What do you collect ?

suzysparklesalot

suzysparklesalot

Alumni
Hi everyone,

Just curious what you all collect. I wouldn't call myself a collector where I search out a certain item and try to accumulate all of them.
That being said I seem to have these little collections that sort of appeared over time.

I have a shelf full of colored glass paperweights, I have bookshelves full of books on vintage jewelry and clothes, shoes purses, etc.

I love old jewelry and sell it on etsy, somehow drawers full of
it made it into my bedroom.

I have a memory shelf in my kitchen full of things either owned by my mother or things that say mother, plus some pictures of her through the years.

I also have a stash of tin robots and space toys that wind up, on the window ledge in the kitchen. It makes doing the dishes a lot more fun looking at these little treasures.

My husband and I own a record store and over the years we have accumulated tons of rock and roll memorabilia. Autographs, posters, records, shirts, stuff of all sorts.

And than there are the clothes, shoes, purses, hats etc...

So for not really collecting anything, I have a lot of stuff.


What to you collect? Any Pictures?

Sue
 
Vintage Dress Patterns are the only thing I really collect for myself. I used to collect Enid Collins purses but had to stop and downsize a bit when my closet space became more valuable as dress storage. I kept my favorite 4 and let the rest go. My husband and I have a small house so it doesn't make much sense to collect many different things anyway as it gets cluttered FAST. He collects watches and old money such as red and blue seal bills and old coins. If you asked him he would say I collected shoes :lol:
 
It used to be 40's gabardine & shoes.

But as of Christmas 09, it is now Putz Mica houses - ornaments.

You can find them on eBay.

I'm also starting to look for vintage fabrics as I hope to get a retro biz going this year.
 
Fun question!!!

I have a bunch of 1950s barware including seltzer bottles, cocktail shakers and politically incorrect shot glasses.

Just inside the front door there's a old pickle crock filled with vintage umbrellas and near that is a stack of vintage suitcases.

I also tend to accumulate a lot of vintage trims and sewing stuff...but some of it does get used in projects, so I think of it as useful collection!
 
This is fun! I used to collect depression ware and Austrian/Bavarian/Prussian porcelain when I had a 1920's house that was perfect to display them in. Over the years I've divested myself of most of that, keeping only my favorite pieces, and have tried to NOT collect large amounts of anything. I do buy vintage bags and purses for my own use, but I'd say that was practical more than "collecting." I've "ended up" with a collection of vintage dresses in my closet that are mine but are too small for me, though I'm determined to fit into them! I also have ended up with a small collection of antique bottles, which I'm going to sell.

My current collecting phase is mid-century modern pottery/kitchenware for our 1971 house. We have stuff from the 40s through the mid 70s--especially a great ashtray collection for display (which started when I bought a box lot of them at auction that nobody else wanted, and I decided I loved them). Also includes drip-glaze planters, woven-straw-under-clear plastic 70's plastic tumblers and coffee mugs, ceramic sugar & creamer sets, etc.

DH collects books, magazines, comic books, etc. Which are piled to the ceilings in his office. And collector cars, which are on every surface in his office. At least my stuff fits in the china cabinet and cupboards, and on end tables for display....
 
Vintage costume jewelry, vintage clothes - that I wear, vintage purses that I use - some vintage hats and gloves that I don't use very much! I used to collect roosters but only have a few now. I also have lots and lots of dishes - and still have my cup and saucer collection and my cloissoné napkin ring collection. I have a lovely collection of turn of the last C. Chinese soup bowls. Fortunately there is a lot of storage space in my house!

Linn
 
I guess I do have some sort of "collector gene" I guess...

First, and most visible, are of course my dolls! I have somewhere between 350 and 400 fashion dolls, most of them Barbie or Barbie-size, both vintage and new. Recently I've accumulated quite a few vintage Sindy dolls and have completely fallen in love with them... Then I have some of the bigger dolls in the 15 to 17 inch range too... several Tonner dolls from the Tyler-universe, several Gene dolls (which started me in the "big girls") etc. I buy what I like, and with the big dolls, the focus is mostly on vintage-style fashion. That's one reason why l love Gene, Brenda Starr, DeeAnna etc.

I also collect vintage LPs - having been a Beatles fan since my teens, that had to happen some time. I buy just what I like to listen to, but with the Beatles, the goal really has been to find all the albums, and now I'm working on the singles and the EPs. I guess I have around a hundred vinyl records, and the range is as eclectic as my taste, going from opera to Bruce Springsteen.

Then I also have a small collection of vintage powder compacts - my mother started with that and got me "infected".

Of course one could also say I collect vintage clothes, handbags and shoes too - but there the focus is on wearability. I buy only what fits and I wear it (though I have more evening dresses than I have occasions to wear them...).

