Fridge magnets as souvenirs (Vienna, Heidelberg)

In each country and almost in every touristic city you can find magnets with different local symbols. These magnets are usually put at home on the refrigerator’s door (or other metallic vertical surface) and represent in fact souvenirs from different trips/holidays.

There are also people that manage to gather a true collection of such magnets. I have a friend that has such a collection – an already impressive one. Her collection includes many bought by herself, as well as many others received from friends who know about her passion. You can travel to many countries with the collection on my friend’s refrigerator door…

Why magnets as travel souvenirs?

• They are small – they don’t require a lot of space to keep;
• They manage to capture a local specific – the magnets are usually illustrated with local buildings or some other special local symbols.
• They are cheap – a magnet costs usually several euros/dollars;
• They are almost a “sure” gift – usually you cannot fail by offering a magnet (alone or together with something else) as a souvenir from a trip.

I have several magnets too – although I didn’t travel very much (but I still have time to change that).

I have a magnet from Vienna, Schoenbrunn palace. I have another one – also from Vienna (Austria) – but with several famous buildings from the capital of Austria. From Heidelberg (Germany) I have another souvenir-magnet.

Sometimes you can find yourself traveling back in time simply by looking at these magnets, remembering wonderful memories from those vacations when you got them. At other times these magnets bring back memories about a friend who brought you a certain magnet.

I guess that these are only several reasons for which magnets are so famous and why so many people buy them all over the world.