What do you collect?

[Symarip]

A friend of mine from Europe commented last time I saw him that Americans are far more nostalgic than other modern countries. We collect shit: old shit and new shit that will one day be old. So fess up, lounge, what do you pack up in your basements and attics just for the sake of having?

Here's what I'm into:

Records - 60s Soul (Motown and Stax), 60s Ska/Rocksteady/Reggae, 2 Tone (The Specials, Madness, The Selecter, etc), and ANYTHING Oingo Boingo.

Old Technology - turntables (obviously), laserdiscs, stereos, appliances, and (now) HD DVD's

Old Cars - I have a 1962 Ford Falcon I rebuilt myself and a 1968 Vespa

Emulation - Once in a blue moon I'll go scrubbing the interwebs looking for emulators of old video games and computer systems I couldn't afford the first time around (I totally rock RC Pro Am)

I think alot of my need to have stems from growing up dirt poor and never having anything. What I have is pretty much an amalgamation of all the quirky fascinations that occur in my head.

[BarenakedLady]

1. Broken hearts

I keep them in jars in my basement.

[Symarip]

2. Can I have mine back?

I think I might need it for my next doctors appointment.

[BarenakedLady]

3. I never give them back.

But I may loan it to you...for a trade. :evilgrin:

[Symarip]

4. What more could you possibly want from me?

:scared:

[Guava Jelly]

13. Can I have mine back?

:mad: :P

[BarenakedLady]

31. NEVAH!

'smine.

[Inchworm]

24. Let mine out for air and sun on occasion

you can keep it. ;)

I'd just melt into the floor if I got any softer :D

:hi:

[BarenakedLady]

32. Squishy!

:hi:

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

5. I collect

in a random, haphazard fashion old dictionaries, books of short stories, and bad supervisor stories for a book I'm writing.
:)

[JVS]

6. dust

[barb162]

10. Hahahah!!!

Me too.

[NMDemDist2]

54. GMTA, but I was gonna add "bunnies"

I collect dust bunnies and great blowing hanks of dog hair

[Bertha Venation]

7. Baseball caps. n/t

[hamsterjill]

8. Music boxes

n/t

[guitar man]

9. vintage vinyl

I have started perusing vintage record shops again to try and rebuild my once mighty record collection. I lost about 3/4 of it in a fire years ago, but held on to what survived, now I'm starting to add to it again.

Also, old reel to reel tape recorders, I have about 10 right now but want to add more.

Vintage porno and nudie mags too. :evilgrin:

[IndianaJones]

11. comics.nt.

[redqueen]

12. Hmmm... nothing really.

I mean I do have a lot of turtle stuff and panda stuff... because I like them so I get that stuff as gifts and also buy it for myself. But I don't go out of my way to buy little panda or turtle knicknacks or anything... so I'm not sure if it counts.

[IndianaJones]

14. thats collecting. nt.

[redqueen]

16. Ok... I collect turtle and panda stuff, then.

I must be a halfhearted collector though, cause I haven't personally added to my meager collection in years. It's mostly been gifts.

[Pendrench]

15. Business cards from bookstores.

I guess you could also say that I collect books...but I really just buy books that I want to read (as opposed to collecting first editions or the works of a particular author).

Tim

[1gobluedem]

17. Tacky souvenirs

I have three shelves of them in my office.

I also collect 'malt shop lit,' YA teenage series books from the 40s, 50s, and 60s.

[mwooldri]

18. Bills. and more Bills.

That's the only thing I seem to be any good at collecting these days.

Mark.

[Heidi]

19. I'm not sure I'm really a collector,

but I have amassed an embarrassingly large collection of:
- Fountain pens (Mont Blanc, Pelikan, Caran d'Ache)
- Vintage books on law, natural and creative sciences and the occult (I limit this to the late 1800s to the early 1960s) in Latin, German, Italian, French and English.
- Feathers
- Old newspapers (but only during a specific period in a specific region in a specific US state)

Lately, I've developed a keen interest in phrenology, mostly as part of my art, and the only thing I've asked CMW to give me for Christmas is an antique phrenology head.

[GOPisEvil]

53. I have some old fountain pens as well.

All of them Parker "51" models. :)

[Inchworm]

20. Everything!

Books
Beer cans
cool containers
wine bottles
old clothes
pens and writing things
keys
hugs
hats
change
evil figurines
skulls
candle wax
pop top dohickies
recipies
reusable grocery bags
cloth
wood
tools
poems
hard candies
cell phones
speakers
parts (any kind)
rocks that look cool
shades
photos
cooking gadgets
etc

LoL.. that was a quick list. Chances are.. if you need it, I gots it :D

:hi:

[Heidi]

21. Honey, you need

to take up assemblage and collage. If I had half that sh!t, I'd be in arteest heaven, but Switzerland's a small country that recycles everything, so even if I had space for half that sh!t, somebody else has already repurposed it. :cry:

:*

[Inchworm]

25. I live in an assemblage of collagery

I'm not quite to the "did you see that guys house on the news with stacks of newspapers to the ceiling" stage yet though. I kinda got lucky living in a 2-story farm house with access to all the rooms except one I'm letting my brother stay in :D

BTW: I collect newspapers and relatives too.

