Nostalgia Sunday – Pressed Wildflowers

January 17, 2010 - 10:07 PM by

Last week’s freakishly warm weather sent the almond trees into bloom. Although it was a false spring, residents of the entire country went out for their annual wildflower trek.

Yes, Israelis love their wildflowers. Well, at least they know not to pick wildflowers. In fact the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) did such a good job of brainwashing the past few generations of schoolchildren that you will never catch an Israeli picking a wildflower. They’ll throw garbage on it, pee on it, build an ugly edifice next to it, but pick it?! Never.

When I was a child, a bookmark with pressed wildflowers was one of the more charming tourist trinkets you could pick up (hard to find but still charming today).

Back in the pre-TV days, before the ban on picking wildflowers took hold, Israeli schoolchildren were encouraged to not only to pick but also to collect and study the different kinds of flora native to this land, and press them between the pages of a book.

Later on, commerce got into the act and albums were made available as promotional items like this one from margarine manufacturer Telma Gold Band.

And of course, the Israel Postal Authority (today’s Israel Post), did its part by issuing stamps of our most popular wildflowers.

Competing margarine manufacturer Blue Band also took on the cause as part of an advertising campaign bossily entitled (in the command form) “Know Our Country’s Flowers”. This ad is for the caper (Capparis spinosa L.). I’m not sure why all these margarine makers were so interested in educating the young people about wildflowers but I’m guessing it had something to do with safflower oil.

Today, you’re more likely to find cultivated flowers, rather than wild ones, pressed and waxed or laminated into bookmarks, candles and jewelry. I’m not sure, however, what the SPNI would make of this set of nails, but you’ve got to admire the work put into these tiny purple petals, lacquered and bonded onto synthetic tips, the handiwork of manicurist Ronit!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , • Category: Environment, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture, Travel 

Comments

One Comment on Nostalgia Sunday – Pressed Wildflowers

  1. Esther on Fri, Jan 22nd 2010 10:03 AM

    2. I still have a couple of those wild flower bookmarks from the early 1980s

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