COLLECTING
We are all born collectors. As children we comb the beach searching for shells and stones, pile marbles into jars, hoard comic books and trade baseball cards. Our interest in accumulating, displaying and searching out items that fascinate us may get more sophisticated as we grow older but our interest in collecting things doesn’t go away. The Antiques Road Show has done much to heighten our curiosity about the items we already possess, and sent many of us searching attics, rummaging through flea markets, secondhand stores and eBay in search of treasures. People hoard everything from antiques, bumper stickers, cars, doorknobs, Elvis memorabilia, forks, gears, hats, inkwells, jeans, Kiss keepsakes lorgnettes, magic tricks, needlepoint, old books, posters, Quaker furniture, rusty nails, salt-and-pepper shakers, tea pots, umbrellas, vintage clothing, wine, xylophones and yarn to Zen paintings. The list is endless. There probably isn’t anything that someone doesn’t save and there are clubs, conventions, exhibits, publications and websites for just about any item you can think of.
Collecting opens a world of adventure for the enthusiast. The secret is discovering something that appeals to you in a personal way, perhaps an item related to a pleasant childhood memory or your profession. Your interest can take you beyond the thrill of the hunt to researching the history and background of your mementos, the methods used to make them and the political and social background surrounding them.
A Marilyn Monroe buff can read every book on the subject, study all Marilyn’s movies, gather photos, make a pilgrimage to 5th Helena Drive in Brentwood, California to see Marilyn’s charming little hacienda, slip past the doorman at her Sutton Place apartment in NYC to touch her doorknob, step in her foot prints at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, place roses in the vase on her crypt at Westwood Memorial Park and still have more to discover. There is always the possibility of finding unknown stills from Norma Jean’s commercial modeling career in old magazines or unpublished negatives of the last sitting in an old cigar box. There are always questions to ponder. Where is the footage that Twentieth-Century Fox cut out of Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!, her first screen appearance and where did Marylyn’s annotated scripts land after being auctioned by Christie’s?
Just deciding how to display your treasures can be an involving occupation. You can show off your prize possessions at shows, to fellow collectors, friends or just appreciate them alone as only an aficionado can. Collecting sites abound on the internet that can direct you to organizations, guidebooks, dealers, forums and chat groups for collecting just about anything. |
