I was born a collector. It's a predisposition.

What do I collect......
antique punch cups
antique Haviland china butter pats
vintage green/white restaurant china
chamber pots ( thunder mugs?!!)
depression green glass kitchen items
Night Before Christmas books ( yes it's always the same story! but I collect different illustrators! I have 53 different ones including The Night Before The Night Before Christmas which is hilarious)
books, books, books
etc.etc.etc. :)

I need to weed out my things because unless it will fit in the pocket of a dark suit, I can't take it with me!!!

Yvonne

Hmmm... collections.

Well mostly I collect various versions and adaptations of fairy tales or folk tales. They can be in a book of their own, in a collection of tales in a book, on DVD, as a script for a play, operas or any medium really. I have them in various languages and from different backgrounds and cultures.

I'm always keeping an eye out for unique versions of a well known tale or for lesser known tales.

As an incurable packrat, I collect lots of things - including several cabinets' worth of porcelain figurines. One cabinet is devoted to the 'reading group' - each figurine is holding an open book with something legible written in it. The book can't be filled with squiggles that appear to be writing, but must have real letters or a recognizable picture. For example, I have a wizard holding an open spell book, with "Spell 177" written out in old english lettering (starts with "Take the breath of a fair maiden..." or something like that!), or a little girl with an open picture book in her lap where one page shows a house in the woods, the other a small figure dressed in red.

cheryl

I collect OOP books by Richardson Wright, pink Depression glass, LuRay china, Lenox snowmen, and just a little bit of Mary Engelbreit stuff, as well as the occasional kitchen chicken and/or rooster. If an author clicks for me, I'll also collect everything they've written that I can get my hands on.

yvonne-that's one reason I collect jewelry...hehe!

I collect books written in the 1910s-1930s about girls at college-the first generation that went en masse-they are SSOO painfully innocent, with house mothers and 9 p.m. curfews and taffy pulls and maids to do the laundry. I also collect authors I like-Angela Thirkell, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Cyril Hare--books about the Tudors and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor...and squirrels. One live one in the back yard-Lovey the Limping Squirrel--she's been around a couple years, this spring pulled the stuffing out of an old chaise lounge to make her nest-good old Lovey, I wanted new deck furniture! I also have been gifted with other representations, from an antique garden sculpture to a basket to an eraser.

TBR books!

Parties
Gods
Mountains
Nothing that fits in a pocket

I collect first editions. Currently, I'm collecting the Booker Prize short-list - I have all the winners. It'll keep me going for a few years yet - there are 219 in total (winners and shortlist - including this year) of which I have 98. I've also got a few of the long-list, where I bought them expecting them to make the short-list and they didn't....!

I also have a set of Stan Barstow and Paul Gallico first editions - in the latter case, both US and UK.

My wife collects plates on the wall and fridge magnets. I am considering buying her a new stainless steel fridge....

I used to collect playing cards, but I couldn't come up with a sensible theme, and I just ended up with loads of not-very-interesting packs of cards...on the other hand, it means that I always know where to look if I want a pack of cards in our house!

I have a complete collection of Agatha Christie paperbacks (Commonwealth editions only) and have just lately replaced some of them with Tom Adams covers, which are my favourites.
I collect souvenir spoons, some of which are quite lovely and some rather kitsch.
I have a collection of Royal Worcester Prince Regent china, which I would like to expand but for the price.
Finally, a collection of eggs, or rather egg shaped objects. Some are polished stone, some wood and some unknown.

I started to collect glass agates or 'railroad marbles.' They are clear to slightly greenish in color and measure about three quarters of an inch in diameter. The agates were originally produced in the late 1890's to act as coasters in frieght houses to move large freight items. I find the marbles along the set of tracks by my home. I think it used to be the Baltimore and Ohio line but now the trains seen are infrequent.

How did the marbles get into the ballast? That's the mystery, as no freight houses or depots are nearby. My dad's theory is that once the RR stopped using the agates they mixed them in with the ballast.

I found four more this past Sunday but much to my dismay I observed new ballast on the one track that is still used.

It's such a thrill to take a walk on the tracks and see the glass glittering in the sun.

Oh - and I also have a complete set of Jasper Fforde first editions!

yoyo, re your chamber pot collection. I saw a most interesting one in a 'Stately Home' in Yorkshire a few years ago.
They go by many different names here in the UK. The one I like best is guzunder so called because it guzunder the bed.

