would have purchased had I been present at the fair.
The 1904 World's Fair in a Nutshell.
Seriously, it's this tiny nutshell filled with photos from the fair in a little fold out.  There are about 50 tiny photos printed into this foldout inside of a nutshell.  The nutshell is then tied closed with a delicate red, white and blue ribbon. I had been searching online, antique malls, collectors, everywhere and I simply couldn't find one anywhere :(
Until a few weeks ago...
My mom and I were visiting the antique mall where we have a case. We had browsed the mall and I was ready to leave.  My mom asked me if I wanted to look at a case that I usually checked every time (it is filled with World's Fair souvenirs) and I said no.  She said she was going to look anyway so I followed her.
I literally screamed, like my mom thought maybe I was having a heart attack and rushed to see if I was ok.
There it was, the little teeny tiny nutshell. 
106 years old, in it's original box, waiting to make my day.
Here it is :)







so yeah, I'm really excited about it :)
Why don't they make cool souveniers like this anymore?
Do you have any random collections?

xo
janel

9 comments:

  1. Wow, that is a really amazing find! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Oh my gosh, that's awesome! Such a fun souvenir!

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  3. Oh my stars, this is the coolest thing!!
    Love the concept, the subject, the vintage fabulous-ness of it all :) thanks for sharing!

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  4. oh my. i just let out an extremely loud squeal - that is one of THE cutest things i've ever seen! everything was so much more fun and creative back then! phew, kind of can't handle the amount of adorable. ;)
    -rebecca
    ohdearthings.com

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  5. I used to love going to antique stores for just those kinds of things! I feel like people used to be more creative back then :)

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  6. this is so cool! WHY don't they make things like this anymore?

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  7. That is just awesome! I collect things that relate to our local town from the celebrations they have had, like pins, stationary, stickers, anything really that has to do with it. Our 100 yr. celebration is next year, I can't wait.

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  8. We have one of these in our store. Ours has the box (slightly different to yours) and no seperations. Its also in our Ruby Lane store so check it out and compare the differences on the box. I wonder if the inside of the nut is slightly different too.
    http://www.rubylane.com/item/760783-W15/1904-Worlds-Fair-St-Louis

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Thank you so much for commenting!! xo