No, this is not a photo of a street in New York , this is a shelf of Souvenir Buildings owned by my brother in law, Rick. Rick, an architect, has been collecting these miniatures for many years and his collections numbers about 450. His finds are from eBay, flea markets, antique shows and from trading with other collectors. 
The miniatures started as souvenirs from well-known attractions on the European Grand Tour and then spread to the US. There are souvenir miniatures representing buildings from stadiums and arenas to cathedrals and office buildings. Rick's collection is of cast metal but the buildings are also made of other materials. Sometimes the model buildings were given as gifts to stockholders and other times with a purpose such as fitted to be used as a coin bank. This is a very appropriately cool collection for an architect and the sheer number of miniatures on display is amazing.
That's an amazing and unusual collection. I love what I can see of it.
ReplyDeleteOh this is very cool. I love it. My hubby is an architect too, I have to show him this and see if he'll let me collect them too :). Thank you for posting these pictures, what a terrific collection here!
ReplyDeleteNice collection! If you want to know more about collecting these, check out this blog: www.BuildingCollector.com
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