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"SPEAK YOUR MIND AND RIDE A FAST HORSE"

Friday, August 19, 2011

Is There Such a Thing

as "Collector's Anonymous"??  I sit here in my domain and look around me and find I am surrounded by various collections of various things.

There are my Boyd's Bears, of which I have 200+.  Probably about 30 of them are out and about in this house, but in Alaska they were all out.  Tucked here, there are everywhere! Except for the motor home bears, of course.  People would get a kick out of spotting bears in all sorts of places.  And I have furniture for a lot of them.  When Maggie & Emily were wee little lasses, they would play with them {ever so carefully, with Grammy's bears!} and have little tea parties and picnics with them.  Sweet memories :)  But now that I am past my phase of collecting bears, what do I do with them all?  I thought about selling some of them on eBay.  I looked the other night and there were over 18,000 Boyd's Bears listed.  Seriously!  I don't think I need to bother even trying to sell any of mine.  A few very rare ones that I have, are ones I wouldn't want to sell anyway.

Then there are my chickens.  Glass, hens on nest dishes, hand painted artware.  I only have about 30 of those.  One was my Great-Grandmother's and I think that is what inspired me to start collecting them one day.  Some were acquired on eBay, but most were collected from Antique shops around the country whilst we were traveling.  I would probably buy more chickens if I saw some that I really loved, but I haven't even been to an Antique Shop in ages and we used to hit them all frequently.

Then there's my Depression Glass collection.  Holy cow!  I've seen people with more than I have, but only a few.  I am lucky to have some pieces that were my Mother's and my Great-Grandmother's.  Those I will cherish, but what about the rest?  I probably have 20 vintage vinegar cruets, 15 sets of vintage salt & pepper shakers, a lot of Westmoreland Milk Glass in the grape pattern, many Fenton pieces in various patterns; bowls, glass baskets, vases, cake plates.......Almost a complete setting for 12 of Indiana Glass Madrid pattern dishes in Amber and several pieces in Clear.  So many pieces gathered up all across the states from PA to Florida to Indiana to Arizona.

The Amish area just south of Elkhart, Indiana used to be one our favorite places to spend time and it was there that I would pick up most of my table linen collection.  Table clothes and dish towels galore.  I love them all!  I still pick one up now and then on eBay :).  It was also in that area that Chuck would find HIS collection addiction pieces.  Cast Iron Trivets.  Well over 100 of them.  He learned all about them and knew just what to look for.  We would have so much fun!



Then there's my Whimsiclay Cats
And my Alley Cat Figurines
And I must not forget my Mary Engelbriet Tea Pots and other little goodies
This is a really crazy post and I'm not even sure what the point is.  I think I'm trying to tell myself that it's time to decide the difference between my true 'treasures' and the junque and get rid of some junque!

Good God..........does this mean I'm getting......ya' know......old?!?

5 comments:

  1. I do think it's time for you to create a virtual museum (photos and database) of your collection. Give it its own web page if you like.

    That way, you know what you have, and you can connect with others who share your interests. The day may come -- not for a while! -- when you can't keep them or maybe will be able to make a dime from those people who could.

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  2. @l'empress

    That's a very good idea, if for no other reason than the fact that it will give Terri something to go by when I'm "gone". She does know that all of my depression glass and such is relatively valuable and not to sell it in a yard sale or give it away. I need to catalog the family pieces for her, in-particular.

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  3. My comment disappeared. I think you should ID the family heirlooms and valuable pieces too. I didn't know you collected chickens. I have over 250 pieces. Most of them are just "stuff" but a few are very special. I think as we get older we just get tired of clutter. But I don't want to just throw them away.

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  4. Well, I did get rid of most of my Beanie Babies. When I worked at a middle school, the kids made Valentine's for the children in the Children's hospital and I brought in over 100 Beanie Babies that they attached to the Valentines.
    My new obsession is vintage planters and knitting needles and yarn. I LOVE the Whimsiclay cats - they are beautiful!

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  5. @spunfull I'll have to take a picture of my Whimsiclay kitties on my mantle to post for you. I have a huge one that's surrounded by all the little regular size ones that I have :).
    Have you been collecting vintage knitting needles?

    ReplyDelete

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