:rofl:

[Art_from_Ark]

74. I collect Swiss coins

and banknotes, too. You can send any extras my way-- I'll gladly take them! Preferably banknotes with zeroes at the end!

[Heidi]

79. :spank:

Smarty pants. :rofl:

:hug:

[Art_from_Ark]

81. If you have any Swiss 20 franc gold coins

I'll gladly take those off your hands, too! I'm not picky! :bounce:

[meegbear]

22. Souls

[dolo amber]

23. Nerds.

[Oeditpus Rex]

26. Marvins

[stuntcat]

27. old cameras and old photographs

and taxidermied animals }(

[mcctatas]

28. Dipshits wearing pink polos and gamecocks hats...

it's like they are mass produced just to follow me around at bars! :crazy:

[Symarip]

30. That's what (or who, I suppose) you keep in your basement?

I guess I best be on the look out for a pink polo for sale.

[mcctatas]

34. I have to keep them locked up somewhere!

some say basement, some say deep unmarked mass grave :evilgrin:

[BlueIris]

29. Tori Amos CDs.

:-)

[dropkickpa]

33. Nothing

I hate knick knacky shit, hate dusting, hate stuff that just sits there not being used, hate organizing things, so I suck at collecting stuff. I collected Garbage Pail Kid cards as a kid (when they first came out) but other than that have never had the desire for stuff.

[datasuspect]

35. TANF

[siligut]

36. Small things.

Monkey and cat figurines. Only the special ones like the red, plastic finger puppet monkey I got for my birthday this year. Also, I have all of the state commemorative quarters, just got Hawaii yesterday! Now I need Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, etc.

[Symarip]

37. I almost got into the coin thing

But it's just too huge of a commitment.

[kentauros]

38. Mostly digital stuff these days...

I've got large image archives for centaurs, djinn and another large archive of music of many flavors :)

I don't collect physical stuff much anymore, though I do have a fair number of comics (non-superhero) in eight long-boxes, and several magazine-sized boxes for the graphic novels and old Heavy Metal issues. My kitchen is well-stocked for equipment as is my cookbook shelf, so I'm good there.

I suppose whenever I have a house I'll likely get a decent gardening set of tools, hopefully older, sturdily-built pieces, whether I have to go to Smith & Hawking or antique dealers. They will be put to use, though, so no packing away the 40-pound all-steel posthole digger, turning fork, scythe and so on ;)

[BarbaRosa]

39. Shot glasses

[Wapsie B]

80. Yeah me too!

[bobd0]

40. Guitars

But when I have too many I sell one or two then inevitably purchase others and continue the cycle. The technical term for this condition is G.A.S. (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome).

The total is currently four and all four are keepers -- at least for now. :)

[Westegg]

41. Arts&Crafts, Victorian furniture, Led Zeppelin bootlegs...

..and Art Deco/Streamline Moderne ANYTHING, from living room sets to kitchen appliances to Telechron clocks to Felix the Cat and '39 World's Fair trinkets. And anything Bakelite. Also rock vinyl from '60s and '70s, and first-edition books (my wife favors Henry James and Edith Wharton). Political pins. Oriental rugs. Fire-King Turquoise Blue dinner-ware from the mid '50s. Also, American coins-- I am trying to get the finest examples I can afford for every coin ever issued. This will take me the rest of my life.

[Symarip]

44. I think you might give me a run for my money

That's alot of old shit.

[Westegg]

45. Wish I had enough money to indulge all my passions!!!

[Midlodemocrat]

42. Dust.

[jobycom]

43. Debt.

And I know it will be valuable one day, so I plan to pass it on to my children.

[Gonzo Gardener]

46. I have a serious problem. My husband refers to our house as "The Museum"

Handcrafted, Functional Pottery & Antique Ceramic Tiles

Folk (Outsider) Art & Sculpture

Recycled Art & Sculpture

Handmade, Handwoven, Modern, Vintage, & Antique Textiles

Antique Furniture

Vintage Magic & Circus Posters

Globes, Old Maps, Art & Architectural Books

Ceramic, Wood, & Tin Molds (for chocolates, cookies, cakes, butter, breads, etc...)

Old Wooden Bowls & Cutting Boards

Copper Kitchenware

Wine Bottle Corks *hic*

Natural Stuff, like, Feathers, Gourds, Seed Pods, Pine Cones, Rocks, Shells, Bones etc...




Ok, that's the worst of it. I could add more to the list, but I'm keeping a few skeletons in my closet. I might even have a few old records boxed up in the attic that you'd recognize.;)

[Blue Diadem]

47. Oil/kerosene lamps, cookbooks

and I have a basket collection in several boxes in the attic somewhere. Just things I picked up at garage & barn sales through the years for not much money. I have oil lamps from the 1880's and turn of the century, the rest are from 20's to present day.

We still have my DH's records from the 60's/70's and the 8-tracks too.

[laylah]

48. memories nt

[peruban]

49. Books and dust.

I have a personal library with over 1,200 entries.

