Object Number 8

Object Name: Handmade Fabric Frog
Accessioned: December 2007
Donor: gift
Notes: Handmade for me by a very good friend as a Christmas present. I received this and some delicious homemade fudge.

Comments: This little frog has lived on my bookshelf, usually in the company of the choice few stuffed animals I still own. My friend of many years made it for me and he is made of toweling material. His cheerful smile and almost diving stance make him look both peaceful and busy at the same time. In Ireland there is only one type of frog, Rana temporaria. I think the only time I saw a live frog up close was when my cat caught one and proudly deposited it in our kitchen.
This little guy might one day get a little crown and then he can be a little frog prince.

Object Number 7

Object Name: Carved Wooden Elephants
Accessioned: 2010
Donor: gifts
Notes: Larger darker elephant is from Africa and my parents have owned it for years. The smaller one is from India and was bought for me during a trip to India in January 2010.

Comments: As far back as I can remember the larger elephant has been in the house. It came from Kenya, bought by a great uncle who worked there in the 1970s. I think I played with it a lot as a child, it has been drawn on, and has some chips missing from its feet. He also has a large part of one ear broken off. You can tell it's an African elephant as it has bigger ears. The little Indian elephant was bought for me while my brother was on a working trip to India. Looking as these two always makes me think of the book Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments (Harvest Original), and adds to my bemusement of the human condition...

Object Number 6

Object Name: Agfa ISO-Rapid IF
Accessioned: 2010
Donor: from parent's house
Notes: Camera that may have been bought at a jumble sale. Takes a propietary film called ISO-PAN film, that was an early auto load camera from the 1960s.

Comments: My mother gave me this camera after cleaning out some cupboards during a spring clean. We don't know who this camera belonged to. She thinks maybe one of my siblings may have bought it at a charity shop or jumble sale as she doesn't remember anyone ever using it. It dates from the 1960s, and thus is a little old for my family to have used it when the specific film was available. It was a rival camera to the Kodak Instamatic. Unfortunately the mechanism for the flash bulb doesn't work anymore.  I have a love for old cameras that has led me to collect them, especially ones that had a specific film made for them. These cameras will be featured in the posts to follow. So although this camera will probably never take another photograph it is a treasured object.