A souvenir (from French, for a remembrance or memory), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance[1] is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a memento of a visit. While there is no set minimum or maximum cost that one is required to adhere to when purchasing a souvenir, etiquette would suggest to keep it within a monetary amount that the receiver would not feel uncomfortable with when presented the souvenir. The object itself may have intrinsic value, or simply be a symbol of past experience. Without the owner’s input, the symbolic meaning is invisible and cannot be articulated.
Souvenirs as Objects:
The tourism industry designates tourism souvenirs as commemorative merchandise associated with a location, often including geographic information and usually produced in a manner that promotes souvenir collecting.
Hand-carved wood souvenirs for sale in Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico.
Throughout the world, the souvenir trade is an important part of the tourism industry serving a dual role, first to help improve the local economy, and second to allow visitors to take with them a memento of their visit, ultimately
to encourage an opportunity for a return visit, or to promote the locale to other tourists as a form of word-of-mouth marketing.Perhaps the most collected souvenirs by tourists are photographs as a medium to document specific events and places for future reference.
Souvenirs as objects include mass-produced merchandise such as clothing: T-shirts and hats;collectables: postcards, refrigerator magnets, miniature figures; household items: mugs, bowls,plates, ashtrays, egg timers, spoons, notepads, plus many others.
Souvenirs also include non-mass-produced items like folk art, local artisan handicrafts, objects that represent the traditions and culture of the area, non-commercial, natural objects like sand from a beach, and anything else that a person attaches nostalgic value to and collects among his personal belongings.
A more grisly form of souvenir in the First World War was displayed by a Pathan soldier to an English Territorial. After carefully studying the Tommy’s acquisitions (a fragment of shell, a spike and badge from a German helmet), he produced a cord with the ears of enemy soldiers he claimed to have killed. He was keeping them to take back to India for his wife.
Souvenirs as Memorabilia:
Similar to souvenirs, memorabilia (Latin for memorable (things), plural of memorābile) are objects treasured for their memories or historical interest; however, unlike souvenirs, memorabilia can be valued for a connection to an event or a particular professional field, company or brand.
Examples include sporting events, historical events, culture, and entertainment. Such items include: clothing; game equipment; publicity photographs and posters; magic memorabilia; other entertainment-related merchandise & memorabilia; movie memorabilia; airline and other transportation-related memorabilia; and pins, among others.
Often memorabilia items are kept in protective covers or display cases to safeguard and preserve their condition