You ARE kidding, right?!?!?!?!?

I collected something pretty and useful...vases. Some are old and some are new, and can be found about anywhere for very little. I am in a small home, so I don't have much room (other than an unfinished basement) for a lot of extra unused things, so that is what I chose.

I've though that salt wells and butters would also be nice, and are also small and fairly inexpensive.

My home is a hodge podge of newer and old things in all rooms. You don't necessarily have to collect any one or two certain things.

For a while I also collected vintage hankies. Some are so pretty, and you can't find new ones as pretty as some of the old ones, IMHO.

Many of the dishes I use fairly regularly are Depression Glass. They too are both pretty and useful.

I'd say browse some malls (antique) and see what strikes your fancy. There are many inexpensive items to be found, there and at auctions and yard sales.

Sue

tula.lula-Kidding? No. Are you making fun of me because I asked that question? For one, try and be a little nicer. And for 2, no question asked is stupid, it shows your interested in what others have to say. Lets play nice.
chemocurl-Thanks so much for the idea of browsing! Alot of my family members have collections of things but it's things they have been interested in since they were little. I don't have that. I love going into thier homes and looking thru thier collections. My sister has always had a thing for Ancient Egypt. Her collection is gorgeous. I've always been interested in the history of the town I grew up in. Maybe I can start collecting old photos or memorabilia on that. Then my kids can see what it used to look like and be like.

netshound, I am NOT "making fun of you", nor did I ever say that your question was "stupid". My question was an honest one - why would you ask total strangers what YOU should collect.
No one knows what youÂre interested in or what appeals to you better than yourself.

Netshound -- I think I understand tula.lula's response. Many of us can't STOP finding things to collect!! Collecting is a serious illness.......and I don't want to be cured!

Your idea about the history of your hometown is good. I grew up in a very small town and have found many postcards and maps of it on ebay that I have bought for my mother. Books about the county history will also be a great supply of information.

I started collecting darning eggs because I love sewing and couldn't afford thimble collecting and darning eggs were much cheaper. I collect Mc coy flowerpots in aqua -- because I found one I liked and decided I needed more. I collect hand-colored postcards of the University of Illinois because I went there. I could go on and on --but you get the idea.

So the answer is -- find something that you love or that interests you and read about it and jump in! Try to study first --- and you are less likely to make silly and/or costly mistakes!

Cathy

I think your collections pick you. I had no real burning interest in California pottery, but I liked going to yard sales and thrift stores and finally, a piece just spoke to me. I liked the colors and the glaze and so I bought the little leaf-shaped dish. It turned out to be made by William Manker. I did some research, started looking for other pieces, and now have a good-sized collection. My first purchase was under a dollar.
If you set out to collect pig-shaped items or Harry S Truman memoribilia or whatever, you can find things to buy. But having a firm idea might keep you from the seredipity of just looking around.

I suggest you collect strainers. There have been strainers of all sorts from the earliest of times, made from straw and rush to pottery, china and even sterling silver.
Now, that decision has been made!
Without ever meeting you and with knowing no more about you than the fact that you are rather thin skinned and feel put upon when someone answers a question that is impossible to answer with "are you kidding?" I have told you what to collect
I know of no one who "decided" to collect something. They aquired one of something and another and pretty soon they were seeking them out. I do know someone who wanted to feel free to go into antiques shops and have an answer to the question of "What are you looking for?"..So she decided to say she was looking for Pomona goblets, first grind of course......and when the shop keepes said I am afraid we don't ahve any, she would say, well then I will just look around. One day she did find a first grind Pomona goblet and just had to buy it....and in the course of about 10 years she did have a small collection.

On second thought, I suggest you collect Pomona goblets. You will find it's a very cheap thing to collect because you can look for years and not find one.
Linda C

lindac, thanks so much for your kindness, you seem so sweet. Pomona Goblets it is. Whoo! I feel so much better now. Thanks!LOL!!

Be careful what you decide to collect and with whom you share your penchant! Long ago I decided to collect polar bear figurines. I added to it occasionally as I found something special. Polar bears are not all that common as a subject and I looked for some with elegance or nicely abstracted form. My mother latched onto the polar bear collection for birthday gifts, etc. She gave me the same made-in-China figurine over and over in different sizes. Some were even glued to chunks of wood. God love her.

Hi, Netshound ... best of luck to you and the most important thing is to do your homework on what things are worth. I have seen far to many kids and relatives of collectors sell to dealers at tag and estate sales items for pennies. I started collecting depression glass,milkglass,vintage garden items,vintage linens,bar signs ... until my garage was overflowing. Now the fun of it is selling on Ebay. You can get addicted to looking for goodies and making a 500% profit down the road. Enjoy yourself on a Saturday or Sunday, treat yourself and a friend or spouse to lunch. My hubby and I have fun weekends doing just this. Last week we combined a garden & house tour with our tag sales. Went to a gorgeous Frank Lloyd Wright house and a old Victorian. Had a great deli lunch near the water and found some items to resell. Enjoy and happy collecting.

