Happy landings

I find it fascinating that something can be in our subconscious, but not actually be on our radar. Then for whatever reason, this 'something' elevates itself into our conscious mind and our radar is covered in blips. This happened to me recently when I remembered my little RAAF brooch.

Inspired by Jane (when am I not) I recently sent away for the Persephone Catalogue and The Persephone Biannually.
Persephone Books "reprints neglected novels, diaries, short stories and cookery books, mostly by women and mostly dating from the early to mid-twentieth century. All are elegant grey paperbacks with patterned endpapers and matching bookmarks inside."

All 75 books in the catalogue (and I want to buy them all) have their endpapers printed in the catalogue and my radar started blipping when I saw this endpaper from a book called 'Operation Heartbreak' by Duff Cooper.

There was my RAAF brooch, although in this case it is, of course, an RAF brooch.


Then, only a matter of days later, the Collectors' programme on the ABC had a segment about a man who collects these brooches and he had dozens of them. I learnt from him that they are called sweetheart brooches. My radar is now blipping furiously.

My mother renewed her search for the missing army brooch, but although she literally turned the house inside out, she was unable to find it. Melissa, after reading my post about the brooch, realised that, not only did she have the missing brooch in her printers' tray, she also had a second one. Blip, blip, blip.


Three sweetheart brooches - how sweet is that!