My Fish Souvenirs, Part II: Rest of the
World
By Howard Norfolk
Aquarticles
I've always loved to travel. As a student in England (B.A. Geography), I hitch-hiked
around Europe for two months each summer, reaching as far as Eastern Turkey, and
made smaller individual excursions to France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain and Morocco.
After emigrating to Canada I drove coast to coast (and more) across the USA twice, and of
course have done some smaller trips, including up and down the West Coast of North
America, and to Alaska and the Yukon. For the last twenty years I have spent about
six weeks each winter travelling anywhere in the World that I wish, and have been around
much of South America; around South-East Asia; around Australia twice; around New Zealand
three times; to Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti and Western Samoa; to the Caribbean; to India five
times; around Sri Lanka; and to Kenya on safari, and toured China. I have incidentally
stopped to visit a few transit cities such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seoul, and of course
have gone back to England.
I've collected lots of souvenirs from all these places and many of them
reflect my lifelong interest in fish. I hope you find it interesting to see what people in
other cultures come up with when they say "Let's make a FISH for the tourists to
buy!"
Africa:
 I
went "on safari" to Kenya in 2000, which was a wonderful experience. I feel
privileged to have seen all the animals in their natural habitats. These are the souvenirs
I brought home:
CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR ENLARGEMENTS...THEN GO
"BACK"
There are lots of woodcarvings for sale in Kenya - mostly of course depicting elephants,
giraffes or other large animals, and also the native people. In one store I decided to buy
the two large figures shown in the centre of the first photo. As is normal in Kenya I
bargained fiercely for the true price (or so I thought), but when our business was done
and it was time to put my purchases into a box, I was surprised to find this fish being
wrapped up too. I'd shown some interest in it earlier, and apparently when I was
bargaining I was bargaining for it too! I didn't argue about my "free" fish!
A carved stone hippo with painted fish.
Whenever a tourist vehicle stops it is immediately surrounded by people hawking things -
often small woodcarvings. This is a paper knife with a fish handle.
A beautiful little pot, with whales.
South and Central America
I toured South America in the 1980s. Iquitos, Peru is on the banks of the Amazon
River, and this popular souvenir dried and varnished piranha is from there.
A dried gourd made into a container with a little lid. This fish is on one side and
a crow is on the other.
A necklace made with large dried fish scales.
A dried fruit case.
Lake Titicaca in Bolivia is the highest navigable lake in the World, at 12,500 feet.
The Uru people there live in reed huts on floating islands. They even have a
floating soccer field! Fish and fishing are important in their lives, as this tapestry
illustrates.
A friend of mine brought me this fish pen holder from Mazatlan, Mexico.
I bought these pottery fish in Mexico.
A tile from the Dominican Republic. It says "Made in Spain",
but it was painted locally.
  
Papier maché fish are popular souvenirs of Cuba. They have hooks so that they can hang
from the ceiling. I didn't buy mine there, but I noticed the large collection on the right
in the gift shop of the Capitol Building in Havana.
 Also in the Capitol Building
I saw this wonderful somewhat whimsical fish. I now regret not buying it!
 ...But I did buy this
nice one. It cost only US$12.
 I'm not sure whether this
is a monkey or a fish! Laying flat it looks like a fish with gills, but hanging on a wall
it looks like a monkey with ears. I prefer to think of it as a fish.
 A small hand-painted pottery
dish from Cuba. It has a hook to hang on the wall.
 This picture is an appliqué
of pieces of coloured card.
 Finally, from Cuba,
I liked these carvings of an angelfish and a betta. Their fins are detachable for easy
packing.
 
There are many woodcarvers in Jamaica, and one of the things they like to carve is fish.
Here is Elvis Morris at his shop in Negril, holding the fish that I bought from him...
 
...and this is a carver I met in the "Cockpit Country" district of Jamaica. I
have written about both these carvers in my article "My
Drive Around Jamaica."
 
Looking through the dusty old stock in the above carver's shop I came across this
creature, which I think is a fish. I thought it might make an interesting door
handle, so I had him cut off part of its tail so that it would lay flat.
  
 I came across lots
of other more colourful fish in Jamaica.
Asia
I love to visit Sentosa Island in Singapore for its aquarium, 'Underwater World'.
One of its features is a moving walkway inside an acrylic tunnel that winds through a huge
fish tank. I was there once at Christmas-time and they were playing Christmas carols as we
moved slowly through the tank with fish all around and even swimming overhead.
Christmas carols may seem somewhat out of place underwater in the heat of the tropics, but
the effect was actually quite magical, so I went around several times, and recorded the
sights and sounds with my video camera.
This pen and holder, and the coaster, are from Underwater World..
This traditional book is from Thailand. The cover is carved horn, and the fold out
pages are of some kind of tree bark, with hand drawn illustrations.
A large plate from Japan, with koi.
Man riding a fish. Plastic resembling ivory. Macau, China.
 Goldfish kite. Macau,
China.
A cute little stone goldfish from Hong Kong.
A Chinese fisherman with his catch of carp. Hong Kong.
 Porcelain fish. Hong Kong.
Fish pen from Ocean Park, Hong Kong. Difficult to write with - the fins get
in the way!
I toured China in winter 2004/5. Here are the gifts and souvenirs I brought
back.
 
I bought a dragon woven from reeds...and then I spotted the little fish. Beijing.
 
