'He left this note on Christmas Eve to go and live with his secretary': Jilted lovers confess the tragic stories behind these everyday objects
- When a relationship ends, once treasured mementos usually go straight to bin
- But some of us hold on to a keepsake to remind us of the bittersweet memories
- Now the unwanted objects from jilted lovers are displayed at Melbourne gallery
- The collection is part of Croatia's Museum of Broken Relationships
When a relationship ends, the once treasured mementos of a lost romance usually go straight to the bin.
But some of us hold on to a keepsake to remind us of the bittersweet memories you previously shared before things took a turn for the worse.
And now the unwanted objects that once belonged to jilted lovers from around the world are currently displayed at Melbourne's No Vacancy Gallery until September 29.
The tragic stories behind these everyday items - including a decapitated teddy bear and a handwritten note ending a 10-year marriage - are part of Croatia's Museum of Broken Relationships.
An Australian woman shared the final words she received from her husband of 10 years on Christmas Eve in 1975 after he left her for his secretary
One Melbourne woman - who donated a box full of buttons to the exhibition - shared her painful story of finding out her boyfriend had cheated on her multiple times
The heartbreaking stories behind these everyday items - including a decapitated teddy bear - are part of Croatia's renowned Museum of Broken Relationships
An Australian woman shared the final words she received from her husband of 10 years on Christmas Eve in 1975 after he left her for his secretary.
The note read: 'Marie, I am getting a flat for myself, I will be back here Sunday night to sort my things out.'
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The woman said in her submission: 'He left this [note] on Christmas Eve 1975 to go live with his secretary just months after I found out I could not have children. No signature. How dare he assume I would know who it was from.'
The note is just one of 54 objects displayed in the exhibition, and each one comes with a caption that includes the location, date and length of relationship.
In another tale, one Melbourne woman was gifted a specially made 'boyfriend pillow' from her fiance so she could hug it to sleep during their long-distance relationship
Another woman donated a vase and a dead sprig of mint after her boyfriend of eight years stopped by her home to collect all his possessions following their breakup
One woman from Mexico shared a childhood love story - but she was forbidden from dating the boy who used to walk her to school. He gifted her this book and wrote her a poem. Fast forward 25 years, her childhood lover contacted her on Facebook. They saw each other and their love was still there - but 'it was all in vain. He was engaged to be married'
One Melbourne woman - who donated a box full of buttons to the exhibition - shared her painful story of finding out her boyfriend had cheated on her multiple times.
'When I discovered that my lover had been cheating on me with many women over a long period of time, I left him,' she said in her submission.
'Before returning all his possessions I cut some buttons off every article of clothing. I found this act incredibly cathartic in itself, apart from knowing it would annoy him immensely. Sometime later, I sent him some buttons. Not necessarily the right ones.'
Another woman donated a vase and a dead sprig of mint after her boyfriend of eight years stopped by her home to pick up his things following their breakup.
'He came around when I wasn't home to 'collect the rest of his plants'. When I finally returned I saw he'd taken not only those that were in pots, but also a supermarket-bought sprig of mint I'd been keeping in a glass of water over the sink,' she said.
'It was such a bitter and small-minded act I think I laughed in shock. I've kept the last dying piece in the glass as the water evaporated just to remind me how brave I was to finally leave his darkness, and how I must never, ever, ever go back.'
The toy mouse is just one of 54 objects displayed in the exhibition, and each one comes with a caption that includes the location, date and length of relationship
One French woman, from Paris, donated a plastic 'punk duck' following her on-again, off-again relationship with a 'toxic' man
One Melbourne person shared a 'pile of Werther's Original Sweets' after they were unable to gift them to their loved one due to unforeseen circumstances
In another tale, one Melbourne woman was gifted a specially made 'boyfriend pillow' from her fiance so she could hug it to sleep during their long-distance relationship.
After she moved overseas to be with him, he broke off their engagement but then he tried to rekindle their romance.
However, the damage was done after she moved back to Australia with her 'boyfriend pillow in tow'.
One French woman, from Paris, donated a plastic 'punk duck' following her on-again, off-again relationship with a 'toxic' man.
'A nice beginning, good moments, a lot of passion; then suddenly... screaming, insults, low blows, and a corrosive sticky, stifling relationship whose grotesque scenario was repeated too often to leave us unscathed,' she said.
'I would give anything to forget that story, to forget that I loved that toxic guy, to forget the horrors he had done to me and the way he broke the person I thought I was. Giving this object away is a start.'
And it's not just the heartbroken lovers sharing their painful breakup experiences.
One Melbourne person shared a 'pile of Werther's Original Sweets' after they were unable to gift them to their loved one due to unforeseen circumstances.
'I got these for you but you died first,' the wrote in the submission.
