Guilty of collecting....?

[Rafter]

There's an inconceivable abundance of opportunities to acquire things in our lives.

I've always had a problem with what to keep, what to throw away, and where to find room for it?
No, I'm not a "packrat". I've known some people that are literally possessed by their possessions! I haven't gotten to that point yet!
I'd like to think of myself more as a "sentimental family historian". So nice. So loveable. So out of space!

There are the "old records", many of them that I bought back in '86 when Woolworth's was liquidating their stock and sold them 2 for a dollar. Some I just bought for their cover art. Who could resist the picture of Linda Ronstadt on roller skates!!
I have shoe boxes full of "Topp's baseball cards". Some dating back to the early 50's which were a part of my dad's collection.
There's my "assorted collections" of ties and hats, various decades of clothing, piles of TV Guides and other magazines, calendars and planners more than 10 years old, old board games gathering dust, and toys from my childhood.

 

[Rafter]

I also collect "classic diecast cars".

And yes there's my "guilty collection.... of elephants"!!
Mahogany, jade, ceramic, gold, silver... you name it, I've got it.

 

[Fletch]

I am guilty of collecting...well, let's just say I am guilty of collecting.

I'm not even a serious collector - I'm a serial collector. I get into something, out of it and into something else. Hats, records, ties, model cars, jackets, model planes, suits, postcards, instruments...

Some of it doesn't even make sense to me. I don't know why an avowed antiwar liberal should be into WW2 aviator uniforms, but I am. My tribute to McGovern and Heller, I suppose.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

It's because you look so good in WW2 aviator uniforms, that's why, Fletch. (See Men of the Lounge, people, if you haven't already.)

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Everyone needs a collection of collections:
Glassware / Barware
Furniture (I have a prized 30s Charles Remie Mackintosh table)
China (Blue Heaven and Temporama patterns)
Jewelry (plastics and designer costume)
Clothing (duh)
Radios
"Other" - anything that looks neat.

 

[ShooShooBaby]

Some of it doesn't even make sense to me. I don't know why an avowed antiwar liberal should be into WW2 aviator uniforms, but I am. My tribute to McGovern and Heller, I suppose.

lol haha, this sounds like me! sooo many of my friends are baffled by the WWII-era obsession. i don't know how many times i've explained, well, you see, it's the aesthetics i adore!


i collect all kinds of stuff. mid-century-modern furniture; vintage shoes (esp wedgies) whether they fit me or not; pyrex; various types of ephemera; patterns; you name it, i probably have a couple. i've been trying to limit myself, like to ONE color/pattern of pyrex, only magazines from the early-mid 40s, etc, but that all goes out the window if i find a good deal at a thriftstore (which is all the freaking time - i think i'm charmed).

 

[goldwyn girl]

Yes, I too collect, I plead guilty. Although last year I was ruthless along with my husband and we pulled out everything in the storage unit, opened it and decided if we were
keeping it
donating it
selling it
We cleared out so much it was liberating. I try to keep my collection now to things I use. For example pink kitchenware, it's everywhere but it must be in good useable condition. Heywood Wakefield funiture too and clothing and shoes I must be able to wear. I do have a small poodle collection and my husband has a HUGE tiki collection. I have a house full of "collection" still in Australia and one of these days I will get around to that as well.

 

[Miss Brill]

I collect those little Delft canal houses & bird figurines. And pear motifs/figurines & lions. I also have a gazillion vintage handkerchiefs & salt pinches. [huh]

 

[Mildred]

collectors -yes we are!

We have a houseful of collections and never plan to sell them! They will be given to our son or donated to a museum. One of the draws of being married to a vintage man is his wonderful collections. My sweetheart collects music, radios, suits, toys, WW2, books,etc. anything that has to do with the 1940's. He sells some of it to get better pieces. I am fascinated by his collections and have learned a lot from them.

I like china, kitchen items, hats and jewels,art ,furniture, linens and lamps from the 1930's through the 1940's. I have some pieces from the 1920's. I am not as keen collecting from the 1950's. We use many of these items in our everyday life. It is also fun to go together and hunt for stuff although it is harder these days. And it costs much more.

 

[Quigley Brown]

Because my dog's name is Arizona I have a small display of vintage items with Arizona on them. Let's see what else (besides vintage ties and hats)......old winners cup trophies, lava lamps, those ugly ceramic ashtrays from the 60s, bad decorative art from the 50s & 60s (those wide abstract cityscape paintings), old cha-cha-cha LPs...ugh...there's too much more....

 

[MrNewportCustom]

I collect whatever catches my fancy at the time. I have several antique cameras (from a very early Kodak box camera to a '60s Calumet 4X5 to my new digital point and shoot. (And I'm already researching a digital SLR.) I also have an 8X10 graphics camera bellows body made of cherry wood that I'll someday turn into a coffee table. I have an 8mm projector and a couple of those octogonal film reel boxes that carried movies from one theater to another with all five reels of some odd-ball '70s movie in it.

