Admittedly, I don't spend much time pondering my contribution to future generations - except when I look at my children. Some people live big lives and will leave big footprints on the world. Most of us, however, are content with our own little place on the planet, knowing that in the years to come our ripple in the pond of life may not be impressive.

No matter how quietly we live our lives, however, we all do leave an impression. And we may be surprised to find out how pervasive our actions have been.

A VISIT TO THE LOCAL MUSEUM

Recently, I spent a morning at the Seaford (Delaware) Museum, which was started a few years back and has turned into a real gem for our community. I made arrangements to visit the museum at a time when it was closed (it pays to have connections). I was especially interested in some artifacts that had caught my attention on an earlier visit and wanted to examine them at a much closer range than usual.

I had noticed that promotional products of all kinds - calendars, sewing kits, and measuring sticks, to name a few - were part of many of the displays. Some of the business names imprinted on the items still exist today. Some I remember from my childhood, and others were gone long before I came along. It would probably have stunned the salesperson or supplier of those items at the time to know the products they were making for these businesses would end up in a museum someday.

All this made me wonder if the mugs, potholders, electronics and business accessories we sell could be destined for a holographic display case of the future. I can just picture it - promotional antiquities from way back in 2006 being gawked at by a group of third graders from the class of 2098!

Enter my friend Ruth Ellen, who is closely involved with the museum and is interested in all kinds of history. I mentioned to her I was working on an article on promotional products as museum pieces. "Oh," she declared, "I have something you have to see!"

She brought out a small oil lamp about four inches long that was obviously very old. "Uh-huh," I uttered striking my best academic pose. I really had no idea how this little bit of pottery could possibly relate to today's promotional products industry.

Ruth Ellen explained that it was an oil lamp from the first century. It seems that when families in this era went on vacations to the baths (think resort), they might get one of these little oil lamps as a souvenir of the trip. It would have logo-type markings to represent the area visited. When they returned home, burning their little oil lamp was a reminder of a wonderful vacation.

Awesome! I was holding a nearly 2,000-year-old promotional item. Many of these lamps have been found in the archeological digs of today. The best ones are kept for display, but a great many are sold to the public to support the "digs" - now that's what I call a fundraiser! And it's another tie to our present-day industry.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

It's exciting to think we are part of an industry that spans the centuries and has such an honorable history. It is also intimidating to think that someday the magnets I just sold to a local food producer may end up, yellowed and cracking, in this very same museum being tended by some curator who hasn't even been born yet! How comforting to think that my little ripple, no matter how small in the pond of life, might go on and on.

Our industry is changing at a difficult-to-fathom pace. Every day, there are new items, imprinting processes and tools to show our customers and prospects. There is every indication that the changes we have experienced are just the beginning of what's to come.

This small oil lamp from the first century BC could be the earliest known promotional product. Note the logo-like markings around the top.

Taking every opportunity to promote brand awareness is a concept that has historical and current value. The cane says PURINA BELIEVES IN DELMARVA. Wouldn't you love to know what that promotion was about?

Toys, calendars, ice picks and hand fans are all items that also are sold today. These examples date from the early to mid 20th century.

Just as the ancient potters who made and sold the lamps could not imagine where they would end up, it is likely that we cannot grasp what the future holds for this industry and its products. But isn't it fun to imagine?

Written by Sally Stewart, Stewart's Awards & Imprints/Geiger for PPB magazine.

Reprinted with permission from PPB, February 2006. © Promotional Products Association International.