GEW GAWS - SOME THOUGHTS ON SOUVENIR TAT

Stanley Holloway's factory in The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

In The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) Stanley Holloway's souvenir factory is simply called 'GEWGAWS ltd'. The title is a knowing nod to mass - produced tat such as the small scale imitations of Anne Hathaways Cottage and Southend Pier that he shows to Alec Guinness' character. His model of the  Eiffel Tower is, of course, the most memorable of these as they play a crucial part in the narrative when the casts are used to disguise the gold bullion that Holloway,  Guinness, Alfie Bass and Sid James steal from Guinness' bank.

As Holloway's character says, "My business occupation is something unspeakably hideous. I'm in the 'presents from' trade. You know, present from Brighton, souvenir from Tunbridge Wells..."

"I propagate British cultural depravity"

This culturally elitist tone echoes that of Richard Hoggart in The Uses of Literacy (first published in 1957), who mentions Gew-Gaws as a typical artefact of working class life. 

Most working class families would commemorate their holiday by purchasing small ornaments and trinkets emblazoned with the name of the resort either as a souvenir for themselves or as a gift for friends or relatives back home, and where's the harm in that? If a small ornament can trigger happy memories for 51 weeks of the year (until the next holiday), so be it.

Take for example Devon Blue Ware, manufactured by Foster's Studio Pottery in the West Country. This has got to be the plainest style of ornament or functional souvenir pottery imaginable. 

I'm unsure of the time period when this pottery was produced, but in its time, the factory had clearly cottoned on to a winner: produce pots of differing shapes, sizes and uses; dip them all in the same distinctive blue glaze, then scratch in the name of a seemingly endless list of seaside resorts, picturesque villages or visitor attractions.

The pots are like a blank page... Even with their legends carved on. Holidaymakers can project their memories of the holiday onto these objects that need no elaborate illustrations or decorations. The blue glaze is 'the blue of Devon' (presumably the sea and sky on a clear, sunny day). But the colour of the glaze is the same no matter the name of the resort on the pot.

Here are a few examples...

A 'Land's End' beaker. The jagged line struck through the text probably mimics the division between land and sea.

A boot with 'Cromer' on it. Why a boot? What does this North Norfolk seaside town have to do with the shoemaking industry?

'Good luck from Flamborough Head' on a miniature tankard. I wonder if 'Good Luck from Beachy Head' would be deemed inappropriate?

A condiment bottle from Gretna Green perhaps hinting at a relationship that will turn to vinegar?

There's something strangely calming and charming about these pots, but to others, these souvenirs are seen as tat. You'll find them going for pennies in charity shops if they've not yet made it to landfill. But what of the seaside souvenir today? In my opinion there's tat and then there's tat! A glance in most souvenir shops now will reveal nasty dust-gathering polyresin ornaments (anything from Highland terriers to fairies) or signs with phrases like 'Gone to the beach' painted on them - possibly by someone on a minuscule wage in the Far East who won't understand the joke - much less what the idea of a holiday is.