Letter from Helen to Nanny & Grandad 13 May 1975 –
There is a man who comes round to the door and sells carvings of elephants, rhinos and lots of things. We have bought a big elephant, a rhino and four small elephants.
Letter from Judy to Jo 13 July 1975 –
We get people coming to our door selling things including a man selling paintings and carvings, sometimes rubbish but often very fine. We can get little elephants about 3″ high for about 25p – they even have real ivory tusks! Another good bargain is basketware – Fiona has a lovely doll’s carrycot which she persuaded the man at the market to give her for 35p.
Us three girls had one each of these pendant necklaces and the daisy necklaces – the white one is Fiona’s, blue Juliet’s and red Helen’s. It’s amazing that we’ve all still got them in 2020 except for Juliet’s daisy necklace which had mauve flowers.
Photo above of Juliet’s beloved giraffe – the original skin patterns which were painted on with shoe polish have faded over the years. I remember buying this from the man who called at our door with carvings for sale. He also had a female giraffe with baby, but I couldn’t afford both from my pocket money. Nor could I afford this one when I first saw him and fell in love with him. But I saved up and luckily (or was the seller just astute / kind?) he was still available when I finally had enough to buy him.
Things Helen still has in 2020 from when we were in Kenya.
Left – Helen’s kanga bought in Kenya in 1975 still in use by Dave in Slovakia in 2020. Right – Juliet’s kanga still occasionally in use in Suffolk in 2020!
Juliet's Kenya Days blog 