Gift Keychains

It may just be that my parents knew or were related to a lot of nice, generous people. But when I was a kid, and someone found out during a family visit that I collected keychains, their first reaction was always to head for the household junk drawer, to see if they had any spare keychains to give me. It didn't seem to matter whether the person in question was a grandparent, my father's uncle, or my mother's cousin. It seemed everybody wanted to help me grow my collection. Even now, people will still save keychains for me, or will pick them up on their travels.

One of my sisters, my third sister A., has done a lot of traveling while working for conservation corps, farms, and even the park service. She'll typically be away for months at a time. But whenever she comes back to the area between jobs, she always has at least one keychain for me. She brought back the two souvenir keychains pictured below from a stint in Ecuador.

This next group of souvenir keychains are ones that my sister A. picked up while she was driving back from a job in Texas.

As you can see, she made stops in several other states along her route, including New Mexico and Missouri and Colorado, though I’m not sure in what order.

When I was still in grade school, my father brought back this assortment of souvenir keychains from a business trip to England. The stuffed, fabric bear has a label from Liberty Of London, a luxury department store in London, England.

The Siegfried & Roy keychain pictured below is a souvenir from Las Vegas and was a gift from my paternal grandparents.

It's become even more special to me now that my grandparents have passed away.

My Mom's cousin in New Jersey, S.R., gave me these two keychains.

The piggy bank design keychain is from the Bottom Dollar Food grocery store chain. I don't get the chance to see my Mom's cousin very often. But she still saves keychains for me, for those times when I do see her. I return the favor by picking up the occasional Boyds Bear for her collection.

Not every keychain gift I've received has been from a relative, however. This Army National Guard military vehicle keychain was a gift from a family I used to babysit for. The father had served in the military.

As you can see, my family, my extended family, and even random acquaintances have been very generous with their keychains. I think this generosity is partially explained by the fact that keychains are relatively inexpensive and relatively easy to find. Not everyone can afford to spend the time and money needed to get that perfect, high-end collectable for a friend's or relative's collection. But a keychain is something that almost everyone can find and can fit into their budget. In fact, there might still be some businesses that give away promotional keychains for free, though the practice is not as common as it used to be.

So, my collecting tip for the day to any other keychain collectors out there is that it pays to let people know you collect. Even if you're not comfortable asking people directly for their unused keychains, sometimes just telling someone that you collect them is enough that they'll think of you the next time they clean out that junk drawer.

Signed, Treesa