Caroline Walker, 65, sees holiday fridge magnets as more than just quirky gadgets for pinning notes. They are “meaningful little reminders” of places and times in her life. The first magnet in her collection is from Dnipro, Ukraine, a gift from a Ukrainian student group she taught English to. It’s a poignant reminder for Walker who wonders about the well-being of those students, considering the turmoil in their country. “I look at it now and I wonder where they all are, if they’re OK, how many of them died, how many of the boys are fighting,” she reflects.
Walker isn’t alone in her sentimental attachment to these decorative souvenirs; dozes of others reached out to the Guardian sharing their emotional connections to fridge magnets following a Liverpool University study, which highlighted the role these items play in recalling both joyful and sorrowful memories from past travels.
Walker, originally from Lancashire and now residing in southern Turkey, is often reminded of “the love of [her] life” through the magnets he gave her. When she starts her day and boils water for tea, the magnets are the first things she sees. “They’re small and because I can put them on the side of the fridge and I see them every day.”
“I love my two little Greek ships that I’ve got there because again, it’s like, I want to be back on those ferries going around the Greek islands,” she shares. She expects the collection to grow, with plans to visit Thessaloniki in the summer.
Chris Bridge takes a more humorous approach to her magnet collection, searching for the most unattractive ones she can find. “I’ll pick the ones that no one really likes. As long as they have the name and where we went, with things we did… the tackier, the better!” she declares with a laugh.
She has a particular fondness for a little cable car from San Francisco and tile magnets from Granada, Spain. For Bridge, it’s a fun and clutter-free way to commemorate her travels. Plus, she feels like buying these magnets is a small way to support local economies.
Bridge has always collected mementos from her travels, moving from postcards to fridge magnets because they’re more amusing and easier to display. “I used to ask my friends to send me postcards but no one really does that anymore,” she explains.
John Sandford, who moved from the Middle East to Hook village in England, regards his family’s 20-year-old magnet collection as a stable part of their lives. They cherish the memories these magnets bring back but can’t quite pinpoint when they started collecting them. “It’s just something nice to remember those times on holiday, just to remind us of great times we have had. Families grow up but when you get together to reminisce, it jogs your memory. It’s just a fun thing to have,” he reminisces.
Now that Sandford’s daughter Gillian has left home, she and her fiancé Krishan are keeping up the tradition by giving her parents magnets from their travels, like a recent one from Brazil. He’s confident this family custom will carry on. “They were in Brazil early on in the year and they brought us back a fridge magnet and wherever they travel, they always bring us one back. I’m sure that they will continue,” Sandford expresses with certainty.
