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Just a Few of My Favorite Christmas Things

For the past few weeks–ever since American commerce started showing Christmas movies, running holiday-themed commercials, and piping in Christmas carols–I’ve been humming one song or another.

One melody, however, keeps popping up and very probably with good reason. Not only do I fondly remember The Sound of Music as a childhood favorite, but I also love the sentiment of “My Favorite Things.”

Beloved objects and memorable experiences stay with us in our lives and in our hearts. Having them, enjoying them, and recalling them all give us pleasure and comfort.

And as a committed collector, I can assure you that my favorite things bring additional happiness, merriment, and joy to my life.

What’s even better is that I can appreciate holiday collectibles whether I actually collect them or I only see them in antiques shops or in others’ homes.

Of course, my husband and I collect a great variety of Christmas decorations and holiday items, and I certainly appreciate even more–as a list of some of my favorite things shows, so, without further ado, here they are:

  • Christmas cards, Christmas seals, and Christmas stamps
  • Antique holiday postcards, vintage holiday ads, and retro holiday signs
  • Christmas histories, cookbooks, and coffeetable books
  • Wrapping paper, scrap-booking stickers, and family photos
  • Classic Christmas albums, more recent CDs, and DVDs of favorite holiday films, both old and new
  • Vintage cookie cutters, wooden rolling pins, and red-handled kitchen utensils
  • Jell-o molds, Bundt pans, and box graters
  • Depression Glass in ruby red, forest green, and milk white
  • Vintage tablecloths, damask linens, and cutesy napkin rings
  • Crystal candlesticks, creamware serving platters, and novelty salt and pepper shakers
  • Teapots decorated in holiday motifs, shaped like holiday characters, or given as holiday presents
  • Bottle-brush trees, pre-lit artificial ones, and fresh-cut spruces and firs
  • Vintage glass baubles, plastic figural ornaments, and those handmade by loved ones
  • Tabletop decorations, wall hangings, and accessories large enough to be free-standing, like 6-foot tall nutcrackers
  • Toy trains, teddy bears, and winter gardens
  • Blow molds, inflatables, and wire-frame yard decor
  • Elves, reindeer, and polar bears
  • Stockings, and, of course, Santa and Mrs. Claus

As another song says, “Tis the season to be jolly,” and those of us who love Christmas and all its trappings have many, many reasons to be jolly.

Merry Collecting, Everyone.

Patti
The Committed Collector

Are you crazy for Christmas like I am? If so, why not leave a comment, and list some of your favorite holiday collectibles, too?

© 2019 The Collectors of Western New York.
All rights reserved.

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Celebrating Halloween, Hosting Friends

I’m so excited.  I feel like one of the Sanderson Sisters, you know, from the Hocus Pocus film, run amok—amok, amok, amok.

You see, I’m hosting my not-quite annual Witches Party this evening. 

Well, it’s not going to be a full meeting of the Sisterhood of the Black Pointy Hat, but it is going to include close friends, good food, and board games as well as a birthday celebration. 

Among the guests is one of my friends who came to my very first Witches Party nearly 15 years ago.  She and my other friends know how my husband and I go all out during the spooky season—and every season, for that matter—so I certainly don’t want to let them down. 

Indeed, I might not be hosting a Monster Mash, but it will be a birthday bash fit for a witch, sorceress, or goddess—all set amid our collection of Halloween trappings.

For collectors like we are, what could be better than sharing our favorite collections with our beloved family and dear friends?

It should be pretty obvious that I’ve been looking forward to hosting my friends from the moment I sent out my invitation a few weeks ago, and I think my husband has too, even though he’s planning to head to a sports bar and watch some game. 

Since my invitation went out, both my husband and I have been pretty busy getting ready for this gathering of the coven, so to speak.

We’ve been clearing and cleaning, dusting and decorating—all on top of working two full-time jobs and trying to open The Collectors museum—which is some of the good news I have to share with my friends tonight.

