The story of the family relics continue with precious objects which have an emotional value. Last time we shared information about the souvenirs from France, the concert program of Stavros, card of Arpine Herliyan and the playing cards of Ashen. This time we would like to tell you about a Turkish coffee cup from 1910s, silver spoons from 1920s, a venetian gondola shaped brooch from 1950s, and a toy called Plastiskop from 1960s.
1910s, The Turkish Coffee Cup of Sofia:
Let's go back in time to 1910s. Here you see a porcelain Turkish coffee cup which is smaller than a regular cup and seems like a toy. This small cup has drawings on it which shows a family on itself and its plate. The drawings are so detailed. On the cup we see a family with four children having dinner together. The father sits in the middle with a handkerchief on his neck, two of the children are sitting near him and another child is standing on the chair and seems like he tries to explain something. The mother is helping to the fourth child on ground. The cabinet behind, the window with curtains and the lemonades on the table are the details of this drawing. Let's check the plate of this cup, there is another drawing on it which shows a different time in day of this family. Here we see them while they are having lunch. We see their mother as serving and three of the children are preparing to eat. The sofa, carpet, tablecloth are the details of this drawing. All those drawings have been made in a small 4x6cm area.
This small porcelain cup was originally belonged to the father of Sofia, Nicholas Çakıroğlu. That's why we dated it to 1910s but it could be older than expected. As we know Sofia drank her first coffee from this cup, and after it turned into a tradition in family that every new member of family drank their first coffee from this cup when they were children but old enough. Sofia Çakıroğlu, Andonia Koskeri, Theodora Koulurgioti and Dimitri Vafiadis; all those members of family from different generations drank from this cup. As it turned into a tradition, now the coffee cup waits for new generations to be used again.
1920s, Silver Spoons of Kiryaki:
We all treat our guests who visit our homes, with a dessert, chocolate or candies as a gesture. In most of our houses there is a ready box with full of chocolate or candies just for those guests. This gesture is a kind of tradition as it's important to welcome the guests well. As we learned from our ancestors, marmalades and jams were among the desserts offered to guests in the past, and there were special accessories for such treats.
Here on this part you see the silver spoons of Kiryaki Akasi, from 1920s, which has been used only for the guests. According to memories of Sofia - the daughter of Kiryaki -, a bowl of marmalade, a glass of water and those silver spoons were served to guests on a tray. Every guest takes a spoon, eat from the marmalade and then leave the spoon into the glass. Years passed and the tradition of serving marmalade turned into other treats. Those spoons have never been used again, but took their place in the family relics showcase.
1950s, The Venetian Gondola Brooch of Giuseppina:
We continue to the stories of the family relics with a brooch from Italy, which has been gifted to an Italian girl, Giuseppina Sanzoni, by Aleko Vafiadis. According to memories of Giuseppina, this brooch has been bought by Aleko from Italy, during his roadtrip in Europe in early 1950s. This brooch is in gold colour with gemstones and in a Venetian gondola form. The rower of the gondola can also be seen on the brooch.
What makes this brooch precious as a family relic is its lovely story behind. Let us tell you this story as Giuseppina told us. Aleko Vafiadis met with his wife Giuseppina Sanzoni in 1955. All he knew before he met with her face to face that she was an Italian lady who was born in Karaagac, Edirne.
When Sanzoni and Vafiadis families came together to discuss their children's marriage, they decided that this marriage would not happen. But Aleko was too upset with this decision, after a few weeks he went alone to Edirne, to talk with her and her parents. This time he convinced Sanzoni family, and one day after he arranged the train tickets and together with Giuseppina and her mother Aspasia he came to Istanbul. On this journey by train, he took his hand in his pocket, took off this brooch and presented it to Giuseppina, for accepting her marriage proposal. It is a very nice coincidence that this brooch, which Aleko bought from Italy at a time when he did not even anticipate marrying an Italian, was given to an Italian girl who had never seen Italy. Nearly for 70 years, this brooch is a small symbol of their love and marriage.
1960s, Plastiskop Toy ClickTVs:
We came to end of our article with an interesting toy from Germany. This toy is a small, retro shaped TV, with many photos inside which you able to see by clicking the button under. The brand of the toy is Plastiskop which still functions in Germany. According to information in company's website, the Plastiskop models were patented from 1953 in Germany and turned out as the classic souvenir in the 50's and 60's.Those toys are all handmade and produced in North Bavaria.
On our Plastiskop model, it writes 'Búndesgártenschau1967' which means, Federal Horticultural Fair 1967. Búndesgártenschau is a biennial federal horticulture show in Germany. It also covers topics like landscaping. Taking place in different cities, the location changes in a two-year cycle. Most probably this toy in our family relics have been bought from this fair. But as we know, no one in our family travelled to Germany in 1960s. Most probably this souvenir has been sent to Vafiadis family by the sister of Giuseppina Sanzoni, who lived in Germany after she married.
Here below we would like to share with you some of the photos in Plastiscope which we took through its lens. Parks, boulevards, flowers, giraffes were some of the contents of those photos. As this little toy was one of the toys of Vafiadis siblings, it was played a lot by Dimitri Vafiadis in 80s.
Here in this article we shared information about four different family relics. You can also find more information about other relics in our gallery on previous articles. We are going to share with you informations about different old objects on upcoming 'Saving Family Relics' articles.
You can find more old wares in Family Relics: Gallery
Written by : 2mi3, June 2021