<p>I love all these collections! What fun to read!</p>
<p>I collect piano music, the more antiquated the better.</p>
<p>My husband doesn’t think he collects anything, but considering that we have over ten nonfunctional computers, and probably twice that many screens or monitors, I would really say he has a collection, even if it isn’t intentional (I would like it gone too ;))</p>
<p>My older daughter collects Disney pins, Little Mermaid memorabilia, and business cards, and I have to admit that I have a small collection of serial/mass murderer stuff…a wonderful Lizzie Borden paperweight with a photo of her post-axe murdered dad’s body, a set of OJ Simpson Pogs, a sweet little blue and pink birdhouse made on death row by a mass murderer. Jeez…it sounds worse when I write it down.</p>
<p>That is bizarre. :eek:</p>
<p>VeryHappy, lots of perfectly normal people collect Little Mermaid memorabilia. :)</p>
<p>Good one, Conyat.</p>
<p>How about Little Mermaid memoribilia collected by mass murderers . . . Now, THAT would be a collection!</p>
<p>I collect church/civic cookbooks and fabric</p>
<p>I used to collect odd dessert plates in second-hand stores, though stopped because now I have enough. Everyone always wants to use the Titanic plate. It’s not actually from the Titanic, but it’s old has a pretty dark blue border, so looks like it COULD have been… Birthday boy/girl gets first choice.</p>
<p>We also collect Christmas ornaments, sort of. The kids get one each year, so when they finally have their own tree someday they’ll have enough to decorate it. Our tree is running out of space, though.</p>
<p>I had a great aunt who used to collect hair from family members. My mom ended up with it and added a bunch from our family, and made me a pincushion out of it. The only bad thing is that the hair is all mixed up inside, so you can’t identify who it belonged to.</p>
<p>I try to get a Christmas ornament from every place I visit as well, but I also look for those machines that take a penny and press an imprint of the city/museum/attraction name on them. I even got one done in Italy using a Euro Cent.</p>
<p>lspf, I wonder if your great aunt was inspired by the Victorian custom of hair jewelry (from the dear departed’s locks)? </p>
<p>Macabre as they were, even the Victorians would have drawn the line at Little Mermaid memorabilia.</p>
<p>conyat - I saw a locket (or pin?) of that sort once on the Antiques Roadshow. She was born just before the turn of the century, so could be—</p>
<p>I collect illustrated editions of Aesop’s Fables, from the 16th-20th c. I’m very interested in the history of book illustration, and Aesops have been published since the time of Gutenberg, so it’s a great way to see how the various styles and methods of illustration evolved. Wish I could afford a 15th c. one!</p>
<p>I collect VWs! Mostly Matchbox & Hot Wheels, with a few larger models, a keychain, pencil sharpener, etc. It started when my kids were little, so none are older than 1983. You know how those little vehicles were only 99 cents or so, and available everywhere…I just started keeping a lookout for the VWs in particular and the collection grew. They’re really cute and fit in a couple of cases on the wall.</p>
<p>This is such an intellectual bunch with such interesting collections. I’m almost embarrassed, but since this board is anonymous…
I have been in love with baseball since I was three years old. When I was about 10 years old my father took me to a taping of a sports show. I got some autographs, carefully saved them and since then have periodically added to a sports memorabilia collection, signed items, mostly. It’s not exactly the Baseball Hall of Fame, but I have enough autographed bats, balls, photos,programs, tickets, etc. displayed in my home that my sons’ friends think I’m exceedingly cool. When I let them swing (very carefully) a game-used bat once hefted by a Hall of Fame baseball player, they are in heaven. Many of the autographed items I own were signed by the athlete in my presence.</p>
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<p>They were in a suitcase that I’m sure the thief thought was full of valuables. Still it was quite a collection - lots of airlines that no longer exist.</p>
