Collectibles

 What we collect reflects our personalities. 

As we go about amassing our collections, we study, view, review and handle them. Some collections even continue to have a life. Such as wearing the art deco jewelry and vintage clothing, using grandmother’s china, engaging old tools, reading first editions, or playing with our childhood toys and games.  (I personally enjoy playing the original Monopoly & Clue Games. Their boards and tokens are far more pleasurable to touch and there is something to be said about the scent that is emitted from their boxes. It’s like breathing in the scent of an old book. Takes you back to simpler time.) Most of all, collectors are emotionally involved with them. And that, more than anything, characterizes the true collector.

As I mentioned in Monday’s post, “The hunt is on,” you scan your local newspaper for a listing of garage and yard sales. You have your list of must haves for your collection. You map out the best route to get to as many as you can, and off you go. The anticipation and optimism of the hunt can be exhilarating. It’s all about the joy of possession. Then, if and when you decide to have your ‘find’ appraised, you may experience triumph or disappointment. But no matter the value, it is now yours to do with as you please, and that’s the beauty of ownership.

While you go about happily finding things that were part of your past that may have gone astray, you are actually building a museum about your personal life. There is something very satisfying about a personal, individual museum. Your collecting also offers generational bonding. The things you have saved, cherished and preserved, will be passed onto the next generation, who will in turn, keep your history alive, adding more dimension to the family’s heritage as time goes on.

Our family museum is an eclectic array of collections from the different stages of our lives. Because of what was able to be saved over the years and why,  resulted in putting together small tableau's of our life. It is simply amazing that as I was creating these displays, the museum almost reads like a mini autobiography. Here are a couple of pictures and the stories that go with them.

Keith's interest in the Untied States Space Program has been with him since he could remember. He saved only two of the many rocket models he had when a child, and when we moved to Florida, he was thrilled to have a license plate with a picture of the space shuttle blasting off. 
I was crazy about shoes. When I could, I bought designer shoes by Charles Jourdan and Maude Frizon, now both vintage shoes. I guess because of their superior construction, they have lasted many decades. How unfortunate for me that I can no longer wear them, but I certainly can look at them and recall my more fashionable days.

So as you go about collecting, displaying and preserving your past and present possessions, remember to record all the information about the item. Take pictures and write your memoires. It's fun, engaging, and historical. 

In Monday's post, I presented a listed of collections and tomorrow I will write about two of them. 

Next Post: Americana & Art