SPOTLIGHT ON VINTAGE: VINTAGE COLLECTIONS – WHAT DO YOU COLLECT?

I love your doll collection, Karin! I see so many cool vintage doll clothes while out sourcing and always have to stop myself from picking some up, lol. Not enough room to maintain a doll wardrobe right now!

 

Karin, I love your Barbies. I have one--I think Donna Karen. I tried to interest my grand-daughter in Barbie without success. In fact, my efforts to interest her in any dolls were a failure. I have a couple of other dolls as well that I need to find homes for.

I have a small postcard collection from about age 12-13. My mother kept it. I need to find a home for it as well. What did you do with yours?

Charlie had a stamp collection and recently sorted through it to more or less organize it. One son is going to take it.

My mother saved "everything"--it seems like everything anyway, but the only collection was her genealogy books and they are useful.

Recently I had an email from a colleague who retired several years ago and we were discussing all the fashion stuff we had accumulated. Her comment was that she knew her children would have preferred that she collect stamps instead of Chanel suits.

The only advantage of the pandemic is that we have to stay home and have time to sort through our accumulations.

 

I have too many things I collect: vintage jewelry, postcards (unlike some of you, I still collect them!), quilts, linens, old newspapers and fashion/movie magazines, etc., etc.

But the one thing I love is collecting very old items that might have a real person's name on it. I then look up the name in Ancestry, find the most direct descendant I can, and then send that person a note, asking if they would like the item. If they do, I send it to them. It is hard to describe how excited folks get to find something from a distant ancestor, so, of course, it is so much fun to collect these things. AMAZING FUN!

Usually it is old photographs I find, but some of the more interesting things have been a lithographed family tree with pictures from 1888, two old diaries, and my favorite was a 1806 fold up "purse" with the lady's name and location (Philadelphia) on it. I admit, I was very tempted to keep that one--I loved it--but better sense prevailed. Often, when I tell antique dealers what I am doing, they give me a great discount!!!

 

I believe there is nothing a collector enjoys more than sharing his or her collection, but I revel in the collections that have been posted in this thread and I look forward to seeing more.

I am embarrassed to say I gathered over the many years more stuff than I would ever have the nerve to show here, but that is largely a byproduct of my age. I am posting here, though, a very small part of the stuff I have in my laundry room (where else?). I am probably going to dispose of most of it when we move in a couple of years, so I am taking photos as I go along. In addition to these laundry items I have an old washing stick, scrubbing boards, old clothespins and clothespin bags, the old heavy sad irons, a doll's washing tub and scrub board, tiny clothespins, a tiny clothesline, and more useless stuff.

When we built the laundry room, I asked the cabinet maker to fashion door handles from old clothespins and in the photo here you can see here what he created. They work wonderfully.

 

Great door handles Lynne. And Janine - so very nice of you.

 

Yes, they do. Are you looking for something among the boxes?

 

I *think* they are primarily just soap flakes, but I will check when I am down there again.

 

I have been sharing a few of my private collections on IG. Since I shot this today I figured I would share my photo here, too. Just a few pieces of my vintage eyeglass collection.

 

Thank you Claire, I didn’t know that about the Sophie dress but it makes total sense. It is so exquisite. You’re welcome to stop in and check her out, I’m down under

 

What a wonderful thread!