What is a Bibelot
What is a Bibelot | This is a good example of a bibelot. It's a tiny beer stein that would hang from a charm bracelet. CLICK or TAP HERE to see a wide variety of bibelots.
What is a Bibelot? - It's Something Small You Treasure
A bibelot is often referred to as a trinket or a tiny ornamental item, often jewelry but not always. A bibelot is not to be confused with a gewgaw. Gewgaws are often much bigger things.
In other words, if you have a small knickknack that holds sentimental value to you, it's probably a bibelot.
Some bibelots might become valuable years from now. For example, one of mine is the hat or vest pin I got from the first Boston Marathon I worked as a ham radio operator. It was the 116th Boston Marathon pin. For whatever reason, I didn't get one - or I lost it! - for the following year, the 117th running. That was the year of the wretched bombing incident. I was working at that event and wrote a detailed story about my experience. You can bet over time, that pin will become a collector's item.
Here's a small sampling of my collection of bibelots:
This might be my favorite bibelot. I believe it was a lapel pin worn by Delta Airlines flight attendants. I found it on the floor of the Silverton Post Office in Cincinnati, OH around 1998. The post office is adjacent to the HighBrewBloto micro-brewery that's in the old Silverton town offices.
This represents the start of Ask the Builder. It's a pin I got at the ceremony when I was selected as one of the top 50 remodelers in the USA in 1993. Five months later my first Ask the Builder column ran in the Cincinnati Enquirer.
My high school class ring.
This is a cuff link from my Mom. She was a pharmacist. Unfortunately, I don't know the story about the tie tack as well. I must have lost the other cuff link. UGH!
I was one of the first GRI realtors in Ohio back in 1976 when they introduced the program to honor those who completed lots of night school classes to increase their knowledge base about all things real estate.
This is a special pin given to a tiny group of altar boys. It shows I was one of the five altar boys that were on the solemn set. I was the #2 acolyte and we served the special solemn-high masses and all sorts of other special religious ceremonies throughout the year.
This is my University of Cincinnati class ring. I should have picked the red stone. Why I went with orange is beyond me. Orange is not one of my favorite colors!
This is a US Civil War bullet given to me by a friend. It was found on a battlefield in Virginia. You don't want to be on the receiving end of such a large-caliber projectile.
This story first appeared in Tim's January 24, 2021 AsktheBuilder Newsletter.