As collectors of holiday decorations, we naturally have plenty to trick out our abode for the Orange and Black Season, and I enjoy displaying and using our collectibles as much as acquiring them, so getting ready for guests is a true labor of love.

There’s a lot that goes into maintaining and using a collection.  Likewise, there’s a great deal that goes into celebrating the holidays and important milestones, but all are well worth the effort.

To make room for this season’s accessories, I had to dust and put away dozens of our other collectibles, which took me on a pleasant journey down memory lane. 

The things themselves are nice, but remembering when and where I bought them—and especially recalling people who were with me at the time—is an important part of the joy of collecting.

During the past few weeks, I cleaned the house—I mean I cleaned for company—I really cleaned.  (Have you noticed how hard it is to make others feel at ease?  How much goes into making it so others can make themselves at home in your home?)

Getting into the spirit of things, my husband offered to get an early start on raking leaves, so we wouldn’t have too much Halloween atmosphere outside, as he put it.

My husband also made the time to go to our mini-storage unit, so we could bedeck our front landing with his collection of blow-mold Halloween figures earlier than usual.  He then helped me lug in eight cartons and tubs of decorations.

I washed and ironed four new autumnal tablecloths that I bought on clearance during last year’s Red and Green Season, which all of us committed collectors know is an economical way to pick up new pieces for our collections.

As for special touches and thoughtful gestures, my guy earned a vote for Husband of the Year since he thought to schedule our dog for a bath and grooming before the party, so my “familiar” wouldn’t look too shaggy tonight or smell too much like, well, the dog he is.

When hosting a party, something always goes wrong, but my guy came to the rescue again late yesterday afternoon. 

I was horrified when I realized I was out of replacement bags for the vacuum.  The choices I faced were grim:  No final vacuuming up of the dog’s fur or a canine-scented house after running the vacuum with a full bag.

My good guy, when he could have been resting at the end of a long week, offered to race across town during rush hour to get to the only store that sells the style bags we need—before they closed.

He also offered to pick up a hot meal, so I’d have more time to set the table for this evening’s birthday dinner.

I had already hauled out my casual orange and black ceramic dishes for display on my kitchen shelves—and for our everyday use.  (It just isn’t October in our house until we’re eating our cereal out of black bowls.)  My set of sophisticated black Octime dishes and glassware to use in the dining room were next on my to-do list.

As a careful custodian of my collections, I hand-washed and dried all the dishes and glasses. 

I was finally able to set the table with my black dishes, orange linen napkins, and a glowing glass pumpkin patch down the center.  (As elegant as my mass-produced pumpkins are, I readily admit they don’t have the same quality as the handmade ones sold at the Corning Museum of Glass or at our own RIT’s Glass Pumpkin sale.)

The table does look nice, even if I do say so myself, and so does the whole house.  Ceramic pumpkin teapots, cookie jars, and candy bowls fill the kitchen.  Black lace spider webs hang from the chandelier along with orange beaded garland and orange mercury glass ornaments. 

Autumn leaves, of the silk variety, fill blue and white ginger jars.  A vintage-looking Happy Halloween banner and two shades of orange tinsel garland preside over the living room, and every table has pumpkins, real or otherwise, sitting atop them.

My collection of humorous Halloween signs hangs everywhere.  They encourage guests to “come in for a spell” and then “eat, drink, and be scary.”  The whole house is aglow with fall colors; I’m ready to cue up “Love Potion No. 9,” and the only ghosts are outside.

Undeniably, showing off our collections is a matter of pride for most of us collectors.  However, it is also an attempt to share with others and to give them an opportunity to learn something new or to enjoy something out of the ordinary, and my husband and I certainly hope decorating for the holidays does some of that for our guests.

Once the table was set, my husband helped me again: this time in rearranging the living room furniture a bit to make room around our parlor table, so the women and I can set up for Game Night.  As aficionados of family-friendly board games, at least one of my guests will bring a game or two—or so I hope.

