Souvenirs

Airport socks, airport carpets & more

The Stuck at the Airport collection of airport and airplane-themed socks just keeps growing. The latest addition comes from Bradley International Airport (BDL), near Hartford, Connecticut. BDL was also kind enough to send along a notepad with the airport’s slogan: Love the Journey.

If you visit BDL, you’ll find some fun amenities. In addition to two characters from the Dr. Seuss Museum in Springfield, MA (20 miles away), BDL displays Lego models of two other area attractions: the Mark Twain House and Museum and the Goodspeed Opera House.

We’re floored about airport carpets

The BDL socks join the socks in our collection that sport the retired pattern of the carpet at Portland International Airport (PDX) which spawned the passenger trend of taking “footies” on airport carpets nationwide. We’re looking forward to the wearing our PDX socks when PDX airport opens its new main terminal area in May.

Airline playing cards on National Playing Card Collection Day

Courtesy SFO Museum

October 17 is National Playing Card Collection Day and we know that many travelers have fond memories of the free decks of playing cards some airlines would hand out to passengers.

We found these images of some of those decks in the marvelous, searchable online collection of the SFO Museum at San Fransisco International Airport (SFO).

Do you have a deck of cards from an airline in your collection? Please share a photo and your memories of getting that souvenir.

Western Airlines playing cards – 1970s

Souvenir evidence of aliens at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas

Here at Stuck at The Airport, we’re big fans of the fun, locally-themed souvenirs that are for sale in many airport souvenir shops.

We know there are alot of people who collect shot glass or key chains as a souvenir from the places they visit. But we’re especially fond of the bit more creative, locally-themed chocolate candy “poop” that is for sale in these shops.

We know these items are great gift items and big sellers, but we suspect a lot of these candy food gifts never get eaten.

(Although in my house, they’d be categorized as ’emergency’ food..)

Examples in our ‘souvenir poop’ collection include everything from Big Foot Poop found at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to the Koala Poo spotted in at the airport in Sydney, Australia.

Now we have one more packet to add to the collection.

At McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas this week, we found some Alien Poop mints in the Area 51 section of a souvenir shop.

Silly? Yes, of course. But when you are Stuck at the Airport, entertainment comes in many forms.

Please be on the lookout for fun, inexpensive, locally-themed souvenirs in airport gift shops and send us a photo. If your snap is featured here during Souvenir Sunday, we’ll send you a fun travel-themed souvenir.

Souvenir Sunday at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

It’s Souvenir Sunday, a day to take a look at some of the fun, inexpensive and locally-themed items you can buy at airports.

You can’t go wrong with one of these colorful souvenirs from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Flowers – fresh, wooden, plastic or ‘future’ (as in bags of bulbs) – all look appealing.

And none of these souvenirs is anywhere near expensive.

And then of course, there’s cheese, stroopwafels and chocolate.

Have you spotted a great souvenir at an airport? If you do see something that’s fun, locally-themed and low cost, please snap a photo and send it along to StuckatTheAirport.com.

If your souvenir is featured on Souvenir Sunday, we’ll send you a travel-themed gift.

British Airways’ souvenir marmite

British Airways has teamed up with Marmite to sell souvenir-sized jars of the popular-in-some-places breakfast spread made with brewer’s yeast.

The airline discovered that airport security officials at London City AIrport confiscate jars of Marmite more than any other branded item and that more than 2000 jars of Marmite are expected to be taken from travelers this year.

To make sure Marmite-lovers won’t go hungry when they travel – and because British Airways is having fun celebrating its centenary year – the the carrier is selling souvenir-sized jars of Marmite to its passengers.

For now, 70 gram, travel-friendly special edition jars of the spread are being sold exclusively on board.

Don’t fancy Marmite? Don’t worry.

British Airways will be releasing a series of other centenary edition foods in partnership with British brands during its milestone year.

The airline has a partnership with Scottish craft brewers, BrewDog, who have created a transatlantic IPA for customes and has a deal with luxury British watchmaker Bremont for a limited-editiod watch made with metal from the Concorde.