The 'Collector' gene - have you got it?

[badger123]

Originally Posted by Peter J

Still collecting then, gents?

Afraid I'm a bit old for that kind of collecting! Besides, the wife accepts (well sort of) the badge mistress that keeps coming into the house.

[peter4447]

Can't claim anything so exotic but as a youngster used to collect matchbox labels (living at a seaport we often used to get some unusual 'foreigners' washed up on the seashore thrown from visiting ships). Sadly packets of labels then started to be sold in shops which were probably not genuine or at best repro - some things never change!).
I also used to collect the little triangular cheese labels as there were many brands on offer in the 50's.
Looking back to those times such things as Razor blade packets, cigarette packets, beer mats were all collected by school friends with great enthusiasm.
Peter

[Phil2M]

Stamps, model soldiers, coins, live creepy crawlys, fruit stickers, match books and beermats, skulls (mainly hedgehog and fox but also bird and cat), bullets and ammo, general militaria,all long gone, its cap badges all the way now.

I was an odd child.

Phil

[Mike]

Bottles.

Old bottles - skive off school to go and dig an enormous hole in the ground for bottles.

Bottles, bottles everywhere and not a drop to drink; bottles bottles everywhere enough to make you blink!

Still have quite a few in the attic.

This is the very first, the culprit that triggered my collecting bug:

[Traist]

Originally Posted by phil2m

Stamps, model soldiers, coins, live creepy crawlys, fruit stickers, match books and beermats, skulls (mainly hedgehog and fox but also bird and cat), bullets and ammo, general militaria,all long gone, its cap badges all the way now.

I was an odd child.

Phil

This sounds like me. I also collected many different things. Now I only collect South African Badges, even though I do still have a good Coca-Cola collection in the attic.

[Phil2M]

More recently i collected logo pub glasses.

I think its a good way to find your niche. start with a good variety and dwindle it down.

Phil

[LONGSHANKS]

I believe you have something there Peter on the hunter gatherer etc. I think I may have you all beat on the most odd early collecting that comes to mind.

My earliest collecting believe it or not was the condiments (salt, sugar,pepper, napkins, the wet and dry one's, knives and forks, stirring sticks with the names on, etc etc) from such likes as

KFC, and fast food places
Airlines, I travelled on
hotels (foreign and domestic)
Little Chef,( now theres' a name from the past)

I use to keep them in the boxes I got from KFC. When I got to the point of having at least 25 filled with this stuff; I came home one day and it was all cleaned out. I have to say since that day anyone touching my stuff get's a full broadside.
The thing I do wish I still had is the complete set of dinner ware including menu, silver ware, plate etc for the first Concord flight. That's something that just disappeared over the years...... god knows what that would be worth today.
My wife always say's, if I won the lottery I would need to have my own house wit all the collecting I would do...... Pretty much a collector all my life. Take a look at my garage....

Simon.

[orasot]

I collected football programmes which are all still boxed up somewhere, postcards which got swapped for crap, subbuteo teams that slowly got turned into midgets as they were broken then glued together with shorter legs!! The collection of porn mags wasn't discussed too much though
I'm safer with the badges!!
Wilf.

[badger123]

I wondered how long it would be before someone mentioned the 'P' word!

[orasot]

You know you all had them I was popular with the lads when I got some German stuff!!! All gone now though, honest!
Wilf.

[Tinto]

You won't believe this but I collected/collect interesting pebbles on my travels. Have got stones from all the continents and some wayout places. Trouble is, as I get older, I can't always remember where they came from.
Cheers, Tinto

[appie_b]

Even as a child I would start a new collection every time I had two pieces of something (pens, stickers, cigar boxes, beer mats and bottles football match tickets…..you name it)
It drove my mother mad, and is more or less doing the same with my wife now

I started my general military collection when I discovered a hole in the fence of the local army barracks, every Wednesday after school I was roaming to dump and carrying everything home on the back of my bike.

Besides the need to collect, I totally lack the need to through anything away.

The funny thing is that this gene is passed on to my kids who are doing the exact thing I was doing……..collecting.

Albert

[Fatherofthree]

My whole family are convinced I am a compulsive hoarder.

I definitely inherited this gene from my Dad.

As far as I can remember, and in no particular order, the subjects of my collections have been and in some cases still are:

Birds' eggs; dead birds' wings, old bottles (dug and purchased) (ditto Mike), the lowest denomination note of currencies from around the world; childrens' books, (especially Biggles, and a very nice collection I have too; Just William and Enid Blyton); Australian and Canadian stamps, various postcards, Brooke Bond tea cards; some cigarette cards, stuffed birds; Military headdress badges; walking sticks........but eventually became a stick maker for afew years; postmarks from envelopes; medals to selected regiments.

The most bizarre, according to the family, were meat mincers, you know the type, they were attached to a table, lumps of meat inserted and a handle wound.... perfect mince. (I've still got a few of these in the shed).

To this day, if somebody tells me that they collect certain things, I will look out for these items in my travels, no matter what it is....it's the thrill of searching out and tracking down the items.

I am a compulsive collector....probably suffer from OCD.....Obsessive Collecting Disorder.

Regards to all fellow OCD sufferers and keep on hoarding.

Regards

Brian

[Phil2M]

I have loads of brooke bond and cigarette cards, forgot about those. I wonder where they are.

I have never heard of a meat mincer collector.

Phil

[Fatherofthree]

Originally Posted by Tinto

You won't believe this but I collected/collect interesting pebbles on my travels. Have got stones from all the continents and some wayout places. Trouble is, as I get older, I can't always remember where they came from.
Cheers, Tinto

Good whatever time it is Tinto.

Funny that, I do something similar, I have a little cabinet at home with bits and pieces from in it from various places.

It's normally stones, with the addition of something else, a piece of sheep's wool, a leaf, shell or similar. To save the old brain power, I write the place on a slip of paper and place it under the stone.

The bits I'll never forget though are 2 stones, a buttercup, daisy and 2 acorns from Auschwitz.

Regards

Brian

Brian