Although I have several choices, as you might expect, I’m less into playing contemporary board games than I am into collecting antique game boards.  That means my selection of games is paltry compared to theirs.  (What’s worse, for me, is that, even though I love the artwork of old game boards, we unfortunately don’t have any wall space for me to start that collection.)

Getting back to party prep, I tinkered with the rest of the decorations around the house last evening and made sure they were strategically placed and left plenty of space in the living room for my friends and on tabletops for their dishes and mugs.

This past week, I bought things for those dishes and mugs and glasses, too. 

My friends are bringing homemade lasagna, fresh salad, and crusty bread tonight, and I thought we might want to nibble on a starter, so I bought the fixings for an antipasto platter—to be served on my Octime platter, of course. 

(Of course, I also have ready a black baking dish, a black bread plate, and a black salad bowl with skeleton hand salad tongs, if needed.)

When I bought a jug of apple cider for the mugs and a bottle or two of red wine for the goblets, I was reminded of the reasons why bottles, labels, and crates are all popular collectibles.  Many not only have artistic graphics; many also have the potential to remind us of good times with family and friends.

While grocery shopping, I also picked up three different kinds of chocolate, to be displayed in Depression Glass-era black glassware, and then divided up and sent home in cute little Halloween loot bags because it just isn’t Halloween without candy, no matter how old you are.

Speaking of birthdays, the Birthday Girl, as my mother would have called her on her special day, requested a seasonal favorite, an apple pie.  Since dessert is my contribution to the dinner, my husband, once again, came through and suggested getting a pie from Leo’s Bakery in East Rochester. 

Although that’s another drive for my guy, Leo’s is the place for collectors of culinary experiences.  I’m pretty sure I could try a different dessert there each week and keep coming back for more.

In the meantime, it’s going to be a busy day for me—and a good one.

I still need to get out some candlesticks and vases, in black glass of course, and arrange some flowers, which I made a point of picking up because it’s a special occasion, yet lighting candles and arranging bouquets won’t take too much more time.

I’ve got just about everything else ready for my guests, so I actually have time this morning to go to the Antiquarian Book Fair and look for something I just can’t live without.   I’ve been several times in the past, and I always look forward to the books, postcards, and other paper collectibles.  Maybe today, I’ll find a vintage Halloween postcard or two that suit my style and that I can actually afford.

This afternoon is the local meting the Jane Austen society, when avid Janeites will tell of their experience at the recent annual convention.  These women are admirable not simply for their collections of books or things related to Jane Austen, but also for their appreciation of learning and gathering knowledge—as our my friends.

Among the many things I appreciate are my treasured collections, my good-sport of a husband, and my close friends.  I hope those friends who are coming to my party this evening enjoy themselves and appreciate my efforts.

Happy Halloween, Everyone.

Patti
The Committed Collector

Are you, too, a fan of Halloween trappings and the assorted things that make the holiday spooky, scary, or fun?  If so, please leave a comment and describe the kind of trick-or-treat collectibles that fill your home.

© 2019 The Collectors of Western New York museum
All Rights Reserved

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There ought to be a law.

As The Committed Collector, I love shopping as much as the next shopaholic.

I love looking at merchandise, old and new. I love second-hand shops with their endless array of surprises, and I love retail stores with their new colors and styles.

I love finding things that are the same as what I already collect, and I love recognizing pieces that will go with things I already have.

Most of all, I love being inspired by what I see.

I enjoy using what I have as well as displaying what I collect, and I definitely love decorating with my collections–especially when “the holidays” roll around.

A few decades ago, “the holidays” meant those in December. You know: The ones after Thanksgiving. Now, the holidays start with Halloween.

These days, they start rolling out the merchandise months in advance, and I think there should be a law to prevent that.

I know there are good reasons why people shop well in advance of the holiday. (Most likely so they can get the good stuff before other shoppers snap it up.)

