Ever wonder, how the old cameras used to work and TV sets looked like in the early 40s and 50s? People listen to radio these days from their smartphones or from their integrated music systems in cars. A few decades ago, radio transmitters were not just gigantic in size, they were a luxury. How would it feel like owning one, these days?
Re-owning the once owned stuff that was rendered obsolete with technological advancements over the past few decades provides a different kind of joy. Abdul Latheef, a freelancer at the Antiques stall at Eidieh festival underway at Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC), has been witnessing this joy the visitors to his shop have been exhibiting.
From utensils made from brass and silver in the 19th and 20th centuries to TV sets and radio transmitters and video games developed in the second half of the previous century, the stall showcases ‘memories’ in the form of antiques.
Some pieces are hundreds of years old while others are from the recent past. The unique thing about the stall is its considerably large inventory of antiques from the Middle East region and particularly from Qatar directly.
These are the ones most revered by the visitors, says Latheef.
“We have a world of collections from ancient times. These are the things that people used to own decades — and in some cases — centuries ago, but then they discarded them as technology advanced. But people still have an emotional attachment with these,” Latheef tells Community. He along with another colleague is supervising the stall and explain to the visitors the significance of every piece of antique on display.
“They remind them of the days gone by and their old times. Some of the things that we have here in this collection, you would not find anywhere else. These are truly unique. We are showcasing the collections here for the visitors and these are also up for grab if somebody shows an interest in purchasing,” says Latheef.
In the collections, they have rare currency notes and coins, old utensils made from different materials, artworks, video games, TV and radio sets, children’s toys which you would not find these days, but recognise these from your childhood days.
There are things that are purely of nostalgic value such as these thermoses. Latheef points to bright red coloured thermoses lined up on a stack. Anybody from the GCC countries would instantly recognise these and make a connect, he says. These were widely used for storing hot and cold beverages in this part of the world a few decades ago, but then their time was up.
“A lot of visitors that we have been getting here, particularly from the GCC region, have shown great interest in buying these thermoses to rekindle memories in their homes,” says Latheef.
The other thing that people from this region love to buy and are willing to pay any sum to purchase it are the typical painting-like artwork made with multi-materials including ivory with peacocks as a prominent feature in all of them.
“People from here would pay you any amount for owning one of those. The paintings are very popular. Every household used to have some of these a few years or decades ago in this part of the world,” says the caretaker. These paintings come in different sizes with hooks to be hanged on the wall.
Ivory has been one of the popular materials used in different types of artworks and furniture. He has one such ivory gem in the collection, a wooden cabinet with ivory work done on the entire front side from top to bottom. It looks like a 5-feet tall body having been painted in ivory with traditional designs typical of the region.
You would not find many of these here in Qatar, he claims. They are made in Syria and were then brought here. These are very heavy wooden cabinets with ivory work intricately done on them.
Latheef at his stall also has a unique copy of the Holy Qur’an, hand-written and covered in handmade leather cover. The Holy Book is prominent not just in size, the calligraphic writing style is also unique with typical miniature borders and patterns masterfully drawn around the written word.
It is from the early last century but has been preserved well to last may be another century. It is one of the high-value items in his shop.
“My boss Mr Faleh has collected these antiques over a period of time. These things change many hands and travel from one place to the other. We have more of them at our antique shop, Zaman Al Tayabin,” says Latheef.  
The more moving items at the stall are the old TV sets and the huge gigantic radio sets from decades ago.
“Our collection is unique in a way that it has many things which are of great sentimental value for Qataris, in particular, and people from the GCC countries, in general. Look at these old wooden doors and window frames for instance,” he says, pointing to heavy wooden frames painted in dark colours.
Local visitors just love these things, he says. They are smaller in size and easy to transport so people like to buy them just to keep them as showcase pieces in their homes.
A lot of young people have been visiting the shop over the past few days, taking pictures with these things from the past which their parents and grand-fathers used to own and they saw in childhood themselves, explains Latheef.
All the antiques are up for sale, but primarily these are displayed with the purpose to educate children about the cultures and times of their parents and grandparents, he adds.
The collection spreads to different parts of the world. The most recent ones may be from 1960s or 70s but some are as old as 150 years back in time. There are oil lamps, ornaments, electronics, clothes, shoes, furniture, silver and much more. But more than that, these have a certain nostalgic value.