Flip Desk Calendar Souvenirs

This little collection of flip desk calendars (a.k.a. perpetual calendars) started almost 15 years ago, and fortunately (yes, fortunately), they are not easy to find. This adds a bit more fun while searching for them in antique shops, outdoor markets, etc. while on holiday. And yes, some call it kitsch.

The first one I got at the Oberursel flea market in 1996. A young man sold me this one for 50 cents and told me his grandfather had bought it on a long-ago trip to San Francisco. This is how I got started with my collection.

The following five are from the 1960s when this type of souvenir was popular.

perpetual calendar San Francisco

perpetual calendar San Francisco

This one featuring Washington, D.C., we found in a Maryland antique mall while browsing.

 perpetual calendar Washington, D.C.

perpetual calendar Washington, D.C.

The following three antique flip calendars were purchased online from the States.

 perpetual calendar Florida

perpetual calendar Florida

perpetual calendar Smoky Mountains

perpetual calendar Smoky Mountains

 perpetual calendar London

perpetual calendar London

Last, but not least, imagine my surprise when one of my students found a new  Vintage flip desk calendar in Mt. St. Michel. This one sits on cheap marble look-alike plastic, and I actually use it on my desk.

perpetual calendar Mt. St. Michel

perpetual calendar Mt. St. Michel

This kitsch collection hardly takes up any space and I only amassed six of them within the last 17 years. I’m not a pack rat, after all.

A Traditional Japanese Home

While visiting some friends in Wakamatsu-ku a while back, one of my former students had arranged to visit this very traditional home in Tobata-ku, Kitakyushu-shi.

My friends in Japan have always know how much I like Japanese antiques and textiles, so this private visit was especially arranged for me. I got a tour of this stranger’s home. It was amazing to see her home fully furnished the traditional style, it was like stepping into a museum. Many Japanese prefer western style housing, some of them so modern, they have lost their Japanese touch (until you get to the fully automated toilet).

Here we are in the genkan (entry way), filled with old farming tools.

genkan

genkan

The traditional Japanese homes generally have no so-called bedroom, as the futon (sleeping mattress) can be rolled out anywhere on the tatami. The rooms are separated by sliding doors. Dark wood frames each room, with kasuri (indigo dyed fabric) patchwork tapestries on the wall, a blue and white hibachi for decoration. etc.

Antique Japanese interior

The owner takes great care of her museum-like house and everything is very neatly arranged.

Antique Japanese interior

A big old tansu (cabinet) holding many old textiles, such as kasuri, chirimen, shibori, etc. What a treasure.

tansu

tansu

This hibachi is a very traditional heating device: a charcoal hibachi, most often made from cypress wood for its durability.

Hibachi

hibachi  火鉢

This was a great experience to visit this lady’s home and it reminded me of my favorite pastimes while in Japan. Those were going to antique shops, looking for old textiles in factories where recycled material was handled and sold by the kilo, patchwork lessons taken in Japanese (my sewing vocabulary became quite impressive), and buying jitai ningyo (dolls from the *Taishō period), and much more.

*The Taishō period (大正時代 Taishō jidai) is a period in the history of Japan dating from July 1912 to December 1926, named for the Emperor Taishō reign during that time.

Japanese Baby Kimono

In English, most Japanese wrap-around clothing is referred to as a kimono. In this case however, this little baby/toddler coat would be  appropriately called a yukata (浴衣).

Japanese baby yukata

The interesting part is that it has been made entirely from used cloth diapers. Back in the days, when Japan had not yet been such a throw-away society, the baby’s old diapers got recycled for a practical purpose. After a thourough cleaning, indigo dye was applied to give this lovely tie-dye pattern.

I had read about this technique in one of my Japanese textile history books and got very excited when I actually spotted one in an antique shop (the only tie-dye baby yukata I ever saw in three years of browsing antique shops in Japan).

The price, I believe, was  5000 yen in the early 90s, which equals about € 45 today.

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