I, however, love enjoying each holiday–one at a time–as it rolls around–when it’s supposed to roll around. Not months in advance.

That’s why I think the merchandise that I refer to as Halloween Horrors should be available only in October. Then fall foolishness can have November all to itself.

Then all the red and green that the elves have been working on all year will be on the shelves when we’re ready to deck our halls, not while we’re still packing on pounds from the Halloween candy.

I know this may seem drastic, but it’s the only way I can focus on one holiday at a time. Otherwise, I’m hauling home Halloween horrors, fall colors, and tree trimmings all in one trip.

Hmm. Where are my car keys?

Patti
The Committed Collector

How about you? Do you prefer to focus on only one holiday at a time, or do you like seeing Christmas decorations on store shelves in September? Why not leave a comment and share your preferences? We’d love to hear from you.

© 2019 The Collectors of Western New York museum
All Rights Reserved

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Two Ways to Corral Collections

The brutally cold weather we’ve been having in Western New York has kept me at home lately, which has been rather helpful.

Since my resolution is to spend less time adding to our collections and more time curating them, staying in and organizing what we already have is fine by me. The only problem has been deciding how to rearrange some of our collectibles.

You see, there seem to be two main systems of corralling collections: segregating them or integrating them.

I used to think it made more sense to segregate pieces, which means dividing up collections and then storing like things together, especially when it comes to boxing up collections.

All my postcards (even the seasonal ones) are in their own albums, for example, and our holiday decorations are boxed up not only by holiday, but also by type, such as “Plastic Figural Christmas Ornaments.”

(Yes, we really have several boxes labeled “Plastic Figural Christmas Ornaments.” Labels that actually identify what’s where are imperative, regardless of which system you choose.)

On the one hand, this storage system divides up items in a collection; on the other hand, it places similar things together, which often saves time and space.

I relearn this every time we move. For example, plates and bowls and cups simply have different shapes and don’t want to cozy up to each other efficiently. Since getting various shapes to fit nicely in the same box is a challenge, it’s faster and easier to wrap and pack dinner plates in one box and cups in another.

The problem, however, comes later, when all the various cartons need to be located and unpacked simultaneously to put a collection back together.

After segregating some of my china before we moved in 2011, I went without the saucers for one of my favorite patterns for two years. I found the individual boxes with the plates, the cups, the bowls, and the serving pieces, but I just couldn’t find that last box with the saucers.

We also decorated our Christmas tree with only our collection of plastic figural ornaments until 2017, when we finally unearthed our boxes of glass ornaments and were able to change things up.

Clearly, dividing up collections and separating them into similar pieces has its drawbacks, so now that the wintery weather is keeping me in, I’m rethinking my system.

I now wonder if integrating my collections would be more efficient—especially since our goal now is to use them or display them.

We’re not planning to move any time soon, so we want to have easy access to our things, which includes being able to retrieve what we want when we want it, which means my “china closet” needs some work.

I currently have my sets of china separated on their own shelving units, and my glassware on different units. I know where my sets of china are, and I know where my stemware and tumblers are.

Likewise, all my vintage tablecloths are together, and all my vases are on yet another set of shelves, and my husband’s assorted Currier and Ives tins and trivets and plaques and pictures are stored as tins and trivets and plaques and pictures (rather than farm scenes or city scenes).

Now, I’m thinking about integrating together the various pieces that I use together.

If my blue glassware were lined up next to my Poppies on Blue china—and my blue tablecloths and napkins were folded on the top shelf—wouldn’t it be easier to set the table for a family dinner?

If I included the two rose bowls that are in the exact same shade of pinkish red as the poppies in my china, I’d have easy access to them, too, and a ready-made excuse to pick up a bouquet of posies while I’m grocery shopping.

Similarly, if I reorganize a couple of shelves to house my mother’s Apple Blossom china and the soft pink glassware and vintage ivory linens I’ve collected to go with it, I’ll be all set for my next tea party—especially if I add my gold luster teapot, creamer, and sugar bowl to the mix.

