Monday, September 15, 2008

Collecting

I don't remember collecting anything when I was a child, but then I was one of seven children in what we would now consider poverty. I guess you could say I collected memories. When our children were young, they had collections. For my daughter it was stickers and horses. Jake, being a typical boy, collected things off the ground at first. We would take the wagon with us on walks to carry the sticks and rocks he "collected" as a pre-schooler. I remember bottle caps, too, and somewhere along the line, business cards. And pigs! We didn't have much disposable income when Jill and Jake were little, but her horse collection and his pig collection were serious endeavors, and therefore could be supplied through gifts at birthdays and Christmas from grandparents, aunts, cousins and of course, their parents. These collections grew impressive over the years, and by the time they were eight and ten, they qualified to exhibit at the Western Washington State Fair. The Collections Hall is still one of our favorite parts of the fair. As Tom and I became empty nesters, and with our kids' college educations paid for, we had the disposable income necessary for collecting. We began to enjoy antiquing, and it's always more fun to have something specific to "shop" for. Because our first hobby is gardening, we were attracted to items connected to gardening. Mine became pottery, especially old vases I could use for displaying flowers from the garden. Tom began collecting brass hose nozzles, old watering cans, and old garden sprinklers. While I can remember every piece of pottery I have, and often where I bought it, these pieces are easily distinguishable. Tom can look at hose nozzles, which look a lot alike to me, and know if it's a new one. As his collection grows, it gets harder to find different ones, but we still enjoy the hunt.

6 comments:

  1. Oh gosh! Art and I used to love going to antique sales and stores. We had collections of things like old irons, crocks, farm equipment. It was sad to leave them all behind. Well... actually we didn't leave them all behind. The garden nozzle is a very interesting collection, I must say. I wish I had something to contribute.

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  2. Wow, I didn't know there were so many different nozzles!!! Great collection. Thanks for sharing..

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  3. Love that you both collect! This is a great photo of Tom's collection.

    Both of my children were also collectors. My daughter has quite a lot of Star Wars memorabilia, some of which she "inherited" from much older cousins when they outgrew their toys. My son, however, is a collector extraordinaire. He has hundreds of miniature cars (mostly Matchbox and Hot Wheels but other sizes and brands as well), binders of baseball cards, files of comic books, and a garbage pail filled with the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles. All of these things are HERE. Don't ask. I have no idea what will happen if we move. As an adult, he has started collecting license plates and maps. At least those are at his apartment. LOL.

    My husband and I started collecting in a very small way when we began visiting the Southwest. We have a small collection of Native American pottery. Nothing terribly expensive. We have been leaning towards the smaller pieces because we have no idea where we would put larger ones.

    Thanks for an interesting blog post!

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  4. how fun, great collections and a fun idea. i remember as a den mother, my cub scouts made collections-think we made rock pets and then showed our other collections at a cut scout day. this gives me a good idea for an article on retirement. thanks.

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  5. Great collections. You should show case your vases and pottery some time.

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  6. You have interesting collections Linda...

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