Tourist tat souvenirs

[Pondlife]

We did the xmas markets on the mainland this weekend. Although the vast quantities of Glühwein, Wurst & Dresdner Handbrot were great on a cold winters day I was a bit disappointed at some of the tat on sale.

At first glance it seemed like any UK craft market with local artisans plying their wares but after you walk past half a dozen stalls all selling the same gear you soon realise it’s got sweatshop written all over it.

I’ve found it’s the same in many other countries where you know the stuff is coming from some massive warehouse in the closest city. The UK seems to be one of the few places that local craft markets seem to sell handmade stuff – or am I being particularly naïve here? We have a friend who sells hand painted xmas decorations this time of year, so I sort of assume that it’s all home produced.

Obviously Mrs PL still buys the stuff by the suitcase.


Do others here end up with tourist tat souvenirs from holidays or do you only buy authentic?

[MarillionFan]

The thing with tourist tat is that you only tend to recognise it's the same tourist tat when you've spent time in the country.

For example I used to import tourist tat from other countries and sell it in a shop in the UK where it was not the norm and all of a sudden it becomes exclusive tat.

All about perception.

[Arturo Bassick]

We did the xmas markets on the mainland this weekend. Although the vast quantities of Glühwein, Wurst & Dresdner Handbrot were great on a cold winters day I was a bit disappointed at some of the tat on sale.

At first glance it seemed like any UK craft market with local artisans plying their wares but after you walk past half a dozen stalls all selling the same gear you soon realise it’s got sweatshop written all over it.

I’ve found it’s the same in many other countries where you know the stuff is coming from some massive warehouse in the closest city. The UK seems to be one of the few places that local craft markets seem to sell handmade stuff – or am I being particularly naïve here? We have a friend who sells hand painted xmas decorations this time of year, so I sort of assume that it’s all home produced.

Obviously Mrs PL still buys the stuff by the suitcase.


Do others here end up with tourist tat souvenirs from holidays or do you only buy authentic?

Accurate observation in many places. Munich had that problem and changed the license for the markets. You also need to realise that some companies have more than one stall, particularly at the larger markets.
The hand made ones are usually pretty obvious.

[beaker]

I avoid buying any tat when on holiday... When I visited Kenya earlier this year they had the same "hand made" wooden animals everywhere. I later discovered the same tat on the streets of New York.

The only thing I bring back from my holidays are loads of photos and exotic diseases...

[Halo Jones]

The only thing I bring back from my holidays are loads of photos and exotic STD's...

FTFY

[MarillionFan]

FTFY

You collect dialling codes??????