I have a candy store cash register from the '40s, a hand-crank ditto machine like we remember from school (remember how those smelled?), die-cast cars, tons of DVDs, CDs and books, including a few first edition Robert Benchleys. I have five bicycles, two of which are racing bikes from the seventies and a Columbia chopper from about 1975. I have my mother's first edition 45 of Elvis' "Hound Dog." I used to collect any gift-shop item connected with Bugs Bunny or Coca~Cola.

I'll bet I'd find some real treasures if I went through everything.


Lee
________________________

 

[Nathan Dodge]

I'm more of an accumulator...

I guess it would have to be DC War Comics, Sgt. Rock, The Unknown Soldier, et al. They can either be the original comics or hardbound reprints. As long as I'm able to read 'em! It's one of my many retro-based interests. I also have a pretty fair film score collection, but whatever it is I collect, it's because I like the item in question, I'm by no means a "completist" of anything. I've accumulated many books, too.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Yup, I'm guilty too. I'm a collector and I have no problem calling myself a "pack rat". I can't get rid of anything!
My biggest collection, after all the vintage clothing, shoes, accessories, are PEZ dispensers. The last time I checked, which was a few years ago, I had 682. I've bought a lot more since then. This is the only collection that I can somewhat control in regards to storage. I have 5 huge tupperware bins filled with my PEZ. At the top of each bin is a nicely typed list of the contents of each bin. The bins are all at my parents house, since I really don't have the space for them in my condo. However, since I brought the bins there over 2 years ago, I have amassed even more PEZ. I think if you open any drawer, cabinet, or closet in my apartment you will surely come across a PEZ dispenser. They're every where, even under the bed!!

I try to tell myself that I must stop collecting. But then I find something new and I must have it. I have a small collection of milk glass that my Granny gave me, I'm always looking to add to it

 

[BellyTank]

...Some of it doesn't even make sense to me. I don't know why an avowed antiwar liberal should be into WW2 aviator uniforms, but I am. My tribute to McGovern and Heller, I suppose.

You and me both- USAAF uniforms, leather, squadron insignia...,
British and even '30s and WW2 German.
Crazy-

B
T

 

[BellyTank]

My whole family are crazy collectors-

My brother has literally hundreds(many hundreds) of antique and Golden Era "Holophane" lamp shades, lamps and fittings- his whole '30s Bungalow is aglow with them.

In a similar vein- my Father has an enormous collection of Victorian Art Glass-
E-Normous. His house is also overflowing with Holophane lamps and hundreds of Clarks Fairy Lamps.

My other brother collects cars- he has thousands of model cars and trucks.
He also has over 150 actual cars, trucks and other vehicles- he is a Car Wrangler though.

I'm like Fletch- anything's fair game...

We're moving house in 2 weeks... uh-oh!


B
T

 

[Spitfire]

I am guilty of collecting...well, let's just say I am guilty of collecting.

I'm not even a serious collector - I'm a serial collector. I get into something, out of it and into something else. Hats, records, ties, model cars, jackets, model planes, suits, postcards, instruments...

Some of it doesn't even make sense to me. I don't know why an avowed antiwar liberal should be into WW2 aviator uniforms, but I am. My tribute to McGovern and Heller, I suppose.

pheeewww...I am not alone. Thanks Fletch.

 

[Decobelle]

I used to collect Deco chrome appliances.. especially toasters and waffle irons. I realized some of it had to go so I sold a bunch and kept my favorite of each type only. OK, maybe two of a couple things. Our house is decorated in Art Deco/streamline moderne style c. 1938, and that look is supposed to be spare, not cluttered. I try to keep that in mind. Just in case, though, it helps to shop with someone (not an enabler) who can say firmly if necessary (for example): "Step away from the toaster!" "Step away from the glassware..."

Sheet music, books and records don't count as collections, right? Or radios.

 

[DaveTheDude]

I'm guilty of collecting

matchbox cars,
fountain pens,
hats, and
watches.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

I too buy lots of stuff as "collectables." I try to tell my wife how much this stuff is worth (and how I got SUCH a great deal on it) but I don't if she buys that arguement. It might be more accepted if I ever sold any of it. lol. She jokes that I need to buy a second house just for my "collectables."

Now that we have a baby, I say my son can sell it when the stuff is REALLY worth some money!

 

[ohairas]

MAJOR pack rat alert!!!

I collect so much stuff and at times I WISH I was a minimalist!!

Gone With the Wind (includes costumes, dolls, books, photos, and books on the Civil war)

Titanic, (again, inlcudes costumes and books from the film and books and videos on the sinking)

Vintage clothing, corsets, hats and shoes from 1860 on up

Vintage patterns and linens

Fabric

plates

armoires

chairs

Franklin Mint fashion dolls and all of their clothes

Vintage hair items

Disney Pixar cars for my son, (ok, for me too!!)

I could go on and on. And there's nothing worse than moving all this junque to a new house. I hope to never have to do that again, esp. since I've added 150% to the lot since we've been here! And this doesn't include any sentimental stuff that I can't part with.
Nikki