I also have a few postcards with sprays of apple blossoms on them, so they could join the party, too—and our Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas postcards could be stored with our other Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas decorations. No need to hunt, no need to make an additional effort to bring all of our displays together.

Perhaps that will be how my resolution plays out this year. With each season and holiday, I could reorganize our collections so storing them takes a backseat to using or displaying them—which is why we have our collections after all.

Happy Curating to you,

Patti
The Committed Collector

And how do you organize your collections? Do you keep like things together, or do you store things that go together–together? Please leave a comment. We’d love to hear how you organize your treasures.

© 2019 The Collectors of Western New York Museum.
All rights reserved.

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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.

  1. Sorting through my current collections, and culling the items that no longer fit in.
  2. Making sure my inventory is up-to-date.
  3. Reading through my identification guides and learning more about my collectibles.
  4. Organizing my collections together, and storing them properly—and labeling, labeling, labeling as I go.
  5. Taking the time to rotate the displays around my house and to put up the holiday and seasonal decorations I have.
  6. Actually using the various china and glassware I’ve collected.
  7. Listening regularly to different CDs: classic rock, big band, and American standards.
  8. 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

© 2018 The Collectors of Western New York Museum.
All rights reserved.

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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

© 2018 The Collectors of Western New York Museum.
All rights reserved.

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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.

 

© 2018 The Collectors of Western New York Museum.
All rights reserved.

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Thanksgiving Collections

I’m sure there are all sorts of things we could collect to commemorate Thanksgiving.

I myself collect dishes with turkeys on them and amber glassware and ceramic pumpkins, of course.  However, I think there are other, more important “things” to collect to honor the sentiment of Thanksgiving.

For example, we could collect…

  • appreciation, gratitude, and thankfulness
  • beneficence, blessings, and gifts
  • gladness, happiness, and joy
  • family, kin, and relatives
  • home, hearth, and warmth
  • celebrations, dinners, and feasts

I’m sure you, too, can think of other “things” to collect that mean far more than the collectibles, decorations, and dust-catchers that we acquire.

While we’re thinking of all the “things” we have to be thankful for, let’s make sure we enjoy the upcoming holiday with the ones we love and let them know how important they are to us.

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone.

Patti
The Committed Collector

 

© 2018 The Collectors of Western New York Museum.
All rights reserved.

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The Best Reasons to Collect

A collecting friend and I were talking the other evening about ways to explain our interests to others, who have yet to be bitten by our particular collecting bugs.

She mentioned that people often become interested in collecting antique postcards (which is one of her areas of specialty) when they come across ones from their hometowns.  Maybe they were just wandering through an antiques store or show and noticed boxes of postcards, all nicely categorized.

From there, they probably noticed the boxes labeled by state and then the cards groups by cities, towns, and major attractions.  Once they realized they could recapture images from their childhood, they’re on the way to being hooked by the various charms of postcards.

However, reawakening childhood memories isn’t the only reason to collect.  In fact, I can think of several other excellent reasons to shop, buy, display, and store far more than anyone really needs.

The Best Reasons to Collect

1. Memories—As just mentioned, collecting items that bring back memories and feelings of nostalgia are popular reasons to buy vintage and antique items, especially toys.

2. Souvenirs—Likewise, picking up mementoes and other trinkets that will remind us of our current travels and experiences are reasons to shop—or to hang on to things like maps, tickets, and show programs.

3. Adventures—Collecting, often called antiquing, can be an adventure in itself and can get us out of the house and encourage outings to shops and markets near and far.

4. Usefulness—Collecting things we can actually use around the house means our money goes twice as far, so feel free to amass kitchen gear, wicker baskets, and antique furniture.

5. Holidays and Seasons—Linking our collecting with our family celebrations and traditions is another way to make our spending do double duty: We get the thrill of hunting and gathering as well as the feelings evoked by seasonal collectibles.

