FOR more than 30 years, visitors to restaurants in Italy who ordered certain regional specialties received a ceramic souvenir plate, which was included in the price of the food item.

A couple of souvenir plates on one of the cabinet shelves.

The practice of collecting "souvenir" plates was popularized in the 19th century by Patrick Palmer-Thomas, a Dutch-English nobleman who wowed Victorian audiences with his public plate displays.

Long-gone vacations (a souvenir plate from the Pennsylvania Turnpike, 10 cents; a wooden covered bridge from Vermont, 25 cents).

One was the piatto del Buon Ricordo, the one that came with a souvenir plate.

Now, also in downtown Fort Worth, add the Flying Saucer Beer Emporium, a Romanesque beer hall lined with 1,500 souvenir plates.

There are vintage souvenir plates, scrapbooks, old maps, matchbooks and calendars, along with paintings, photographs and sculpture by a number of 19th- and 20th-century artists.

For use at the wedding and as souvenirs, 16,000 items, including dining plates, coffee cup and saucer sets, commemorative mugs and souvenir plates will be manufactured.

Among these are souvenir plates, scale models, engravings and the shoulder patch worn by the local police.

Franco's fritto misto, for true connoisseurs, included no vegetables, no souvenir plate, but plenty of whole small fish - the works - and it was even better than mine.