In honor of Independence Day, we found the people who keep nostalgic items from the period of the establishment of the state • This is how they turned the hobby into a profession
Gil Pento's house in Jaffa
Photo:
Liron Almog
If you are not a Z-generation, and you have already accumulated a nice mileage of three to four decades or more, you are probably also excited about items such as an Israeli cookie box from the 70s, Cipolux and a wick from Grandma's house, an old cookbook or children's books from decades ago , And other nostalgic items that return at once to the end of childhood and to the good old land of Israel of yesteryear.
But there are those for whom it is not just a matter of momentary excitement, and their attraction to Israeli objects and products from the beginning of the state made them their tireless collectors, so much so that their home became a museum, or they established a private museum separate from their home.
"It all started with me when I first flew abroad in 1981, and the flight attendant served the passengers miniature bottles of alcohol," says Hadi Or (64), a businessman from Tel Aviv who founded "Ben Gurion 10 - Israeli History on a shelf" in Ramat Gan. "I started collecting such. , Then I discovered in antique markets that there are also those from before the establishment of the state, of Stock, Carmel Mizrahi and more.
"It whetted my appetite for other old 'Israeliana' objects - things that were created, made and sold in Israel between 1900 and 1970. When we no longer had room to live in the house because of the collection, we moved it to an area of 160 square meters in an office building."
Or's collection includes, along with huge shelves laden with alcohol miniatures, also about 30,000 Happy New Year letters that used to be sent in the mail, packs of cigarettes from Israeli companies, products related to El Al since its establishment in 1949, products from the Zim shipping company and a collection of household items. Plasticine hotel.
Alongside them are also old-fashioned pots, bags, a variety of tin boxes, boxes of sardines, savings boxes, bottles of soda and Cipolux and advertising posters.
Since the corona he has not yet opened the collection to visitors, but on his Facebook page "Israeli history on the shelf" he brings up the thoughts and articles on the subject.
A museum of yesteryear
Gil Pento's home (54), on Shivtei Israel Street near the flea market in Jaffa, is designed entirely in the spirit of his huge Israeli collection, which includes items and objects made in Israel until the 1970s.
"It all started with a tin can of ZD candies (a candy company from the 1950s, SS), which I found at the flea market and reminded me of an identical box from my grandmother's house on Kibbutz Hulda.
After I bought it, I started collecting other Israeli tin cans from old-fashioned coffee and candy companies, such as 'Liber', 'Rebel' and 'Teka', because there was something very colorful and visual about them.
Later I added a variety of objects and products made in the country until the 1970s, which could be bought in street shops: cosmetics, toys, fashion and groceries.
"During these years, most of the produce was Israeli, and there was almost no import, and the products show the innocence, simplicity, language of yesteryear and modesty that fascinated me greatly. In the 1980s, globalization begins, some Israeli factories close, and Israeliness is slowly being lost. "A collection of memories from the childhood of yesteryear and the home of grandparents, and every person who comes to me finds his private memories in it. You can touch, open and browse, and that makes the experience much more tangible."
You will also find in the "Museum of yesteryear" in Panto's house an Israeli fashion collection by Ata, Maskit, Gottex and Oberson;
Old-fashioned Israeli cuisine that includes Formica tables;
Amcor 10 refrigerator;
Old cookbooks and old-fashioned kitchen utensils;
A collection from the old school world, which includes tables, notebooks, pencil cases and a uniform;
A "childhood of yesteryear" collection that includes childhood games and children's books and more.
Recently, older people have begun handing over their old collections for display in the museum, such as an embroidered school napkin, clothes pins, childhood keychains and chewing gum wrappers.
Panto hosts groups and families at his home by prior arrangement, many of whom come to celebrate a birthday here in the special setting of Old Israel.
He also conducts an hour-and-a-half activity, with anecdotes and stories related to the various objects.
Details and reservations on Gil Pento's website.
"A great bargain"
North of there, in Kibbutz Yifat in the Jezreel Valley, Dror Barak (52) opened "A Great Bargain": 60 square meters, including about 2,500 nostalgic items from the Old Land of Israel, collected for 35 years or more. Alongside them, some electrical and mechanical stunts that make the visit In a special and entertaining museum.
Barak, a native of Ramat Gan, was a former Tel Aviv actor and publicist, and 21 years ago left Tel Aviv for the sake of kibbutz life: "From childhood I was very attracted to everything related to old Israel, and I chose Kibbutz Yifat because I wanted to work in the kibbutz's valley museum. Israel of yesteryear. "
But the kibbutz had no standard for another worker, and Barak found himself working in a barn for two decades, not before promising the kibbutz members that he would establish a more beautiful museum.
"Already as a teenager I used to collect from the street contents of houses of people who died and stored in my warehouses and houses and those of relatives. In the kibbutz I knew Hila, who became my wife, and in a huge paragon she allowed me to allocate an entire room in the house. When that was not enough. The old shower structure of the kibbutz, which I built from scratch for the museum that is today. "
The museum is divided into nine stations: a kitchen, a clinic, a laundromat, a bunker, a grocery store, a room for rent, a store for appliances, an agricultural yard and a children's room. You will find hundreds of kitchen and grocery items, a Singer sewing machine, a mattress pallet, a charcoal iron, luggage Antiques, a metal tub for washing, etc. In addition, Barak, as a child, was fascinated by the stories of the War of Independence and the Palmach, grenades, pistols, helmets, and even an original Stan submachine gun that participated in the 1948 battles, which his wife purchased as a gift from a weapons collector. Includes a "museum", during which Barak explains to the children about the historical objects through stories and imitations. Price: NIS 30 from the age of 3 and a half. By prior arrangement, call 052-8048222.