A Collector’s Cache

As I went through all the pictures I had collected over 60 years, I realized all the other things I have collected as well. At the time I collected them, they were important to me. Many have disappeared, but some will make for a good garage sale. I did inherit some items from my mother. She is the one who influenced me to be a collector – or hoarder. The first things I remember collecting was when I was a young boy. I collected candidate cards from politicians. Dr. Creed would pay me to put the candidate cards on cards on Saturday nights when everyone came to town. He was a big supporter of Wright Patman, our congressman at the time. I don’t remember who put the other candidate’s cards out. I remember collecting marbles. These were very valuable, especially the large ones and the metal ones. If you knocked someone else’s marble out of the circle, you got to keep it. I guarded my stash carefully. I never collected comic books as some did. They were too expensive for me. I remember my mother collecting food stamps, but that was for our survival during the War. She would trade some for things we needed and some for things we didn’t need. She later collected the trading stamps that stores gave. My wife also did that. I remember my mom saving coupons from grits. We ate a lot of grits — to me that is what they tasted like. I never liked grits, but today they are very popular. She would then send them in for some little toy. I do remember collecting some baseball cards but not many. Later, my wife did collect some basketball cards. Her favorite was Michael Johnson who we saw one time on a trip to Chicago. I gave them to my grandsons. We have saved every little thing they received such as trophies and certificates. I still have my son’s and daughter’s collections. Among these things I have is a huge collection of t-shirts from their sports and their school activities. I don’t wear t-shirts, so they are all stored. I guess I could donate them since today the young people like to shop at thrift stores. The new thing today is to say, “I shop at ‘The Thrift’.” The only thing that I have from my dad is his bus driver jacket. It was given to him because he drove the bus to all sports events. It is the blue and white with “Driver” on the big “R.” I have a good collection of thimbles. My wife’s grandmother collected thimbles as did my mother and wife. Many are from Chicago and Colorado. Even have one from Graceland. They all cover a six-foot tree. Most of them have a good memory behind them. I had a good collection of Christmas cards, but I donated them to a church. They used them for a project for the nursing home clients. I have a collection of dolls, including several Madame Alexander. My mother-in-law was a collector of dolls. Some are from my wife’s collection. My daughter had no interest in dolls. I have a collection of ceramic Fabrege eggs which my mother gave me over the years. Also, I have a large collection of plates that people put up in their kitchens. Several are quite old. I have a collection of coffee cups. I always bought a cup from each of the colleges I visited. Students would also bring me cups. One brought me one from the U.S. Senate. We did collect postcards, but I haven’t found them. I guess they were lost in all the other junk. I finally had to get rid of most of the books collected over the years. I have gotten rid of most of them. I still like the print. I still have a collection of cuff links and tie tack I received when I graduated from high school. Most will never be used. I still have all my letters from my letter jackets. I have a collection of caps I do not like wearing caps, but I should. Some of my other collections include recipes, and I don’t even cook. I gave many of my cookbooks to people who do cook — or who collect cookbooks. One friend had over a hundred cookbooks in her collection. My wife majored in home economics for a while in college, and she and her mother had a large collection of cookbooks. I also have a collection from the National Rodeo Championship from the 1970s. My father-in-law was a roper. I have many things from him which I really have sorted out. I also have a good collection of matchbook covers. For some reason, my accounting clients and others thought I never had enough pens and pencils. I have a large collection. At one time I had over two dozen Cross pens of all shapes and forms. They are very expensive. The last addition is a small pen sent to me from Scotland recently from a former tax client. It is small, heavy, and very expensive. Not so easy to use, though. Some of them are truly collectibles. I really don’t know what all I have in all the boxes around my house. I just need to have a huge garage or estate sale. Thanks for staying with me.