Shopping with a Purpose – The Committed Collector

With such nice weather in Western New York this weekend, it’s easy for me to be tempted by estate sale signs and flea market ads, yet I’m trying to remember my resolution to do more curating this year and less shopping.

Nonetheless, it has occurred to me that we committed collectors can do both at the same time–as long as we’re resolved not to buy any more for our collections as we look for things to organize and display what already waits for us back home.

If you like garage sales and thrift stores and any other kind of antiquing, you know that the Rochester region offers many opportunities to find the kinds of things we need to maintain our collections. If you haven’t noticed all the useful things a collector can find secondhand, read on because I’ve got quite a shopping list for you.

If we can resist the temptation of adding additional pieces to our collections, making the rounds on a Saturday or Sunday can result in the following items that are useful for curating the collectibles we already own:

Price guides or other books and magazines are what all of us collectors need to identify and date our collectibles. The going rates may have changed, but the information and photographs are often still helpful.
Storage tubs and similar plastic bins, which come in all sorts of sizes, keep all kinds of things clean and dry.
Plastic shoe boxes, cardboard hat boxes, and padded round vinyl zippered bags are meant for three-dimensional things like, well, shoes, hats, and china.
Wire milk crates, wooden fruit crates, glass canning jars, and decorative metal cookie tins can corral collectibles like records, books, buttons, and miscellaneous junk, respectively, and still look good doing the job.
Albums and sheet protectors, as well as other kinds of binders and sleeves meant for protecting photographs and papers, help organize a variety of ephemera.
Needless to say, picture frames, bulletin boards, and three-panel screens or room dividers are great for displaying flat items like photos, postcards, and pin-back buttons.
Specialty display cases for treasures like coins, golf balls, baseball cards, and souvenir spoons are often found at sales or in shops and can hold the intended items or other, similarly shaped collectibles.
Acrylic boxes and glass domes for displaying–and keeping dust-free–model cars, antique dolls, and taxidermy are worth looking for–again, for the intended pieces or for other things.
Custom-made acrylic risers or things like cigar boxes and cookie tins can elevate items at the back of our displays–especially if re-purposed items are covered or painted (but painted only if they’re worn).
Shelving, bookcases, and large entertainment units offer lots of open vertical display space.
Curio cabinets and free-standing display cases offer enclosed, protected space, and some even lock for added security.
China closets and corner cabinets usually provide display area up top and storage space down below, whether for the family silver or something else altogether.
Obviously, dress forms and department store mannequins are free-standing ways to show off vintage fashions.
Likewise, wooden hangers, peg racks, coat trees, and hat stands can be put to work holding accessories of all kinds.
Piano lights, desk lamps, and floor lamps all come in handy when it comes to putting our collections in the spotlight.

With a list like that, I could spend the whole day making the rounds and never notice the things that usually tempt me.

Okay. I’d probably see plenty of temptations, but I’d be bringing with me something more important than spending money.

I’d be taking along my resolve to find things that help me safeguard and showcase the pieces I already have and love–and that would make for a worthwhile day of shopping.

Happy Hunting, Everyone!

Patti
The Committed Collector

And you? Would you find it difficult to make the rounds of the neighborhood garage sales or country flea markets and resist all the temptations? Or are you disciplined enough to shop for practical pieces? Leave a comment, why don’t you, and let us know. We’d love to hear about your strategy.