Key ring, and comb. Beijing.
 Framed print. Beijing.
 Scroll paintings with this traditional
theme are commonly seen. My cat was interested when I hung it on a door for this photo!
 A little pendant with a surprise
inside.
China is famous for jade. I didn't buy anything fancy - just this. From
Xi'an.
 I visited some aquarium shops in
Xi'an, and picked up some typical Chinese aquarium ornaments.
 A small plate from the Shanghai
Aquarium.
 Fish tiles from the Guilin Aquarium.
 ...and fridge magnets.
Australia and New Zealand
This mobile is from Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World in Auckland, New
Zealand, which I understand was the first to have a moving walkway in an acrylic tunnel
inside a huge fish tank. I've visited similar aquariums in England and Singapore.
  John Hatfield has been
making plaques of fish in his studio on the main street of Lyttelton, near Christchurch,
for quite some time. He makes them in various sizes, and his aim is to give an
impression of the vibrancy of reef fishes' colours. He told me that they are in galleries
and museums all over the World.
 Sue McNeil makes pottery
of a different kind! Of her various fish, bird and other animal models that I saw, I liked
the expression on this fish's face the best. I bought it in Arrowtown, New Zealand,
a pioneer gold-mining town which has been restored as a tourist and antique centre.
I've put these little cast-iron knobs on the cabinet of the bathroom adjacent to my
fish room.
 A tea towel showing
"Rock pool residents of New Zealand."
The large New Zealand kite on the right goes well with the Hong Kong one on
the left.
"Genuine paua shell" with kiwi. New Zealand.
Despite two tours of Australia where I visited every major city, I
didn't come back with any fish souvenirs. The closest I got was this lizard, bought from
an aborigine carver who was selling by the roadside in the middle of nowhere. I also
bought a wooden snake from him, which I use as a garden ornament near my fishpond.
From Western Samoa, a fish-shaped platter with a fish carved on it. For
serving fish perhaps...?
Again from Western Samoa, a hollow percussion instrument which makes a nice sound
when beaten with the stick.
Canada and US
A small carving, given to me by a native Indian in Vancouver. Salmon (on
the right) are a very important part of the Pacific natives' culture, and they are
commonly depicted in carvings, which are often brightly painted. The head on the left
represents a bald eagle.
 
Two more native carvings of salmon.
A pottery plaque.
I was given this nice wooden fish, bought I would imagine from a
"designer gift shop," and made somewhere in Asia.
A cigarette lighter case in the shape of a dolphin.
Wallpaper borders can be found with fish and aquatic life on them.
This one, with killer whales, runs around the walls of my main fish room.
I bought this little country style display case at a craft fair.
Someone "antiqued" a plain cabinet and appliquéd pictures of animals, including
the fish at top right.
A rubbery plastic lobster from the Vancouver Aquarium. A child's
toy but very realistic. As in aquariums in other Western countries, the Vancouver
Aquarium does not sell many local crafts. The souvenirs are either expensive
jewel-like shiny glass or shiny metal objects, or they are plastic child's toys probably
made in China. In other words very little that I would want.
An antique store had a collection of old copper printing plates. I
bought these ones, which are government announcements concerning salmon fishing.
This shell came from a beach stall in the Florida Keys.
I've travelled coast to coast through the USA twice, and have done many shorter
trips. But this is the only aquatic souvenir I have. After all, if you were
going to the top of the Empire State Building, visiting the Grand Canyon, or viewing the
Golden Gate Bridge, would you think "I must buy a fish to remind me of
this"? I didn't at the time!
Pewter mobile from Honolulu, Hawaii.
Window decoration from Hawaii, now in my fish room.
Diving and snorkelling are popular in Hawaii. "Snorkel Bob's"
supplies this guide to fish identification.
Part of my aquatic library.
England and Europe
From an antique store, this beautifully mounted roach was caught by
"A. Dyson at Egham, 24th September 1926." Rutilus rutilus is a popular
sport fish in England. They are always released since they are too bony to eat, and most
weigh just a few ounces. This one weighs about 2lbs., which is considered a good
size since the rod caught record fish is 4lbs. 3oz.
I found this brown trout loose on a shelf in an antique store, and cleaned it up and
mounted it on a plaque.
This goldfish is a curtain or blind pull.
I've visited various public aquariums in England, from one of the oldest
in the World at Brighton to ultra-modern ones that are set up as commercial tourist
attractions in seaside towns. But as in Vancouver, they have few of the craft
souvenirs that I prefer, so all I bought in any of them was this lifelike plastic pen.
I hitch-hiked all over Europe as a student, but somehow the only fish I have left from
those days is this pottery pendant, which I believe came from (the then) Yugoslavia.
I was given an oil painting set for my sixteenth birthday, and after experimenting with
the medium I decided to paint native British fish, and adapted illustrations in what
was my favourite book at the time: Mr. Crabtree Goes Fishing, by Bernard
Venables. This fish is a pike, Esox lucius.
Perch, Perca fluviatilis.
Rudd, Scardinius erythrophthalmus.
Tench, Tinca tinca
Brown trout, Salmo fario.
The oil painting set came with a few sheets of special textured canvas paper. I
wasted some sheets experimenting and painting things other than fish, and as I began to
run out of canvas the fish became smaller and smaller until I ended up with the one below,
which measures only two inches across. Once I ran out of the special paper I never
tried oil painting again!
Chub, Squalius cephalus
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