How about cake stands? Or pitchers? or Tea cups?

Or you can start by finding one pattern of china that you like and start by purchasing one item and then when you find another one that matches your set then continue to add to it. It will take a while to have a complete china collection.

Maybe, antique, vintage mirrors. You can decorate a wall with these mirrors and it will be lovely.

How about silverware that has your monogram on it? These are fun pieces that you can mix and match.

Oh, the list can be endless, but these are a few of my favorite things...

Goodluck, hunting.

Elsa

What an interesting idea. To start collecting from the beginning. What fun!!! I collect sterling -- odd pieces of flatware, small nut dishes, now going to larger bowls and plates. I love the stuff. I also collect blue and white china -- English. Blue is my color, and I started picking up pieces when we lived in England. I love it.

I would suggest you walk through antique shops and maybe some shows. Eventually, something will "call your name".
You will love holding it. You will want to look at it and enjoy it. You'll know when you find it.

I would suggest you find something that you can use. Oh, also, I would do old stuff. You won't believe what some people will give you if you collect something more modern.
But, still love it.

One last thing. If you move a lot, I would not collect anything too heavy or tough to move (anvils come to mind). What a lovely position to be in. All of the best of luck, and let us know what you decide on.

I have had so many different collections over the years that I can't remember which was my first---Many years ago I collected anything that was 'Mother and child"--pictures figurines etc---for a while I collected pitchers--then it was teapots--then gravyboats---then Lenox china----You can imagine how crowded my house is---LOL I have at least 27 place settings of Lenox all different patterns----
How about pretty teacups and saucers (with roses on them)--then when your friends come over it is fun to have a tea party.

Of course I'm much older than most of you---LOL
I started an angel collection for my daughter when she was born--51 years ago---at that time they were difficult to find---usually only around Christmas--then as the years went by it seem like everyone was collecting angels---Of course all my friends gave them to me as gifts---One of my christmas trees is all angels and at last count there were over 400 so then I started a tree with just angels with roses --now that tree is full

So you can see how these collections can grow over the years.

This is the original Angel Tree-

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Here is the tree with angels and roses

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My advice is take your time and go to yard sales and see what appeals to you and before you know it you will have a collection.

Have fun!!

Florence

I have quite a collection of vases for all the roses I grow.

Vases are fun to collect because you can pick some of for not much money ----they are useful and beautiful.

Check out yard sales ---

Florence

I'll have that clock and those candlesticks on the mantle.....they would have friends at my house!
Linda C

Linda---for the first time in many years my clock needs to go to the hospital
In all the years I've had it it has never chimed the right time --JUst whatever it wants---I'm afraid when I have it repaired they will correct this and I don't want them to---I love the fact that it has a "mind" of its own---LOL

Florence

You don't have to collect something old. I have a friend who collects shoes....no I know what you're thinking. These shoes are the ones you see on the road. Really pretty funny. How do those people loose those shoes,boots etc? How about starting to collect something with your kids? I like the Christmas ornament idea. Maybe only 1 specail one per year per child. Then they can have them later.

I collect old metal lunchboxes. I started when I was in my mid-20s (so about 20 yrs ago). I had a favorite Disney school bus shaped lunch box in 1st grade so I started looking for it at goodwill, garage sales. This was before the internet was big. In the meantime, I bought about 15 boxes....and for 50cent to $3 a piece. I finally found my school bus box online several years later. Today, I have about 30 of them. The oldest is a Hopalong Cassidy box that I got at a garage sale.

I started mostly all by accident.My hubby brought home some equipment.In it was 2 copper oilers.I told him Im gonna clean them up bring them in the house.I now have almost 500 different oilers.Looks neat all kinds,sizes,advertisings etc.I then helped him get started with tobbacco tins.
I started a raggedy ann and andy I have about 30 sets.
We collect antiques in general including our 1700 farmhouse.also bought by accident we werent looking for a house.

Netshound did not ask what to collect, but how do you know what to collect. Maybe how do YOU know, or how do you KNOW, or whatever. So there are some good answers here. Also maybe there are some "what to watch out for: ideas--the (many) downsides of collecting; some folks might want to avoid breakables, or things that have to be dusted--so storage and care issues come into play, if you can actually control what you collect! You can try to analyze why you think you might like to collect "something"--don't do it just because someone else does, but maybe you admire or enjoy something about what a certain collection does for home decor, or you would like to become more knowledgeable about something, or time in history, or some place. So, there can be "intentional" collecting, or just happenstance, or both--I'll bet some collectors have found they had to change from " anything and/or everything" to some kind of focus.

When I first got married and we settled into our first house, I thought I might like to start a collection, but of what? I knew I liked antiquing, and I also liked decorative glass perfume bottles, so it seemed a natural fit...then the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake struck (I'm in northern California, Santa Cruz Mtns specifically, not far from epicenter), before I had invested in any collectables.

