Bookmarks in time

Often, you hear people say they don’t collect anything because they don’t like to have a lot of clutter around. And it’s true that most collections take up valuable space.

Bernie Korth, of Spokane, is a collector. But the more than 120 bookmarks he’s picked up around the world, fit into a single box. With room to spare.

Korth started his collection in the 1980s during his European sales trips.

“Usually, I spent two weeks on each visit, and the middle weekend was free for sightseeing,” Korth wrote. “Most sites had gift shops and usually had these bookmarks for sale. They were inexpensive, usually less than $1, and they were a reminder of the place that I had visited.”

Korth moved to Ireland in 1985 and as he traveled the Irish countryside, visiting castles, cathedrals and other landmarks, his collection grew.

A career change took Korth to the Middle East, and he added bookmarks from Israel to his collection.

Trips to New Zealand, Bahrain and the Far East brought more souvenirs.

Korth has a number of bookmarks from his travels around the United States.

“It’s hard to say which ones are my favorites,” he wrote. “I especially like the ones from Scotland, which are of castles that we have visited, also some very colorful Irish and English bookmarks.”

They weren’t expensive or hard to find, but Korth’s box full of memories – made of paper, leather and other materials – are valuable to him.

“If I was to try and identify favorites, it would be difficult,” Korth wrote. “I probably would focus more on my memories of the place, than the bookmark itself. If that were true, the bookmark from the Glenfiddich Distillery in Scotland would rate high on the list.”