If you were to collect something..

M

Murchu

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..what would it be, and why ?

I'm not a collector, but curious as to the mentalities/ philosophies behind collecting, and the things people choose or are interested in collecting.

For me, if I were a collector, I think it would most likely be classic advertising, which always appeals to my cultural/ sociological curiousities and how advertisers see those how buy their products. Postcards also appeal to me, and with my love of travel, perhaps even something like stamp collecting, as nerdy as that seemed to me when much younger, and probably still does to the world at large.
 
I'm not a camera collector, buy my wife thinks I am. I do have some 30 or so. And I have obtained cameras for their uniqueness as much as for usability. I once collected special issue stamps as well as commeoratives by the sheet. A house fire cured that.

But as I said, I am not a collector, and don't really desire to be one. If I were, I suppose it would be cameras and other photographic gear that I could also use.

If you don't consider yourself a collector, why do you ask?
 
I don't know if collecting is what you call this but I like to have items from the year I was born (1969), I like that feeling of "Being from the same era as the stuff I am using". Unfortunately cars from that year are no longer just vintage but are now called antique and I don't have one (yet).

GLF
 
I would not like the tyranny of collecting, although I probably have a disposition. It would definitely be model cars, starting with a Corgi Bentley Continental which I once owned in 1965. I like the pianist Richter's anti-collecting mentality, not playing all of the Beethoven Sonatas or all of the Bach Preludes and Fugues. Borges frowned on the long book when a shorter had accomplished the same task. I try to proof myself against falling into collecting.
 
I don't consider myself a " collector" but I do buy hand painted (one of a kind) Burmese fortune teller signs off of the sellers on the streets of Yangon every time I go to Myanmar....they are super sweet signs and I have built up a pretty nice collection...Most of the fortune tellers on the streets in Yangon know me by now and they always hook me up....

cheers, michael
 
I was collecting unusual 1/2 frame cameras, but stopped once I was laid off. You can't take it all with you. Having a child, supporting a family, proved to be much too important of a responsibility to ignore.
 
I'm not a collector... and have learned from the past. I've collected records in the past and now that I'm not interested they take up more space than I'd like to allocate. In the process of selling the more valuable ones. Today, photobooks seem to get collected, but then again another space issue. I try to keep it to the really good ones though.
 
I can see space being an issue, I'm a minimalist at heart, but a bit of a hoarder in practice :) I'm not sure collecting has to be so tyrannical though, I think the whimsical aspect of collecting something you like, without regard to a complete collection, or a valuable one, could be appealing.
 
I collect mechanical and optical tools that were made before and during the industrial revolution. Mostly antique large format lenses. The reason is the craftsmanship in the 1850s to the 1930s was much, much better than the molded plastic and pot metal consumer items of today. Did you know a large portrait lens in 1925 cost as much as a new Ford car? Did you know there was approximately 1 man-year of labor that went into an American pocket watch? That a Colt pistol was assembled, checked, then disassembled and adjusted several times before going to finishing, where it was hand polished to a mirror finish? Gibson mandolins, Miller hand drills, Rochester field cameras are so well finished it would cost hundreds of times more to produce today, and they would be unaffordable. Craftsmen in the era spent a lifetime at their job, and the items were meant to last two lifetimes. Unless you buy a Rolex or a $10,000 Collins custom guitar, you cannot buy that craftsmanship today.

I bought a 1915 geared hand drill the other day for $15. It has lasted 100 years. How long will a $15 Harbor Freight drill last? A year? In a nutshell, I buy 100 year old quality that you cannot buy today, and for a tiny fraction of what it cost to build back then.
 
I collect pocket knives now. I started last October while in Paris. I picked up 5 handmade pocket knives at small shops around Paris. I am now buying knives from countries I went to previously. Now when I go I will find a cutlery shop and buy a nice handmade pocket knife as a memento.
 
An interesting, and wide variety of replies, for those who would collect, or do collect, why that thing in particular..
 
Past tense. I have collected for the knowledge of a topic, not the topic.

In no particular order: coins, stamps, bicycles, cars, model 1/43 cars, motorcycles, cameras, Danish a/v, early Apple, WWII books, aviation books, mmm... a few other things I suppose. I just enjoyed learning, hunting, buying, enjoying, and then selling. A lot of what I mentioned, I no longer have ... but I keep the knowledge forever.
 
I like that way of putting it. I think knowledge is the main attraction for me too. Every hobby (and I've had a lot) I've ever had involves history, so that's a major drive for me.
 
Today I was reading a list called 40 rules to live by. Written with a tongue in cheek I never the less am now inclined not to admit to collecting anything after reading rule number 16

" 16. Be careful about publicly discussing your hobbies, as most hobbies strike people as somewhat pathetic: most notably, collecting stamps, coins, or anything else, bird-watching, bowling, rockhounding, spelunking, table tennis, poetry, dog shows, chat rooms, polka music, yoga, herpetology, marathon running, and religion. The only hobbies you can safely own up to when among people you need to impress are fly-fishing and golf."

There are other pieces of advice that sounded good to me like.........

"1. Never ask a woman if she wants to have sex by asking her if she wants to have sex."

"8. Yes, speak softly and carry a big stick. But don't mumble. And don't swing the stick."

and

"38. Going insane while watching a great football game is a sign of mental health."

 I am still smiling.

The list may be found here.

http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/pursuit_of_happiness/

PS OK I confess, I collect such lists.
 
peterm1 said:
...Be careful about publicly discussing your hobbies, as most hobbies strike people as somewhat pathetic: most notably, collecting stamps, coins, or anything else, bird-watching, bowling, rockhounding, spelunking, table tennis, poetry, dog shows, chat rooms, polka music, yoga, herpetology, marathon running, and religion. The only hobbies you can safely own up to when among people you need to impress are fly-fishing and golf."
...
The list may be found here.

http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/pursuit_of_happiness/
Click to expand...

I used to subscribe to Mens Health years ago. Looks like it's going even more homogenized, mainstream with it's advice as ever. Be cool, by being identical. I know it's tongue in cheek, but I CERTAINLY don't collect for "....people you need to impress."
 
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