It’s been almost a year since I (we) have updated out Pocket Scavenger series, but seeing as how it’s so crappy outside today we’re using it as an activity to pass the afternoon while we’re housebound.
HRH then has chosen to use my library book, ‘Dead Wake‘ (in extremely LARGE print, I might add) by Erik Larson as her example but I’m choosing to go with something a bit less obvious. I’m choosing any one of these beer (or ‘bar’, depending on what side of the Great Pond you’re on) mats that I have been collecting for the past 20-25 years or so.
I started collecting beer mats when I was working and living in London, U.K.. I liked my beer (obviously) and this was the easiest thing to collect given that they were absolutely everywhere; not to mention free. Kind of like stamps only cooler…and maybe a little soggier at times. Now, they’re just something I pick up to commemorate either a beer I’ve enjoyed somewhere, or maybe a pub I’ve visited, etc. They’re like free souvenirs in that regard.
Some of these beer mats are older ones that I’ve acquired at actual beer festivals and some are quite unique in that they themselves commemorate a special moment, be it the new launch of a specific promotion or product. Some of these beer mats I expect are even rather valuable. Others, well, not so much. For the most part they are a running commentary on all the beers I’ve drank over the years and the places I’ve visited and, believe me, there are a LOT of them.
As far as the “text” part goes there is lots of different varieties depicting slogans, brands and, geez, just about anything actually. Just about every type of font is represented as well long before Microsoft decided to ever assign names to them. You could consider them then as the historical precursor to the drop down menu you now find in any Word document. But unlike Word, these have specific smells involved: soggy cardboard and beer.
The Pocket Scavenger 