And last, but not least, I collect tableware. Johnson Brothers' "Old Britain Castles" in blue. My grandma had a 12-piece service that she got from a sister-in-law of hers when that lady moved to an old peoples' home. My grandma had always had tableware like that, but the one she'd had before had looked really bad and there were a lot of chipped pieces, so she was glad for the new one. I remember first seeing it when I was about 9 - I was so fascinated by all the different motifs! When I moved to my first own apartment, I got half of grandma's stuff, because she didn't need 12 pieces of everything just for herself. When she passed away, I inherited the other half. Nobody else in the family wanted it. And I can say, after over 10 years, I still haven't tired of it! Of course some pieces broke or got chipped while my grandparents used it, so I started buying up missing peaces at flea markets. And I kept discovering new pieces every other time, so I am always on the lookout for pieces I don't have yet. Yup, I have more stuff than I could probably use... :BAGUSE: but it's just so much fun. I have bowls and plates in all conceivable sizes, two coffee pots, mocca cups (they make nice espresso cups!), egg cups... So what's still missing? The soup tureen! The tea cups (as opposed to the coffee cups that I have)!

Karin
 
Originally posted by boncly
(I do hate to dust) But really, I collect chickens and FLAMINGOS! I even have a pink chicken. It's what happens when you mix the two. :BAGUSE:
Diana
Click to expand...
HAHAHA

Other than vintage clothing & accesories....I would say I collect old celluloid vanity items, funky 50's/60's ashtrays, vintage lamps, and anything to make my home appear more vintage! :)
 
Apart from today vintage fashion which you all know about,

As you young man ( 12 to 18) I collected coins well English farthings they were worth 1/4 of a old penny,
I spend a Sunday afternoon with my mum at coin fair looking for very cheep one in good condition. whist I got a lot of enjoyment from it, coin collection is not a hobby which other members of my family did not show much interest in
been excited over, finding a 1911 Farthing which I was excited over did not impress any one else as it looked just like a 1910 or 1912, and with time my interest faded also.
As you can see I still have them but do bother looking now for them, maybe I finish it off one day.
farthings.jpg


Later on I started collecting ladies hosiery, my first pair was from Marks and Spencer in powder Blue, this sounds stupid but i wanted to see what my legs look like " Blue"

After that when I went any where I would try and find a brand of pantyhose which I had never worn before. just to see if there were any different from the others.

I still collect hosiery today it's a subject that fascinates me partly about the history and how it all developed over the years, I like the art work on the packet and how the copy writers try and find new and exciting ways to describe what really the same product.
Mainly I think out of all the clothes women wear, different styles and fabric it's the most un-logical one as they so delicate and last the least length of time.

Also considering the amount of money and time a women wears hosiery you never really here any of them say then like or enjoy wearing hosiery, unlike say jewelry or there favourite coat.

There just seams to be many more paradoxes going on with hoseiry which you do not get with any other garment which makes it a interesting subject on it's own.
 
How long have you got?? :lol:

I've collected lots of things, going through phases of enthusiasms and then selling them off.

What survives is pulp paperbacks:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevira/sets/365283/

postcards:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevira/sets/1330993/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevira/sets/72157594588151471/

sunglasses:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevira/34782921/ (that's not all of them!)

Vintage clothing and accessories of course, but that's as much for my own wardrobe as simply 'collecting,' as I'm sure it is for most people here.

I adore costume jewellery so there's boxes of that, but I also am a big fan of Tatty Devine and have nearly 40 pieces of theirs (future collector's items, I'm sure!)

I've tried (and failed!) to restrict myself to paper now, so I am actively collecting old photographs, magazines and ephemera.

And just in the past year or so I've rediscovered my passion for silver charms:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevira/4200069437/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevira/4200822750/in/photostream/

Oh yeah - old plastics, such as 50s/60s melamine, bakelite etc.

I'm sure there's more, but I'll stop now!

Sarah
 
Ah, yes, vintage lamps! I have them all over the place, some in use and some waiting for me to get around to photographing to sell. I will use as many as I can around the house, though, before I sell any!

Angela, you & I should compare ashtrays and lamps someday!
 
Vintage fashion magazines especially from the 1960's. It's probably my favourite fashion decade and just looking through the amazing photo shoots it's easy to see why. The clothes were glamorous, exciting and so beautifully constructed. It's fun to read through all the old adverts too- they're so non PC!

Great thread! :USETHUMBUP:
 
Originally posted by vintagebaubles
Ah, yes, vintage lamps! I have them all over the place, some in use and some waiting for me to get around to photographing to sell. I will use as many as I can around the house, though, before I sell any!

Angela, you & I should compare ashtrays and lamps someday!
Click to expand...

