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What do you collect?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kaat72
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Have also noticed as the wife and I (both major pack rats) have gotten older that we have collected massive piles of (mostly useless) clutter.
 
Have also noticed as the wife and I (both major pack rats) have gotten older that we have collected massive piles of (mostly useless) clutter.
I hear you. I have a house built for a family of four hosting a family of eight, with enough accumulated crap for a family of sixteen. I fighting a long uphill battle trying to sort the wheat from the chaff from the winter clothing.
 
Oh, and I collect fridge magnet from memorable places we have visited.
 

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Another stale but enjoyable thread; C'mon back, Y'all.:D

The truth is, The wheels came off about 18 months ago, I lost darn near everything. Anything that might have qualified as a collection (and I definitely come from, and take after a family of pack rats and collectors)....Gone now.:(

One small collection which remains is a group of toolboxes which belonged to important figures in my life; Characters and mentors. When they passed on, I was either given the boxes, or just took them outright.

  1. My paternal grandfather's machinist chest, with quite a few of his old tools. Some old Starrett, but more Lufkin.....They made nice stuff, in the day. The box is one of the small Gerstner & Sons, oak, and it came with the denim slipcover my grandmother sewed for it. He kept the cover on it religiously, so the box was in darn close to new condition, until I got my hands on it. It has a diamond shaped mirror on the underside of the lid, use it to check your hair after the shift, before picking up your gal. Or to dig that chip out of your eye.o_O Complete with his old booklet of Trig tables, and the numbered "Douglas Aircraft employee ID" stickers. (Pre McDonnell-Douglas, he would want me to loudly tell the entire room.):D
  2. A nearly identical configuration machinist's chest, this one an early Kennedy. Steel, brown wrinkle finish, far more nicely made than the later Kennedys; Gorgeous handles, latches, drawer pulls. Rounded top cover, and underneath the lid.....An identical booklet of trig tables, this copy with his name on the cover. The old man who owned it was a real character; Charming but cantankerous; A permanent limp from a 1950's skiing accident, and a permanent attitude from losing his dearly beloved wife in the '60s. He graduated MIT just before the war, Many, many years later he plucked me from obscurity and gave me my first big break, in a truly magical, unreproducible setting.
  3. A lowly mechanic's toolbox, but a unique one. Born and schooled in the UK, the original owner built the box as a shop project in the early 1960's; Wooden construction, clad in tin for durability. Quite crudely made, but terribly charming, bordering on folk art. When still quite young, he became a race mechanic with the Lotus and McLaren F-1 teams, serving for quite a few years. The box looks as if it has been around the world a few times, the drawer fronts are labeled in pencil indicating "Mains" and the like. And the outside has stickers from pubs near various circuits. His book keeper was the first true love of my life; She and I shared a great admiration for him, and watched him die of cancer at 46. Heroically charming and funny to the end.

The more that I think about it, I kinda' hope I'm done with collecting.:(
 
Random stuff I pick up off the ground. Found this weird rusty steel hockey puck sized thing once at a crosswalk.. Used to be big into CDs and DVDs but financial situation has changed.
 
Books. I used to collect paperbacks, but now I am moving over to ebooks, because they are much easier to store.

My ex used to collect debt, much to my detriment... :rolleyes:
 
I collect many things. Superman kitsch, comics related items, some comics, pop culture items of note, anything from the golden age of cars, flight, space travel, classic sci-fi related items, really ... I collect things that catch my eye, including, but not limited to, the strange, obscure, bizarre. I love to wander yard sales, flea markets, car gatherings, comicons. I have diverse taste but in most cases I have beer budget taste. ;)
 
I have a small collection of vintage (but functional) kitchen gadgets, in addition to a rather extensive Star Wars collection that started in 1978 with the Early Bird action figure set (I still have those 4 action figures, still in the box they came in). Most of it I'll sell off in 2027, the 50th Anniversary of Star Wars, But the crown jewel of my collection, a framed, original Revenge of the Jedi teaser one sheet I acquired in 1984, will be passed down for as long as the family wants to put up with it.

:)
 
I have a garage full of "valuable ham radio stuff" :rolleyes:

at the age of 73, I am still waiting for a good time to put it all to good use.....
most of it I have drug around with me since I was a kid....:p

none of it is worth much anymore, I really need to clear it out so my daughter does not have to deal with it some day.
 
I collect memories. I've collected them all of my life. Some of them cost a small fortune but most of them took just a moment of my time. I share my collection with anyone that cares to listen. Oddly enough, most of my collection is not unique and many others have collections similar to mine.

More seriously... I collected music for quite some time. Most of my collection is on vinyl. I do have a sizable collection of MP3s. Nothing I have is of great value... but I love music. I also collect knives and guns. They always call my name when I see them and I just can't seem to say no to a deal.

I have a great collection of antique clocks. It was my father's collection and now mine. He claimed he was not a collector but more of a horse trader but from the amount of old clocks I have in my house, it would be difficult to support his statement.... or he was a lousy trader.o_O
 
I collect memories. I've collected them all of my life. Some of them cost a small fortune but most of them took just a moment of my time. I share my collection with anyone that cares to listen. Oddly enough, most of my collection is not unique and many others have collections similar to mine.

Nice, do treasure them.:)
Through an odd set of circumstances, certain memory banks of mine have recently been swept clean. It's a very funny thing; You have no sense of sadness, loss, or even that anything is missing. Until you unexpectedly go to access that file....Then it hits you. You know with absolute confidence there was something important there.....but no clue what it was. It's a bummer, but I choose to be far more fascinated by the mechanics of how and why such a thing happens.:confused:

I have collected lots of memories too, as well as the corresponding sentimental little objects in a literal drawer, which unlock the mental drawer. It's particularly nice when you can share them with someone else who is interested, or was actually there.

I recently alluded to a lunch I had with an old high school buddy, a few weeks ago, and in another thread.

Back in high school, my friend was already 1) a political animal. And 2) a budding pyromaniac. The reputation was vastly blown out of proportion, but was rooted in definite reality......And he did little to convince people otherwise.
Our freshman year, he was playing with matches in class, and (accidentally) lit the hair of the girl sitting in front of him on fire. He managed to beat the flames out, but a reputation was cemented in an instant.

Seeing a definite opportunity, and running for student body office, he put 2 and 2 together.

A few days later, he was walking the halls, glad handing anyone he saw, and slipping a token of goodwill and "branding" into their hands as he shook each one. From a shopping bag full, came an endless supply of match books, each one printed with "Vote Xxxxxx Xxxxx for XXXXX"

He won.

You should have seen his eyes light up the other day, when I told him "I've been hanging on to this all these years, you should have it back now", and dropped a pack into his open palm.:D
 
Yeah it's amazing what sells over there, and it goes quickly too.
Just be sure to follow their rules for posting items for sale, they're very strict about it. And watch out for scammers, sadly there are quite a few on the prowl there.
 
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