I am not a collector but look on with dismay at the DH's collection of piles. They can be found all over the house and mostly consist of letters that should have been answered weeks ago, 'junk' mail that he is waiting to sort through 'just in case', magazines and sections of the daily papers, packets of seeds, shopping lists, till receipts . . . When he was teaching the extra piles were made up of endless old test papers, both answers and questions.
I not so long ago, threw away about 35 of these headed 'O Level' Chemistry Paper 2. 12th June 1977' and am waiting for him to notice.
These start as small heaps on the corner of the kitchen table then move to the boiler in the chimney breast, or on any free stretch of carpet, but not until guests arrive are they picked up and shoved into the dining room (used only for high-days-and-holidays). So by Easter or Christmas I am just about at boiling point . . .only a few weeks to go and already I'm on the simmer.

Vee - it sounds like he needs to get a good piling system....

(Sorry - I'll leave now...)

Cookbooks, cookie cutters, cake plates old Haviland soup bowls and believe it or not, decorating sugars and jimmy type decorations for cookies. (They last forever.)

Dust bunnies

martin-the fridge magnets will still stick on the sides-only the front is magnet-proof! (neighbors just got one-she's disappointed, he's estatic-at least the "crowd" is corralled on the sides!) But if yours is "built-in" with cabinetry on all sides but the front, you're set!

Oh, and I forgot to mention ........ movies and CDs.

Veronicae -- I tried the dust bunny collection but, again, my cleaning lady keeps throwing out my collection. ;-)

Veronicae.........Oh! send me your mailing address and I will ship a big box of bunnies from me to you!!

Early children's books, such as the Little Colonel, The Bird's Christmas Carol, Otto of the Silver Hand, and early dog books, such as Ouida's Dog of Flanders, to mention only a few. Books about the early history of my part of Virginia.

English china, sea glass I find along the James and York Rivers, interesting stones, polished by waters, early postcards and greeting cards, and a variety of assorted "antiques."

I'm definitely a packrat -- it's in the genes....

I'm not much of a collector, though my husband does give me funny looks whenever I receive a book order or come home with new books.

I have created an ideal habitat for those dust-bunnies. They would be very happy in my house! They can have parties with the cat hair under our beds and furniture.

My husband has a collection of matchbooks he's collected at various bars and restaurants over the years. There are probably over 100 of them that he keeps in a glass bowl in a display cabinet. I don't even know if they make matchbooks anymore, given that most people use lighters of some sort these days.

My daughters would love to own every mermaid, fairy or little pony that has ever been made. I think they are breeding somewhere in the toybox right now.

Books, now by favorite authors but earlier just about anything. I can't get rid of them; they are like my children.

Pretty dishes, particularly pitchers and cake plates.

Items that represent to me the places I've traveled to; e.g., a night-time print of London from the south bank looking over Westminster Bridge (with the pretty lamps lit) at Parliament and Big Ben, a small Wedgewood dish, a couple of pieces of Belleek, a wool sweater from Scotland that is the only thing a moth has ever eaten a hole in but fortunately it was repairable, gold earrings from Greece, a small gold maple leaf pendant from Canada, a myrtle wood one from the Portland, OR, tree museum, and a stiffened lace one from Bayeux, a print from Paris, etc. I once bought some beautiful sheer embroidered curtains in Switzerland, but they sun rotted. I get something I will use or wear because I don't need any more "stuff." My stepdaughters collect fridge magnets, so I bring them home but don't keep any.

Chocolate from anywhere.

Books about polar exploration, and memorabilia about same. Old photos, prints, cigarette cards, that sort of thing.

But.....my lifelong collection, atleast since I've reached adulthood, is pounds!!
Yes, I don't find them all at once but have been able to faithfully add about 10 every 10 years to my collection.
I'd love to get rid of them at this point since I have more than enough and really hate to hoard things......so I'm earnestly willing to depart with some!

My collection has gone approximately like this:
I had about 120 in my 20's, found I had accumulated 130 in my 30's, then had about 140 in my 40's, then about 150 of them in my 50's....you see the pattern here?

Time to share the wealth!!

Small clear colored glass objects to put in the sun on my
windowsills
Small cat figurines and carved figures
Cacti and other succulent plants
Fabrics--can't resist a pretty one that I think I might put
into a quilt someday.
Songs from iTunes, especially ones that I loved in my youth

well I am definitely with the pound, dust bunny and piles of TBR books!
seriously-I have collected for years and recently decided as someone else said to go for the "minimalist" look so my basement is full of collections which I try to rotate upstairs-I am almost embarassed to tell all the things I collect or have collected in the past but here goes a "partial list"-
yarn ( I have a closet for it) and material for quilts
quilts-mostly crazy quilts or pieces of
carved santo figures
pottery storyteller dolls
angels
santas
starbucks coffee mugs
my dd has brought me something from every place she visited while in the navy for 6 yrs.(which is almost everywhere)
crosses
bowls
I used to collect pretty dishes and all kinds of antiques. I have been giving my daughters some things, selling some and vow to not start any more collections!!!!
I do know that I can never stop collecting books.