6. Attractiveness—Investing our time and money in beautiful items that can be considered decorative accessories and even works of art means we can surround ourselves with things we enjoy seeing.

7. Other Sensual Appeals—Likewise, collecting music or wind chimes is something auditory people will do, while buying games or puzzles that can be played is something experiential types will enjoy, and collecting textiles and stuffed animals is for tactile types.

8. Shared Interests—Another way collecting can help us feel things is by sharing our interests and adventures will like-minded people. The only thing better than an afternoon antiquing is an afternoon antiquing with a shopping friend.

9. Personal Emotions—Of course, the best reason to collect any genre is because of the way the things make you feel. Maybe colorful teapots make getting out of bed worthwhile.  Perhaps humorous ties make getting dressed up for the office bearable.  Perhaps landscape drawings make coming home even better for you.

No matter what you collect, or whatever reasons you have for owning things, ultimately it’s the positive ways they make you feel that are truly important, so make sure to take time to enjoy your collections.  You built them for a reason—or two.

Patti
The Committed Collector

How about you?  What are your reasons for collecting?  Please leave a comment and let us know.  We’d love to hear about your interests.

 

© 2018 The Collectors of Western New York Museum.
All rights reserved.

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Lunar Collections

If you enjoy marking the seasons as much as I do, you’ll know we’ve reached the time of the Harvest Moon, which happened to be last night’s full moon—or was it this morning’s?
Summer was supposed to go out with the embers of Labor Day cookouts. The nights have finally gotten cooler, and the farmers’ markets are bursting with both apples and pumpkins. Halloween can’t be far behind.

Soon, we’ll be transfixed by enchantresses or terrified by werewolves. Before then, though, we might consider the beauty and mystery of the moon, especially when it’s full and glowing.

Presumably since the beginning of time, people have been mesmerized by the moon, imbued it with mystical powers, and found it symbolic of many things.

Collectors, too, have been fascinated by the moon and its many guises. Just think of all the moon-related things we could collect!

Wordsmiths can have fun with all the terms that contain “moon” and compile quite a list:

  • moonbeam and moonlight
  • honeymoon and honeymooners
  • moonshine, bathtub gin, bootleggers
  • the moonwalk, moon rocks, lunar samples
  • moonshots, moonscapes
  • moon-roofs
  • being moon-eyed or mooning over someone
  • not to be confused with mooning someone

Avid readers, bibliophiles, and other book lovers might have libraries filled with these titles:

  • Carolina Moon, Moon Shadows, or Tears of the Moon by Nora Roberts
  • The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells
  • From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne
  • Full Moon by P.G. Wodehouse
  • Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
  • The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck
  • The Moon Lady by Amy Tan
  • The Moon Maid by Edgar Rice Burroughs
  • Moon over Water by Debbie Macomber
  • The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
  • New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Music lovers of all ages can find moon-songs for their collections that might include:

  • Rodgers and Hart’s “Blue Moon”
  • Frank Sinatra’s rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon”
  • “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s
  • Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising”
  • Duran Duran’s “New Moon on Monday”

Movies buffs can have any or all of the following films in their collections, depending on their tastes:

  • Moon over Miami with Betty Grable
  • Brother Sun, Sister Moon by Franco Zeffirelli
  • Paper Moon with father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O’Neal
  • Roger Moore as James Bond in Moonraker
  • Moonstruck with Cher and Nickolas Cage
  • The Twilight Saga: New Moon with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson

Of course, if I collected moon-related items, my DVD library would definitely include both the Roy Rogers’ film from 1938 as well as the 1944 version with Ann Sheridan. After all, I’d want it to Shine on Harvest Moon.

Patti
The Committed Collectors

How about you? Do you know anything about the comics or video games that feature the moon? Those fields are outside of my areas of interest, so I’d love to hear what you suggest–please leave a comment.

 

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