I'm always interested how objects can tell a story.

That story can be personal - that book your first girlfriend bought you; the painting you inherited from your parents; the board game you played when you were a kid.

And then there are objects that bring their own provenance, sometimes unexpectedly.

Example one: post separation from my partner I'm setting up a new house. I'm always scrounging in second hand stores. I had picked up some Wedgwood and Noritake china, so I should be right for crockery. But I noticed a set of plates, only $3 a piece. I turned one of the plates over. Yes, Noritake according to the stamp.

Made in occupied Japan.

Think about that. Occupation ended in 1952, which made that plate in my hand at least 66 years old.

Example two: just this morning I was folding a picnic blanket before taking it to the laundromat. I glanced at its care label and noticed for the first time the obverse of the care instructions:

Made in West Germany.

Which makes it at least 29 years old.

My long winded point is this: these places - occupied Japan, West Germany - no longer exist in the political sense, anyway. Relics of another time. And I'm sure there are so many other examples out there. It makes them more precious to me that they survived this long and are now in my care.

What about you - any such relics knocking around in your abode?