[ghostsofgiants]

50. The souls of my defeated enemies.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

51. Fat.

[sakabatou]

52. The love from my SO, Mia

[bamademo]

55. I collect Barbies from the 60's as an investment.

I have ponytails, bubblecuts and American Girls plus lots of clothes and accessories. Look them up on Ebay. Those things are like gold even during a horrible recession.

[Kat45]

68. I'm glad to hear that about Barbies.

I still have all my Barbie stuff from the '60s and I'm hoping to sort it out and start selling it.

[Initech]

56. Music CDs, mainly progressive rock

But I also have a lot of reggae, punk, heavy metal, hip-hop and jazz.

[Mutley]

57. Books.

I read a LOT, and I never, ever get rid of a book. I even still have most of my books from childhood.

I'll need a house to make my own library pretty soon. :P

[ogneopasno]

58. Lake Superior agates, union and labor ephemera, books, IHC pickup trucks, and so on.

[KittyWampus]

65. I love agates. Do you cut and or polish them?

[KittyWampus]

66. Antique sewing tools, antique lace, antique cameos, Zuni & Navajo fetishes, lampwork glass

[ogneopasno]

83. I polish them...sometimes. I'm not very good at it, so often I just leave them.

[Stuart G]

59. Old Calanders..Ok...87 and 98 are good for 2009...I bet you didn't

know that you could put them up, and if they do not show the year, no one knows...

Thank you from the twisted mind of Stuart G...
ps..I got some 87s to sell cheap if you are interested....eh?
:wow:

[begin_within]

60. Fireworks, old and new

[Starbucks Anarchist]

61. Bodies.

;)

[Connonym]

67. I find it's less space consuming to just keep the skulls

who has room for all those bones?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

69. You have to stack them like Tetris.

:hi:

[Connonym]

71. Awesome, I LOVE tetris!!

[Starbucks Anarchist]

73. Have you seen Tetris furniture?

http://www.bravespacedesign.com/product_tetris_flat.php

$120/block, though. :wow:

[dixiegrrrrl]

62. Weird clock advertisements.

You've seen them...one page inserts selling an over decorated clock, very excited prose telling you why you MUST ACT NOW to buy this thing from the Bradford Exchange, for "only" 4 payments of of 39.95 ( plus shipping and handling).
here's the story.
My poor Mom...rest her soul- collected this crap.
She had all 35 of them on one wall.
Behind the sofa. Across from the tv. Small room.
Eery damn one of them made a sound. On the hour. And moved and ticked.
With the tv on loud to compensate for the clock booming, because god forbid you should miss a single damn commercial on the hour.
My visits were short, and timed carefully.
I gave them to her sister after the funeral. Aunt profusely thanked me, said "I have always admired these".
Then I moved across the country where no one had any idea...you can see why.
( I heard Aunt got Alzheimer's 5 years later, forgot why she wanted them, gave them to Goodwill.)
20 years passed, and then, for some reason a couple years ago I started to get off on the advertisements that fell out of magazines, each one struck me funnier than the last.
Tacky heaven. So now i have stacks of them.
Once in awhile I convince Mr. d. I am going to actually buy one and he get real pale.

A couple of favorites:
An eagle clock which screams "AMERICA!!!!" at noon and midnight and road flares shoot out everywhere and it dials 911.
A cuckoo clock in the shape of a burning building, with firefighters popping out every hour. Also instead of a cuckoo noise there is a fire engine sound.
My favorite is the " the Genuine Civil war clock" where the cannon comes out on the hour and,
I am promised in breathless prose, BOOMS the hours.
Pic here:
http://tinyurl.com/6ldvt7

Tempting to get that one for the guest room.


edit: shorten a long link.

[mopinko]

63. chickens

not live chickens. my favorites are the old hen and basket candy dishes. but i have a lot of other goofy chickens.
DH is the one with the 'reliving his childhood' thing. toy cars.

[DarkTirade]

64. Ideas. Useless bits of knowledge.

My brain is a suppository of useless knowledge.

[woo me with science]

76. Umm...."suppository"?

I reeeeeally hope you meant "depository." :rofl:

[DarkTirade]

82. No, I meant what I said.

I can pull all sorts of useless knowledge out of my ass. :P

[woo me with science]

85. bwah! nt

[Pierre.Suave]

70. apparently I am collecting...

expensive phono cartridges...now I just need to start collecting some records and it will be worth it...

[Aristus]

72. Autographed first editions.

It's in my user profile.

[elshiva]

75. ....

[Richard Steele]

77. I collect rusty bits of metal I find on the sidewalk...

And vintage menswear, when I have extra $$$.
That collection has been seriously scaled back recently,
but I still have a few dozen of the best suits, and
around 400 vintage neckties.

[backwoodsbob]

78. empty Budweiser cans

[AirmensMom]

84. Thimbles.

They're small enough ... don't take up a lot of room. I have them from all over the world. Some were gifts and some I collected myself. I don't have one from Charlotte yet for some reason, even though two of my friends, my husband, and I have all flown into or out of that airport. Go figure. :shrug: I have a Brazillion of them from FL!