This will never date

This corporate gift was given to my father in 1953 to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. I was four years old. I was taught very early on how to change the date and it became my daily responsibility.

My father worked for the same company for 40 years, from 1942 to 1982 when he retired. He started with the company during World War II after being dismissed as medically unfit from the army. He had been in the army for two years. He had had a major operation on his sinuses and was told he could never put his head under water. His unit was about to leave for New Guinea and the army doctors decided he would be a liability. He went to work for Demco Machinery Company Pty Ltd in the storeroom . The company was considered to belong to an industry essential  for the war effort.

Ten years later, in 1953, Dad had become the Manager of the Nuts and Bolts Department. He imported nuts and bolts from a company in the UK called Frederick Mountford (Birmingham) Ltd. My second photo today shows an advertisement placed by this company. They sent my father, their client, the coronation souvenir. It has the company's name engraved on the base.

Dad retired from the company as the Manager of Merchandising and a member of the Board of Directors. He died 11 years later in 1993. When Mum died in 2009 I inherited the coronation souvenir. I treasure it.