Books4joy........where do you live? I found your entry on railroad marbles so fascinating! Of course this stimulated my imagination and created a desire to find some myself!
I live near what was a big Erie-Lackawanna station and am wondering if they used such things.
My daughter's father in law is retired from the railroad and I plan to ask him what he remembers about these marbles and if they would be in our area.

Oh dear......there is my "collector's persona" going into gear again!

I used to collect anything with garden tools on it, such as mugs, trays, tea towels, cushions, curtains, stationery, pen stands, pictures, as long as it had a weeding fork or spade on it. I have also collected cookie cutters (hello granjan!), tea pots, miniature icons and book markers, but I tired very soon. Now I only collect rose books and silk scarves. The scarves have to be handrolled designer models from charity shops and must have cost less than 5 USD. This collection is manageable in size. My husband collects underground comics and has an almost complete collection of the works of cartoonist Robert Crumb.

Mariannese --

Wow! Your husband's collection sounds amazing! I imagine he's seen the documentary on Crumb? (It's entitled, funnily enough, "Crumb".) If he hasn't seen it, he should -- it's quite fascinating!

I forgot-cashmere-either from thrift stores or on sale. My motto-NEVER PAY RETAIL!

ccrdmrbks --

Cashmere? As in cashmere scarves? Ok, have I got a store for you! There are TWO outlet stores for V. Fraas in the upper state New York area -- one's in Lake Placid and the other's in Plattsburgh. The prices are quite impressive -- you get nice (non-cashmere but "cashmink") scarves for about $5 each. They retail for about $20-$30 each in stores. I was able to find some REALLY nice, thick cashmere scarves for about $20-$50 each. They retail for about $200 each.

Hello, my name is dynomutt and I like to shop. ;-)

I can't collect books because the library insists that I return them.

MY Dust Bunnies have names!

if only I'd known about the outlet when DD was in Lake Placid this summer!
Mostly sweaters, actually-can't wear merino or lambswool or shetland-but I don't get the itchies from cashmere.

Yvonne--

I live in the south central portion of PA. The line is now owned by CSX Transportation and I believe runs from Shippensburg, PA and extends to Hagerstown, MD.

This website gives a little more information about the marbles.

Railroad Marbles Railroadania Online

I hope you can find some!

Vanessa

Sorry to say but I am not a collector. Oh, once in my life I started postcard collections, coin collections, tea cups and stuff. But not anymore. Although if you ask my husband, he would say I have a weak spot at the Humane Society and keep "collecting" dogs. But I only have two. If I had the room, I'd adopt about two more.

I have two collections now. Books and antique but still working oil lamps. Books just seem to show up at my house unbidden and now they overrun the place. The oil lamp thing started after 9/11 as a fallback in case we had power disruptions. Don't ask why I thought this way, but I did and now I have about ten of them and a small stockpile of oil to run them. We chose to live in a small house and we don't have room to go overboard with much stuff. We have a simple life and the books compliment that look. Anyway, that's it.

cece, I am with you... never pay retail and it's not "used" stuff, it's "gently broken in". I never buy a new car and never buy new furniture, either.
PAM

Pam, your reference to not buying new amused me because I am in the process of hunting down a good upholsterer to redo a club chair and ottoman. The cheapest estimate so far is almost as much as they cost new, and the highest one is FAR higher than the original cost. My husband asked why we don't just buy a new chair. New one? I cry; there's nothing wrong with this one except the fabric on the arms is disintegrating. No call for a new one.

FWIW-some auto-upholsterer shops do furniture. One near my parents used to do cars and leather sofas.
Also-lately I have been seeing chairs done with more than one fabric-at a recent decorator showhouse there was a wing chair done in three fabrics. Seat cushion and front of back (there's a whopper for those learning English) done in one fabric, wings and arms in the second, and back of the chair and front under the cushion a third. all yellows, two prints and a solid. I liked it. Maybe you could just have the arms and the ottoman done, and leave the good fabric alone?

