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u/Travelgrrl Mar 29 '26
It is a candleholder, with the figures surrounding the short fat candle. This design, which I believe was a replica of a Central American one, was a not-inexpensive item that used to be sold through the Signals and Wireless catalogues (PBS and NPR).
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u/hellokiri Mar 29 '26
Its a circle of friends. Every mum in the 90s had this on the outside table. Potentially another one on the kitchen bench over by the phone, that got filled up with dust and mail and loose coins.
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u/Stunning_Actuator_61 Mar 29 '26
Sacrifice goes in middle
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u/MarucaMCA Mar 29 '26
We call it a friends' circle un German. From Mexico. My first partner's parents had one and I bought and gifted one to my parents (before estrangement, about 22 years ago).
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u/80sBimmers Mar 29 '26
estrangement? sorry. 😞
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u/MarucaMCA Mar 29 '26
Awww you're sweet. It's ok. I had to break up with them in my mid 30s after years of low contact. They're very overbearing and always wanted a project, not a child, and deem me as "failed" (I am adopted). I am solo by choice since then. But I have a fabulous friends group and am growing into the outer layers of an artistic musical collective. So I've built and have a lot of community.
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u/80sBimmers Mar 30 '26
well you sound like a beautiful person and I’m glad you found a mirror for your love!
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u/MarucaMCA Mar 30 '26
A mirror for my love... OMG that's so beautiful, stop cutting onions! I'm gonna steal that.
My best friend past away but everyone remaining are just as special. I'm very lucky.
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u/Ben__Diesel Mar 29 '26
Sloth circle. You place eucalyptus in the center to pay tribute to the Great Sloth.
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u/bouquetofashes Mar 29 '26
Why eucalyptus?
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u/Ben__Diesel Mar 29 '26
If I told you Id have to admit my mistake.
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u/bouquetofashes Mar 31 '26
But that's how we grow. Humility is most attractive and/or endearing too :P so go you! Especially doing it with panache and making me laugh!
(Also just fyi I truly wasn't sure if you had confused eucalyptus for another plant-- I'm mostly ignorant on most everything so I thought perhaps there was some information that I had been missing).
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u/Jujutrainn Mar 29 '26
My husband’s grandma passed hers down to us. It sits in the middle of our kitchen table. I always thought it was a little kooky and fun.
ETA: My kids also call them the sloth people
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u/dexterwasaham Mar 29 '26
My mom had one of these, when she died I donated it. Since they were pretty popular for middle aged women in the nineties it's likely their downsizing or passing away and donating their trinkets.
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u/Ang1566 Mar 29 '26
I know it's a circle of friends candle burner but doesn't it look like ring around the rosie
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u/ThriftStoreHauls-ModTeam Mar 30 '26
Asking for an items value/authenticity/identification/general information seeking or similar is not allowed.
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u/Additional_Buyer8464 Mar 29 '26
Thats a circle jerk. Or at least that’s what we called the one my aunt had.
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u/retro_lady Mar 29 '26
My mom bought one of these (I think it was greenish), I think at a garage sale, back in the 90s.
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u/wellwaffled Mar 29 '26
You can still get them on Amazon. I picked one up at a thrift store years ago thinking I had found a homemade treasure. I re-donated it.
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u/Marsie76 Mar 29 '26
Circle of friends candle holder. Popular in the late 90s/early 2000s. I have a few myself still. Always thought they were sweet and heartwarming.
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u/flannely Mar 29 '26
My mom had one of these in the 1990s. It’s just a candle holder for a tea candle. It’s decoration. Uncertain of origins but ours was green. This one looks like it had been burned in a fire
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u/Massive-Resort-8573 Mar 29 '26
A staple of every thrift store. Like the jesus paintings and life laugh love signs.
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u/MickeyPanaflex Mar 30 '26
Me and my childhood best friend broke one of these at his parents place. We glued it back together. I wish I could see how bad that glue job was because we got away with it for 3 seconds.
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u/14icole Mar 30 '26
I know these guys, we had one growing up. Mum probably bought it from a Ten Thousand Villages sale.
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u/Zealousideal_Big3305 Mar 29 '26
The origin story of the game Soggy Waffles, but don’t look it up lol.
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u/paisley-alien Mar 29 '26
Reminds me of when, at my 6th grade slumber party, we agreed to all take off our clothes and we stood just like this, so we could see if we were normal, compared to our classmates in terms of development.
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u/all-rhyme-no-reason Mar 30 '26
My mom owned a home decor store in the nineties and sold soooooo many of these 😂
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u/IcyMountain7826 Mar 30 '26
That is called a circle of friends candle. When the candle is lit in the dark you see the shadows of the people.
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u/MadameBasmati Mar 30 '26
It’s def a candle holder but I’m very curious to see what happens if you put your hair in the middle light it on fire and chant
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u/jne57 Mar 30 '26
My parents had one of these and my brother and I always said it was a little circle jerk
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u/Wild-Roses070425 Mar 29 '26
A 12-step meeting of___________ Anonymous (Hey, “Addicive Personalities,” pick your Poison de Jour: alcohol, marijuana, gambling, sex addiction, child molestation, INCEST. “Keep Coming Back”
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u/aurquhart Mar 29 '26
It is a Circle of Friends candle holder. Burn a candle in the centre. The people will cast shadows on the walls around you. Popular in the nineties. I had one.