Maps and tickets.
I own about 15. Actually I have not bought any for over 20 years. I used to haunt second hand bookshops once but life got too busy after we opened Moonlit. By the way, don't take the show or the books as gospel. Gerry played fast and loose with the facts to fit a story. Not the least Lawrence was married at the time and lived in a separate house.I missed this apparently!
Have you been successful? I haven't looked for Gerald's first editions, but I've picked up several of Lawrence's first editions. Fun fact: I never pegged that they were brothers until The Durrells in Corfu came out!
I have a huge collection of stuffed animals, does that count?
The Bartlett Society also provides an extremely useful catalogue of zoo guidebooks.Plus this website is good if you want to know what year / date your guide books are from:
Les Zoos dans le Monde - Base documentaire
I have two editions of every ZooBook.I used to collect maps, postcards, and Zoobooks.
We did try Zoo named Tee-shirts some years ago. Stocking proved impossible for the number sold. Everyone seemed to want a colour, design and size different from those in stock... and, we only have a small footfall. It is interesting that Chester and Longleat could not stock them either, given their huge visitor numbers.I buy Tee/Sweat Shirts, specifically ones that say " I've been to ***** Zoo", or words that have the zoo name in them. eg Pickleswade Zoo, no 1, wild experience. However they seem to be harder to find in zoo gift shops these days. There are plenty of Tees with animal prints. designs etc, but have neglected to include the name of the zoo. When I went to Chester/Longleat and Hamerton last year, I was disappointed to find, there were no adult Tees/Sweats or Baseball caps (I sometimes buy those instead) with the zoo name on them.
Yes, I guess economics must come into it, especially for the smaller collections. However Crocs of the World, sell named sweatshirts and Tees, and they're available both online and from the gift shop. A few years ago I bought everyone in my family a COTW tee shirt for Xmas. It's also free advertising.We did try Zoo named Tee-shirts some years ago. Stocking proved impossible for the number sold. Everyone seemed to want a colour, design and size different from those in stock... and, we only have a small footfall. It is interesting that Chester and Longleat could not stock them either, given their huge visitor numbers.