MAGNETIC MEMORIES PART 1

“FRIDGE MAGNETS,” LINDA GEDDES WRITES in The Guardian, March 18, 2024, “Can be Cool Aid to Holiday Memory Recall, Study Finds.”

Linda says, “Whether holding up shopping lists or hastily scrawled messages, fridge magnets are highly functional holiday souvenirs. And a new study suggests these trinkets may also provide an important means of accessing happy – and not so happy – memories of past trips.” 

I certainly agree with her assessments. Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, are tidbits about the Liverpool study and of my own bunch of magnets.

The Liverpool Study. Dr. John Byrom, University of Liverpool, led the research. He shared with Geddes, “If you think about how often you go into a fridge, it is very different from those cheese knives that you might buy, and then gather dust in a drawer, or a picture that gradually becomes wallpaper.”

Yep, I’ve got both the knives (mine happen to be of Japanese chef variety) and the pictures (galore).

Geddes writes, “To better understand people’s relationships with their holiday magnets, Byrom and his colleagues conducted in-depth interviews—often in people’s kitchens, in sight of their fridges—with 19 Britons who owned at least 20 such holiday mementoes.”

Image by Jill Mead/The Guardian.

Twenty magnets per? These folks are serious collectors, but then so am I.

Geddes recounts, “The research, published in Annals of Tourism Research, found that these souvenirs could help to preserve memories and trigger emotional responses, with some participants claiming their fridge magnets were more important than photographs as memory aids.” 

Again, I concur. My magnets have been up there for years; boxes of pics remain in the closet and garage. Maybe your experiences agree with mine?

Here’s a selection, grouped kinda by memory prompts.

Aloft. In 1986, April, of course, R&T tested the Pontiac 0-77 Excitement Hot Air Balloon. The magazine had been familiar with hot air [ed: Change wording?]: In 1976 they tested the Goodyear blimp (actually a helium device). 

Culinary Matters. My friend the chef lets folks know when it’s time to eat. Penzey’s spices enhance the cuisine. And a metallic plate ensures there’s not too little (nor too much) of any particular spice or other ingredient. 

Wave the Flag. What with my love of USO shows in wartime movies, I continue to support this important organization.

Tomorrow in Part 2, we’ve see a museum logo, an oversize car, a life’s motto, some abstract art, and travels both around the world and across our vast continent, all recalled in magnets. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com 2024