December 2018 – The Committed Collector

Posted on December 29, 2018December 29, 2018 by admin

My Collecting Resolution

The coming of New Year’s Eve always puts me in a somber mood.

On the one hand, I look forward to the arrival of the new year and all its possibilities. On the other, I’m reminded of all my mistakes over the past 12 months, so I’m left with quite a few regrets.

There were things I did that I shouldn’t have, and things I should have that I didn’t. There were things I said that I wish I could take back, and things I never took the time to say.

I shamelessly acquired too much, and I shamefully donated too little.

I lost too much time shopping, and I wasted too much money buying more things.

I squandered money on silly impulse purchases, and I missed out on genuine treasures because I hadn’t saved up for them.

Worst of all, I spent too little time enjoying the beautiful things I already own—and that reality brings me to my New Year’s resolution for 2019:

Spend less time collecting and more time curating my current collections.

There. I’ve put it in writing. The Committed Collector is putting acquiring on hold and putting organizing and displaying on the agenda for 2019.

My goal for the new year is clear: Appreciate all that I already have—and I do, indeed, have a great deal to appreciate.

My objectives, too, are simple and straightforward. Instead of spending my free time in 2019 searching and shopping and buying, I will invest time in…

I’ve had a good, long run collecting, and 2018 has been a good year for adding to my collections.

Sorting through my current collections, and culling the items that no longer fit in.
Making sure my inventory is up-to-date.
Reading through my identification guides and learning more about my collectibles.
Organizing my collections together, and storing them properly—and labeling, labeling, labeling as I go.
Taking the time to rotate the displays around my house and to put up the holiday and seasonal decorations I have.
Actually using the various china and glassware I’ve collected.
Listening regularly to different CDs: classic rock, big band, and American standards.
Finishing what I started:
a) Organizing my vintage postcards in an album.
b) Hanging my department store art and paint-by-numbers paintings.
c) Washing and ironing my colorful 1940s and 1950s tablecloths.
d) Stitching up some of the fabric I bought into tablecloths and runners.
e) Polishing the bits of silverplate I use for tea parties.
f) Putting a fresh coat of paint on the bookcase I bought last summer.
g) Making minor repairs to a number of things.
h) Re-purposing or retrofitting a few more things as planned—and, ultimately, taking care of and enjoying the collections I already have—that’s my resolution for the new year.

Now, I’m of a mind to be more appreciative of my beloved collections and treat them as the prized possessions they are to me.

Thinking of all the beautiful things I already have and devising plans to make better use of them has improved my mood, too. I’ve had a great year, and I’m looking forward to another great one.

I’m ready to say “out with the old, and in with the new” for 2019: gratitude, anticipation, and enjoyment.

Happy New Year, Everyone.

From Patti
The Committed Collector

Posted on December 15, 2018 by admin

The 12 Collections of Christmas

Can you stand another take on the classic holiday song? If you’re like me — committed to collecting and appreciative of things in great quantities — you’ll say, “Sure. The more the merrier.”

Here, then, are my 13 suggestions for presents to delight a variety of collectors. (I did say the more the merrier.)

a baker’s dozen of vintage cookie cutters
a dozen eggs — preferably by Fabergé — with 12 months no interest
items about the Apollo 11 mission or from the 7-Eleven or Ocean’s Eleven franchises
10 jerseys from the Big 10 schools
9 collectibles reflecting the 9 lives cats have
Eight Is Enough advertisements or posters
7 Lucky No. 7 charms — or 7 logo glasses for serving Seagram’s 7 & 7
a six pack of vintage beer cans, such as Coors for West Coasters and Budweiser for Easterners
vintage collectibles depicting the Dionne quintuplets
the four seasons as depicted in song, in art, and in decorative accessories, like Currier and Ives wall calendars
a trio for afternoon tea (cup, saucer, and plate) and 3 nesting bowls to make scones
a pair of candlesticks, preferably Depression Glass
one classic car — make mine a light blue Jaguar, please

Happy Shopping, Collectors, and Happy Holidays!

From Patti
The Committed Collector

Posted on December 1, 2018 by admin

Santa’s Helpers Share Love of Depression Glass

Some of Santa’s little helpers were busy here in Western New York even before Thanksgiving, on the day when we happened to have our first snow of the season.

They had gathered to spend a Sunday afternoon prepping dozens of pieces of sparkling glass to be used as prizes at the upcoming holiday party for the members of the Depression Glass Club of Greater Rochester.

What’s more, it’s obvious these elves are all committed collectors of vintage glassware.

Apparently, most of them have been assigned to the glass club party detail for years, so they know how to operate among the “organized chaos” of the event, which was a revelation for the rookies.

First, furniture has to be moved and tables set up in the hosting helpers’ home. Then the larger elves lug in cartons and cartons of glassware that has been collected since the club’s last holiday party.

Once the glassware is unpacked and spread out on the tables, the helpers (who are seeing the pieces for the first time) spend some time oohing and ahhing over the beautiful choices, which have already been washed and dried by the chief elf so they glisten.

The expert elves then assess the prizes and divide them into everyday Depression Glass (which will be the prizes for the steal-a-gift game) and Elegant glassware (which is the better glass that has to be earned in bingo).

The experts deliberate to decide which is the very best piece of glass, and that one is designated as the prize for the winner of the hardest round of bingo—cover-all—which is one of the highlights among the more competitive partygoers.

Another lovely piece is set aside for the winner of a special drawing. Club members and party guests can donate non-perishables for a local food cupboard, and they receive a ticket for each item contributed. The winner of this drawing then goes home with a pretty piece filled with chocolate, which is as much of an enticement for this crowd as the glassware.

Back at the wrap party, the rest of team gets to work fitting the pieces of glass to the dozens and dozens of small boxes that the elves have stockpiled over the year, which is easy to do when they themselves frequently shop on eBay and have things—like glassware—sent to them.

Stockpiling boxes is easy, but finding enough in just the right sizes and shapes for the candlesticks, pitchers, vases, and other glass prizes is a real challenge.

Once swathed again in packing paper, and then boxed securely, each individual prize has to be beautifully wrapped in festive paper and properly identified: bows for the bingo prizes and curly ribbons for the steal-a-gift game—or was it bows for the stealing game and ribbons for the bingo prizes?

Then the bedecked presents are boxed up into the cartons again and hauled away and temporarily stored until the big party, which happens to be this Friday, Dec. 7.

Once the scene has been cleared—and some order has been restored to the host helpers’ home, which happens to have several amazing collections of glassware fit for display at The Collectors museum—the elves line up for a buffet of snacks that’s enough to fuel them back to the North Pole.

With 14 or so glass-loving elves together, the conversation naturally revolved around the prizes and the holiday party and the Depression Glass Club’s programs for next year. The talk also went back to the food a time or two since collectors love their refreshments almost as much as their collections—almost.

For members and guests of the Depression Glass Club holiday party, winning one of these prizes might be the inspiration for a new collection.

Come Friday, the festivities will begin with a buffet of heavy hors d’ouvreurs and desserts, followed by the steal-a-gift game that gets everyone up and moving and laughing at whose stealing from whom.

Then we’ll get down to the bingo, which includes a half-dozen or more variations, and some serious prize winning—and maybe a little envy and a few reasons to start a new collection or two.

Here’s to the beginning of the holiday season and all the ways our collections help us celebrate.

Patti
The Committed Collector

If your collections are a part of your holiday traditions, please leave a comment. We’d love to hear how your treasures fit into your celebrations.