SOUVENIRS UNSOLD.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 355, 9 February 1937, Page 6

SOUVENIRS UNSOLD.

Result Of Abdication Of Edward. Although it has been reported from time to time that souvenirs made in advance for the Coronation of Edward VIII. have met with a ready sale since his abdication, it is apparent from the correspondence recently received by a New Zealand .firm from a British manufacturer that the makers have been left with a great number of such souvenirs on their hands, and are determined to get rid of them. When King Edward abdicated, a selection of samples of Coronation souvenirs bearing his portrait was already on the water, consigned to a New Zealand firm of importers. The firm’s travellers were successful, after the accession of King George VI., in booking a number of orders for similar Coronation emblems bearing the portrait of the new King and his Queen. These were therefore ordered from England. Acknowledging receipt of the order from New Zealand, the British manufacturers stated, in a letter received this week, that they would supply souvenirs of the Coronation of King George and Queen Elizabeth only if the New Zealand importers would buy, at the same time, a certain proportion of the mow useless King Edward souvenirs,' at a reduced price. After considering the reports of its travellers the New Zealand importers decided that they would agree to this unusual condition, as many inquiries had been received from people anxious to obtain momentoes. of King Edward’s brief reign. The* action of the manufacturers has given some colour to foreign criticisms that the British people were apparently more concerned in calculating the losses that would ensue on the scrapping of Coronation emblems than in considering the constitutional difficulties.