radhica.sookraj@
guardian.co.tt
Inside a quaint roti shop at Number 2 Junction in Barrackpore lies unexpected treasures. Colonial trinkets, some more than a century old lie stacked inside a glass case.
Proprietor Eddie Surjan, who enjoys sharing his collection with the public, said he started collecting old soda bottles four years ago and the collection has expanded to include old cameras, cassette players, records and coins.
“I realised that there were lots of old shops around and people had all kinds of old stuff that they did not recognise was valuable,” he said.
The bottle collection comes from various local manufacturing and bottling companies. It includes the famous Red Spot soft drink which was a big seller in the 1960s and 70s, as well as the fat glass bottle Solo, an array of Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, RC Cola, Fernandez rum, the original Stag and Canning’s soda.
A half-litre bottle of Pepsi, still unopened, as well as Club Soda bottles that are more than half a century old, are also part of the collection.
Surjan has a set of coins. including a $5 coin, two pence, farthings, pennies and 50 cent coins which were once part of T&T’s currency. His dollar bills bore the image of Queen Elizabeth II.
Surjan said he has started visiting old shops and other buildings to get more artefacts for his collection. He said he was an avid fan of the late Angelo Bissessarsingh, curator of the Virtual Museum of T&T, who was his inspiration to start the collection.
“I respected and admired Angelo. He was one of those who preserved our history. I felt very inspired by him and I hope that more people could hold on to their treasures and pass it on to the younger generation so we will not lose our history,” he said.
Surjan said he started his coin collection after seeing a guitarist playing at the Chaguaramas Boardwalk.
“He had old coins stuck to his guitar and I asked him if I could pay for all of them,” he recalled.
He said he did not have a lot of money to pay for trinkets.
“If it is $100 or $200 I will buy it but most times I just go around looking for things that people throw away which is still valuable,” he said.