<p>This is fascinating. Thanks to everyone for sharing. Maybe we are not so bizarre after all. We’ve got several collections, but one of my favorites is a collection of 17th, 18th, and 19th century prints of a small island off the coast of Scotland: Staffa. It’s a very small island, uninhabited, and nothing but a pile of basalt columns. It has several sea caves. The most famous is Fingal’s Cave, which has fascinated people for centuries - hence so many engravings and prints. Felix Mendelsohn was so taken with Fingal’s Cave in the 1820’s that it inspired his overture The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave). It also inspired - much later - the Pink Floyd song Fingal’s Cave. We only have about 15 of these prints, but finding one is a real joy. Once, rummaging through an antique print shop in Stockholm, I found a very large one printed in 1689. It was packed flat and somehow I convinced the airlines to let me bring it on board for the next 5 or 6 flight segments I still had to make before returning home. But I got it back safe and sound and it’s now the centerpiece of the “Staffa Wall” in our house. Part of our enchantment with Staffa is that it took us four trips to the island (over a period of about 10 years) before we could finally land. Each time with the unsuccessful trips, there was “a swell up” and the seas were much too rough to let us get near.</p>
<p>My biggest collection isn’t terribly unique–coffee mugs. I do also collect ceramic teapots–Mary Engelbreit teapots are a particular favorite. I have a collection of Jade-ite but, unlike hereshoping, I got into Jade-ite POST-Martha Stewart. So due the price-appreciation, my Jade-ite collection is pretty small.</p>
<p>Peruvian nativity scenes. They are miniature Nativity scenes inside a box, or a triptych, etc. Very colorful and intricate. I also have one beautiful large one. </p>
<p>Shot glasses, for son from all of the baseball venues he’s been in.</p>
<p>Duck things. That one is a long story. Ceramic ducks, duck trivets, duck music box, etc. It sounds more obnoxious than it is.</p>
<p>Christmas ornaments, for sure. From places we’ve been, but also related to special memories over the years, and all of the children’s Christmas ornaments from preschool and kindergarten. One of my favorite times of the year, for sure–as the entire family history is recreated in my mind as we unwrap each one. </p>
<p>Matchbooks–we have a huge bowl of them from pretty much all over the globe, and dating back to some '60s places in San Francisco on up through the present.</p>
<p>Motherof4pearls - are you a quilter or what kind of fabric do you collect?</p>
<p>I don’t know if it qualifies as a collection, but I love masks and my husband has brought back a half dozen masks from various West African countries and some from Indonesia. The largest one is 4’ tall. From Yemen and Saudi, he brought back beautiful antique Bedouin wedding veils covered in coins. I have the masks and veils framed…they always get a lot of comments from visitors. No masks from China or SA yet, but lots of carved iron pots, porcelain, cloisonne art, statues. He has real knack for finding the old stuff.</p>
<p>I guess my collection should be called international knick-knacks.</p>
<p>I also collect the Hallmark airplane ornaments for my son. Used to collect the Hallmark (vintage) Barbie ornaments for my daughter, until she asked me to ‘please stop’. ;)</p>
<p>Old Macintosh Computers are my collection–in addition to 5 Mac Classics (soon to be 6) that I use as a network and one Mac Plus that I still use I have:</p>
<ul>
<li>Apple Lisa 2 in original box with original disks and manuals</li>
<li>Macintosh 128K, upgraded to Plus, in original box with original disks and manuals</li>
<li>Macintosh Plus in original box</li>
<li>Macintosh SE in a box (not the original) with original disks and manuals</li>
<li>Macintosh LC in original box with original disks and manuals</li>
<li>Macintosh Classic II in a box (not the original) with original disks and manuals</li>
<li>Macintosh Color Classic in a box (not the original)</li>
<li>ImageWriter II printer in original box with manuals</li>
<li>Newton eMate 300 in original box with manuals</li>
<li>Apple CD150 in original box with original disks and manuals</li>
<li>Apple 12" RGB Monitor in original box with original manuals (goes with Mac LC; the other computers have built in monitors)</li>
<li>Macintosh 800K External Floppy Drive in original box with original protector disk!</li>
<li>Apple Extended Keyboard in a box (not the original)</li>
<li>Macintosh System 7 in original box with original disks and manuals</li>
<li>Claris MacWrite Pro in original box with original disks and manuals</li>
<li>Claris MacDraw II in original box with original disks and manuals</li>
<li>Broderbund Print Shop in original box with original disks and manuals</li>
<li>Broderbund Kid Pix in original box with original disks and manuals</li>
<li>Super Solvers OutNumbered in original box with original disks and manuals</li>
<li>6 Pack of Apple ImageWriter II color ribbons, unopened</li>
</ul>