I, Elliot

I was interested to see what Andrew Sutton found recently on eBay. I have several of these pins myself, which I once wore with pride. My relationship with organisation behind ‘the boots’ may have been tarnished in recent years. But for me ‘the boots’ (I remember wearing some red ones just like them) remain a potent symbol of conductive education. The pins themselves are no-longer to be found on my lapel, but are carefully stored with the rest of my collection of pins and button badges.

A growing collection

I’ve been collecting badges since I was very young. It all began when my parents persuaded me to buy badges when I pestered them for something from gift shop on days out. They were cheap and easy to store, it didn’t matter if I got bored and didn’t look at them again. But I did look at them again. When I was ten years old I consciously began to collect. I now have about 2,000 (I haven’t counted recently). I have badges that show where I’ve been, what I’ve done, what I was interested in. I’ve recorded my personal history in badges. My collection continues to grow. I collect many other things too, including books, cameras and computers, sadly they take up so much room, I don’t have as many as I’d like.

Hungarian memorabilia

We picked up a lot of items when we lived in Hungary. Most them are probably not collectible, but they a part of our family history, some of them may also be a part of the history of CE. They are all of strong personal value. Books, maps, ceramics, documentation, badges, paper napkins, even receipts. So many varied items, including things that might otherwise have been thrown away. Small tangible items are amongst my favourites, things you can hold, things that reinforce the memories when I hold them. The history continues into the present through these objects. It strengthens my personal connection to CE.

I’m not exactly sure what I’ve got, and most of it is stashed away, but if there’s interest from people following this blog I will try to put up some photographs of my objects and the stories connected to them. In the mean time, I’m interested to hear other people’s stories. And, if anyone has any conductive memorabilia you no longer want, perhaps you’d consider giving it a new home in my collection.