Venice, Italy Mask

close-up of the mask

My family and I travel a lot. We always have, and we probably always will. Although traveling to the U.K. every year is fun, sometimes it can get a little boring, if its the same things you see every year. Especially if you've been there 20 times. One thing my parents like to do, is go to different places and explore different cultures, which is nice. In 2008, my dad had to go to Italy to meet with a company his business was going to do business with. So he brought us along. Venice was only about an hour away from where the company he was meeting with was so we took a short vacation in Venice. While in Venice, we went into the city to look at the different souvenirs we could take home. We found this little shack/store with tons of glue, material and masks in it. It was a place where this little Italian guy, not speaking hardly any english made traditional Venice masks from scratch. The name of the store we got it from was called Laboratorio Artigiano Maschere. The masks are normally just made as a form of self expression or pieces of art now, however they were famous for dances and balls in the olden days. To my knowledge they still do them every once in awhile but only on special occasions. Most masks in Venice are now pre-made, and sold as just souvenirs, which is a shame because you don't get the classic feel of it. The price difference is quite a lot though. A traditional pre-made Venice mask will cost around $60-$100, the Venice mask my parents got that was made from scratch was closer to $850. It's an incredible piece of art, and thinking that a little italian guy in a shack made this is mind blowing. 

straps to put it on

the whole mask

the designer of the mask, and where it was bought

another view of the mask

London Underground Poster

close-up of the underground map

Originally I was going to do show and tell on a pair of my dad's old Vans slip on shoes. However, i think they were thrown away in the process of moving to the house I am living in now. Although the shoes were thrown away, I think I came up with a show and tell piece that might be better yet. In our class we recently discussed The London Underground system, and how it changed design in the world. Well I saw it appropriate to ask my parents, seeing how they are british, if they had anything to do with The London Underground. Sure enough my parents had something perfect for my blog post, a London Underground Poster straight from London, England. Although the posters have changed dramatically since Harry Beck designed the original in 1931, this is actually a design very close to the vintage underground map from the 30's. This poster is a reproduction of a vintage poster, made to look old, but my parents bought it brand new while we were in England. Finding a poster like this in London isn't very hard to do, so I don't think it has, if any, value at all. While on the London Underground when I was in England last summer, I did notice that traveling on the london underground was extremely simple, much to do with how this poster is designed. I don't think you could make it any more simple. The subway systems around the world, for example in NYC have copied the design of the underground map, however I think the subway system in NYC is still not as simple as London. While doing this poster I did remember some things that I learned while riding the underground, in London they call The London Underground, "The Tube", and if you live in London and ride the tube everyday, the saying "Mind the Gap" would get extremely annoying. But that's just me.

The London Underground Map aka "The Tube"

close-up of the logo

1960's Matchbox and Hot Wheels

"1968 Smith's Karrier Van"

Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys have always been a huge influence in my childhood. My dad and I have the same interests in toys as children apparently. These are my dad's Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars from the 60's. Most of them are in pretty bad condition, so I picked the ones in the best condition to photograph for the project. They are all made in England. For those of you who don't know, my mom and dad are both british, they moved over to the U.S. 2 years before I was born. My dad had to move for business and they just never ended up moving back. So most of the things I have that are old, are things of british traditions, or things made in the U.K. The best Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars are 3 named "Smith's Karrier Van","68 VW 1500 Saloon" and the Hot Wheels "Splittin Image". Both the Splittin Image and the VW are from 1968 and the Karrier Van did not have a date on it, however I think it is from late 60's. I looked up infomation on Splittin Image and this is what I found, "Splittin Image" 1968 was one of the first 16 cars Hot Wheels released. 1968 was the first year they brought out there own cars as "Hot Wheels". So this is one of probably 100,000's of "Splittin Image" that were made in the U.K. however, this is definitely a primary part of Hot Wheels History. The other two I found on E-Bay or Amazon a couple of times and I listed the lowest to highest prices for the toys.

Smith's Karrier Van 

Ebay Pricing ($30.00 to $615.50)

$30 for a beaten up one, and $615.50 for basicly brand new

"1968 Smith's Karrier Van

1968 VW 1500 Saloon

Ebay Pricing ($8.50 to $156.00)

$8.50 for a beaten up one, and $156.00 for basicly brand new

"1968 Volkswagen 1500 Saloon Side View"

"1968 Matchbox Volkswagen 1500 Saloon"

"Underneath the VW"

Hot Wheels Splittin' Image 1968

Ebay Pricing ($5.00 to $69.00)

"One of the first out of sixteen Hot Wheels Cars Ever Produced

"Hot Wheels Splittin' Image 1968 - VW in Background"

"Underneath Splittin' Image"