Definitely!! :P
 
Ahh, yes i also collect the vintage fashion magazines from the 40's and 50's. And i guess you would say we collect classic cars as well. We have 3 right now, but there was a time when we were up to 5! So glad that time has passed. In the spring we will be getting a new car, so that will put us at a total of 4 cars all together. Pretty funny for a couple who both work from home and average about 10,000 or so miles per year on the road, LOL!
 
Vintage jewelry, lots of plain bakelite bangles. Vintage purses, scarves, gloves, hats, some shoes (I've downsized the shoes quite a bit) clothing.

Pink depression glass. Some turn of the century art glass and pottery. Also have a lot of mid-century glass and pottery and some great lamps.

A few porcelain dolls from the turn of the century through to the 1920s.

Vinyl records, lots of old jazz and 60s rock and roll (including the Beatles)

Lots of old fabrics and lace.

and old magazines too!
 
Sarah, I just love your collection of "sleazy reads"! Love those covers! I have a key chain that has a cover of such a book as a motif , and I have sometimes found postcards printed with trash novel covers, which I have used for my "willy nilly" collages. I think they are so much fun! And those titles, they're such a laugh!

Karin
 
What DON'T I collect? In this house, it's a fine line between "collecting" and "hoarding"!!

Our current collections include:

Mine -
-- Pink elephants. I have everything from old birthday cards to shot glasses to small ceramic figures & even a pair of children's (?) lamps!
-- odd salt & pepper shakers (my theme on these is... weird. I'm not into "cute". Has to be something NOT like you would expect!)
-- Kokeshi dolls. I now have about 2 dozen (including a S&P! Ha!). The smallest are a pair of earrings hubby spotted for me last weekend, and the largest is about 14" tall!
-- Pretty ladies! We have a whole wall of framed photos of real women from Victorian through 1950's.
-- Paperweights. My Great Grandma had a bunch of them when I was little and I now have about 8. Most of them have a little fishy or butterfly or something inside.
-- wall fishies! I have a bunch of them in my bathroom
-- HATS!! Lately I'm becoming obsessed with hats. Mostly 30's & 40's with a smattering of 50's. Tilt hats are particularly appealing to me.
And yes, I WEAR them! Ha!
-- small ceramic birds. I have them all on top of my 50's red formica china hutch. They're all being lectured to by a slightly larger wind up tin bird. :)

Hubby-
-- Catholic items for his little Catholic corner - lots of sacred heart items, catholic charms, small crosses, a ton of rosaries, Russian idols & whatever else catches his eye. I think he likes it mostly as inspiration for tattoo art. Heh.
-- Cameras. Nothing specific - just ones that look neat :)
-- old car books
-- Anchors - from wall lights to simple USN plaques

Both of us --
-- Tiki & Hawaiian stuff. We have actual carved palm tikis and collectible tiki mugs. Shot glasses & Polynesian travel art. Anything that looks like it would fit in our little tiki area with bamboo bar/china hutch.
-- TV lamps. Some day I'd like a whole wall around the TV with small shelves & hidden wiring so that i can flip a switch and have ALL my TV lamps come on. That would be awesome. Until then, we have about a dozen TV lamps.


Gwyn - she's now almost 12!! (Birthday is Jan 21st!) and a collector in her own right

-- hankies. She seems to gravitate towards ones that are either floral or have kittens. Heh.
-- Dolls. (I HATE dolls!!). She does have some newer ones that were given to her, but she has a decent collection of vintage dolls, too. As well as some of those big eyed Southern Belle style dolls from the 60's & 70's.
-- "Ugly" dolls. There's actually a brand of stuffed dolls called Ugly Dolls! She has several of them, plus others that fit into this category.
-- Rubber duckies
-- Pigs. Her nickname is Piggy - so she ends up with lots of little piggy figures, banks, etc

Oh, I KNOW I'm missing stuff in this list!!
And all three of us have constantly growing vintage clothing collections :)
 
I second the answer *DUST!* and lots of it.

I've downsized my hat collection to choice pieces in recent years. Mostly what can fit in my curio cabinets, which unfortunately are not nearly bright enough for proper display, but does protect from dust.

I have a lot of retro kitch on my desk, a few of Grandpa's Ford dealer model cars, an atomic style ash tray, an old colorful game board, one of those string tension toys from the 70s, an old camera, clock, lamp, etc...a hodge podge of things that tickle my fancy.

At home I seem to be getting a thing for decorated metal trays. I have a few small state souvenir trays, so I think I'll keep grabbing them (at least there's a finite end to that collection at 50), floral trays, kitch prints. I'll have to find a home for them on a wall when we move. hmm.

Things come and go for me as my lifestyle changes. I hold things, then sell them on, some things go straight to stock, some get to linger..that sort of thing.

Basically, if it inspires me or makes me feel warm inside, I'll collect it.
 
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