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An interview survey was conducted with ninety-four elderly persons, sixty-two in community senior service centers and thirty-two in a nursing home, to find out whether aged persons do identify certain possessions as cherished above all others and to see what meaning these possessions had for their later years. It was found that 81 per cent of the sample could quite readily identify a most cherished object. Different kinds of possessions tended to have different meanings and referents in the lives of the subjects. The lack of a cherished possession was associated with lower life satisfaction scores, which suggests that such a lack might be an indicator of poor adjustment to old age.

This survey was designed to study cherished objects and other memorabilia as "reminiscentia," (i.e., as inducers of reminiscence). One hundred persons were surveyed by questionnaire and interview to determine the kinds of memorabilia and cherished objects they would identify and how these were related to reminiscence and current mood as measured by the Affect-Balance Scale. Most of the identified cherished objects were cherished for reasons other than their value as reminiscentia, but when they were cherished primarily for this reason, they seemed to serve as reconstructive symbols in the lives of those older persons. A significant positive relationship was found between memorabilia and mood, and the total lack of a cherished object was associated with significantly lower mood scores. Some significant associations were also found among objects, reminiscence, and mood variables by age and gender.

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