A couple things that made it through the quake very nicely were a couple of Chinese cloisonne birds a dear friend had given me. I also loved cloisonne, and knew that a collection of perfume bottles was not the best choice in quake country. So, I've been collecting Chinese cloisonne ever since, some rare antiques, some newer, some fun animals from San Francisco Chinatown, but always with memories of my dear friend in mind, who died back in 1992.

So I happened upon my how I know what to collect by what life threw at me. It could be something from your grandmother that you want more examples of, or an eclectic collection of corkscrews, or whatever calls out to you. It will find you.

I learned long ago to collect what speaks to your heart.

I've collected many things over the years. I've sold collections in order to make room for new collections. Both my DH & I love glass so it was a natural fit for collecting. We have several areas of interest including 17th & 18th century wine glasses (including flips) and decanters. We've also put together a rather large collection of 19th century barber bottles. I love the colors & decorations of these bottles. Our sunroom has exposed ceiling beams & the barber bottles sit on those beams where they catch the light from the paladium windows. They cast rainbows all over the room on a sunny day in late afternoon. They are stuck up there with museum gel.

My favorite pieces of glass though are our "fire bombs". These are little, squat glass orbs (about 8" tall) with molded "legs" of sorts so they sit flat. They are filled with chemicals to extinguish a fire. Most kitchens had cases of these glass "fire bombs". If there was kitchen fire...you would throw one or two of these "bombs" at the fire to put it out. But, because of their nature there arent' too many of them still around. We've got fire bombs made from amber, amethyst, clear, cobalt, & a few different shades of green glass. To go along with them, we've collected late 18th & early 19th century leather fire buckets. These buckets have a fun history.

In colonial New England, when there was a fire...everybody was expected to help put it out. Households had these leather fire buckets that held water. People would form a line from a water source to the fire & pass these buckets along the line with the last person tossing the water on the fire. After the fire was extinguished, people would toss their buckets into a big pile near the fire. Then, the town tax collector would go through the pile of buckets and return them. If you didn't have a representative bucket from your household...you were fined by the tax collector. For this reason, many of these old leather buckets have family names on them. My collection started when I found one in Exeter, NH with my family's name on it. My family was prominent in Exeter from the 2nd quarter of the 17th century (c. 1639-Revolutionary War) & I'm an amateur genealogist. So, this was an extraordinary find, for me. There is a garrison home still standing in Exeter that one of my ancestral grandfathers built c. 1690. It's a museum now. Anyway, someday, I will donate my fire bucket to this musuem since it bears the family name.

So, there's so many ways collections can start & they can be literally anything that catches your interest. And, they don't need to be permanent. You can sell off one & start another when you either lose interest or run out of space.

I tried to find a picture of a fire bomb on the Internet to attach but couldn't locate one...but here's a common barber bottle being offered on Ebay.

Here is a link that might be useful: 19th Century Barber Bottle

Sometimes I'm inspired by other people's collections, but generally it's just something that I find "curious" or reminds me of a special event in my life. My niece says i'm just a packrat and LOVE everything, so go figure. Maybe she's right..? hahahaha....When I was a child my favorite toy was the Barbie doll and as an adult I still love the darned things and own several artist offering one of a kind dolls. Years ago my great aunt introduced me to German Cutglass and oriental brass items. I own a bit here and there but the cutglass was too expensive for my budget (yet very pleasing to the eye). You need to ask yourself if you're looking for a small collection or something you want to continue adding to throughout your lifetime because this stuff CAN take up a lot of space. Maybe think about tiny objects and a shadowbox to start with which can also be inspiring. You are then collecting miniatures of things you like rather than jumping in headfirst. Just an idea of course. Jot down a list of things you like and want more of or collect for a loved one or friend.

Just this past week I have found that a friend of mine collects angels and a lady i met over the weekend has built in shelves along one wall that shows off her Hallmark bears. Very charming! Another tip----Almost anything can look good depending upon how you display it. Using ladders as shelves, journals for flat objects, etc etc. I'm sure you'll think of something:)

Good Luck! Hope this helps!

I'm not much of a collector at all (I have that "tidy illness" thing that causes me to throw everything out on a regular basis. haha).

However, that being said, a few years ago I received a beautiful Amish built jewelry armoire. I have always loved jewelry of all kinds, but didn't own much at all (not even enough to fill a small table top jewelry box), certainly not enough to fill an armoire.

So I started collecting costume jewelry from the 1920's to the early 1960's. I didn't worry about what it was worth, or who the maker was, I just purchased small items which weren't expensive that I really loved the look of. Mostly necklaces and bracelets. The best part of this collection is that I can actually use it, I do wear these pieces occasionally and my daughter and nieces just love to spend hours going through the armoire trying everything on.

For someone who isn't a collector, it was a good choice for me.

Acreage - one of the few things to hold or gain value. My house is full of bric-brac that isn't worth half what I paid for it.