I know what you mean about the price of upholstery-I have a wonderfully comfortable red couch-the fabric is in horrible shape but I love the couch. It seems it will cost me around 1000. to have it recovered which is about the same price as the couch when new. It's so frustrating! I've seen the 2/3 fabric look in magazines. I think I like it but alas, can't think of a part of my couch that can be saved.

My dear-for a couch, there is always the possibility of slip covers!

Dynomutt, of course my husband has seen the Crumb movie, I am surprised he doesn't own a copy of it. But he has Crumb's record with his band The Cheapsuit Serenaders, the only wall space without book shelves in our library is covered with Crumb silksceen prints of old blues musicians and down-and-out characters from comic book covers. This means I have to share his hobby but I don't mind. I like Crumb, too. And my husband loves roses as much as I do, another hobby we share, so he doesn't grudge me my rose books.

I've seen those chairs with varied fabrics, too, and like the look but can't do it with this chair. The room gets a lot of sun and the fabric has faded, plus my red couch is a floral print and the rug is patterned. The room is the smallest of our bedrooms converted to a den, so I'm afraid I'll have to go quietly (the screaming at the cost notwithstanding).

Mariannese --

Great to hear he's seen the documentary. Any Crumb fan (and any fan of good documentaries, in fact) should see it. Here's to Mr. Natural! ;-)

thanks for the suggestion ccrd, but slipcovers custom made are practically as expensive-if I had lots of money I would have a warm weather set and a wintry set (with corresponding changes for pillows, rugs, etc) -guess I need to win the lottery.....anyway, I have bought and sent back 3 of the premade kind-none of them look or fit well-maybe because the couch has a small camel-back? I have a pre-made slip for a chair and ottoman that I love-muslin colored stuff which washes like a dream! enough blithering...

true-through word of mouth I was lucky to be put in touch with a seamstress who works out of her home and is very reasonable-but if your furniture is older but well-constructed, I'd still recover rather than buy something new that is stapled and glued together! S-I-L spent big $$$ on a leather couch and the frame started splitting within months. grrrrr.

That's what I was told, too, Cece. My living room sofa is c. 1965; and when I bought it, I was told it would last me if I weren't going to use it hard. Now they say not to replace it because it is so much better made than new things. Funny, isn't it?

Thanks for your help. I'm off tomorrow to look at more fabric swatches from the low bidder (who came highly recommended).

To get back on subject, I collect furniture!

The clock sounds fascinating. We have an old Scotish mantle clock handed down from a great uncle but its a wreck. One of these days we'll get it restored.
Do you use the Ouija boards???

So far the Ouija boards simply make wonderful artworks!! :)

Yes -- the clock is an old dear -- but a very fussy old soul -- with all the heat/dry spells in Texas -- it can be very tempermental! LOL! But I need to hear clocks running and chiming in the house .... really helps to keep the life in the house ...

Re: New or reupholster your sofa

I understand completely! We bought our sofa in 1968 and I have had it recovered twice. My logic is that it's construction is far superior to newer pieces and even if it costs $1000 to recover it, I will have a better sofa than if I spent that much on a newer one.
All the upholsterers who have worked on my sofa have remarked at the quality of the frame. There are a lot of short cuts taken in furniture construction today that are not seen but which affect the longevity of the piece.
New is not always better.

teacats, Your DH's clock has me green with envy. How wonderful to have such a treasured piece!

Sofas: I have an old sofa that was a wedding present to my grandmother when she got married in the early 1930's. It was in bad bad condition. I found an upholsterer who had apprenticed to the person who helped Jackie Kennedy re-do the White House and handed my couch over to him. I didn't see it for seven months and was beginning to think it was gone forever! The sofa I got back is still the same sofa, and I kept an old-fahioned look by choosing an antique-looking fabric on it, but wow! It is incredible. And much to my delight, I have a matching sofa in the basement from my other grandmother just waiting to be re-done. By the way, it was expensive but we've never regretted it. It was worth every single shiny penny. And yes, we treat it as a piece of furniture not a museum piece. It's one of my favorite places to read. especially when the snow is falling (it's near a BIG window). My black lab loves to curl up on it and the kids love to make pillow forts and sleep on it. There is no better tribute to such a gift than to use it and love using it.

PAM

Some of the best re-upholstery that I have ever seen was done by a young man just getting started. He worked in his garage after his regular job. Didn't charge much either!

Perhaps you could be lucky and find someone like him. He was wise enough to get scads of sample books. I don't know if he made a success of it because he was soooo careful and took a lot of time. Maybe it was more like a hobby for him!