It's very interesting what people end up collecting. What are some of your favorite collections?

Let's see I have a fasination for and collect old aprons, you know the kind like grandma wore with rickrack and scallopes. I have a slew of them that the girls like to get out when they and their friends are cooking. I was trying to figure out a way to display some of them so I have them like a curtain above my kitchen window.

I also collect cobalt blue glass stuff, I love calico balls and fisherman balls and garden globes and have them everywhere.

ragedy anns and andys seem to make themselves at home here.

Oh yah, and I like signs, I have an old sign outside on my side poarch that says Welcome, and I've got one in my kitchen that says Home Sweet Home, and one that says These are the good ole days, thats my favorite. got one that says I;m a ragedy Ann in a barbie doll world.

I also have a small collection of gemstones, a big collection of books, and I love antique lace. Your turn! Tren

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

Answers

Books, books and more books. We added a room to our house to handle all my books. DH reads Science Fiction. I especially like "disaster" books (Swan's Song, John McCammon), pre-historic books (Jean Auel's books), and anything by Stephen King and Dean Koonz. I do like Sci-Fi but not the spaceship stuff. Ever read "Farnham's Folly" by Heinlein? Really good.

Thanks for reading.

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

Oh, yeah, I forgot; Love "how-to" books and anything and everything about country living, homesteading, old ways, etc. dsb

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

I'm trying to pare down my collections in an effort to simplify my life. I just have way too much stuff! I used to collect David Winter cottages and Lilliput Lane cottages, but I've decided to try to sell most of them on ebay and just keep the ones from places where I've actually been. I still have a bunch of decorative thimbles stashed away in a drawer that I haven't figured out what to do with yet. Took three huge boxes of fabric stashed away from my quilting days over to Goodwill last weekend.

I have a large collection of cranberry glass that belonged to my grandmother, my mom has it right now because she has a better spot to show it off. I also have a trendle sewing machine that belonged to my Great-grandmother.

A HUGE collection of books, at least 8 floor-to ceiling bookcases scattered around the house.

My current weaknesses are candles, gargoyles, and flower fairies. It's taken me about two years to teach my middle sister the difference between a fairy and an angel, I think that she's finally caught on!

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

Hey sheri thats a trundle bed, I'm a Trendle. Now don't get the two mixed up like your sister does fairys and angels! smile. Tren

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

Books, books and more books and homesteading type magazines--every single issue of Mother Earth News with a few duplicates (I am taking the duplicates with me when it's my time to go to the next level), Back Home Magazine, not nearly enough back issues of Countryside, a three foot stack of Harrowsmith (from Canada)and Backwoods Home magazine, and about 30 copies of a homesteading magazine from Maine that I can't remember the name of right now and ten plus years of Parabola magazine and all of the issues of Biblio Magazine that is not in business anymore.

I have simplified by not having much furniture, that leaves more room for bookcases.

And books. Wouldn't have room to collect anything else even if I wanted to which I don't.

Namaste,

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

What a great topic! From the view out the window, looks as though I collect goats!!! Also collect quilting fabric, baskets, books by Luther Burbank, squash varieties, wool shirts, and daylilies, which are fast becoming an addiction with me.

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

O.K. sheri I had that wrong, it's a trindle sewing machine, a trundle bed, and a Trendle is me. O.K. I think I know what or who I am now! Tren

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

Sorry Trendle but you still have them wrong. That's a treadle sewing machine, a trundle bed and you are a Trendle. You did get the Trendle part right.

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

Oh my. Books (that seems to be a prerequisite on this forum.) SF books, gardening books, dog books, horse books, herbal books, bird books, Japanese manga & doujinshi. SF/Action/ Horror movies. Horse sculpture and still Breyer horses(and Stone) on occasion when a new one comes out sculpted by one of my friends. Small animals (Apparently, I have Animal Magnetism. They just sort of are attracted and stick to me). Horses (they also seem to be drawn & stick). Old dog stories, like Kipling, and G.L. Stampa. Sherlock Holmes books.

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

Tren I love to walk so I always pick stuff off the ground. Money, jewelry, toys, tools etc. Big stuff too. My toilet and table and 4 chairs were cast offs that I re-finished. People dump great stuff!....Kirk

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

Books, beans, daylilies, quilt fabric and patterns, old lace doilies and did I say books??? For some reason all my kids and friends think I collect angels and lighthouses so I have a bunch of those. I like them but I never would have collected them except it just happened. I have never bought one.

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

Dust bunnies.

Oh - you mean on purpose? Well then, I collect old junk. Anything my Granny Leone would have been embarassed to own and would have gotten rid of just as soon as she could afford better - every time I bring something home, Pop says "Mommy had one of those - we threw it out when we got a "good" one!"

I have little old junk that I don't use. I have stoneware shoulder bowls and crocks and jugs, a Dazey butter churn (blender works better!), treadle sewing machine, cheap Hoosier cabinet and Seller's cabinet. My favorite things would probably be my old metal bed, my 1940's Roper gas cookstove and my old metal porch glider that is at least 70 years old.

I do have about 80 old glass juicers, and 20 or so old aprons. I also have all my old TMEN's (up to the late 90's), Countrysides, OG's to the 90's also, a small lady's magazine called Workbasket and about a billion books - on all subjects under the sun EXCEPT those mentioned on Jim's "to read" list! And fabric - boxes of fabric. I also apparently have a chicken collection in my kitchen; I bought a couple of chicken cookie jars and some pot holders - and suddenly everyone is bringing me chicken stuff - we counted 48 separate chicken "things" in my kitchen a couple weeks ago!

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

Dragons! Friendly looking ones. Also ecology and self sufficiency books. I used to collect gorgeous young boyfriends preferable 10 years or more younger than I but I had to stop that when I got engaged. The fiance just wouldn't understand. :)

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

Fabric, I forget fabric, did I do that on purpose? I use to sew, but I still have tons of fabric, just in case I want to sew again. Now if I got rid of the fabric I could fit two more bookcases where I have the fabric containers. Nah, I might want to sew again.

Namaste,

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

From reading this thread you'd think few men collect anything!

As for me, my major collections are: BOOKS, steadily growing collection of agricultural hand tools, cast iron kitchenware, firearms, and old .22 rimfire ammo.

={(Oak)-

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

I like Bryer Horses and animals. I have several Paint horses and a Longhorn bull. I like those real looking little statues of horses, the sand cast ones. I have lots of Indians on horses too, I love them. I got a Border Collie last time for 2 dollars. Just little animals, only neat ones, western stuff, little bitty cowboy boots to put on the shelves, spurs, ropes, anything at all real old is cool too. And blue glass, I love blue glass, but not too much, just enough in my kitchen. I don't want gobs of it to dust. I don't like knick-knacks everywhere, I like it more cleaner looking.

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

I collect ladybugs! Used to be most anything with a ladybug on it, but it got out of hand, so now its pretty much only antiques,or really unique items.

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

Polly---ya beat me to it. I collect dust too.

Have I got a deal for you Earthmama! They're just waiting for you in the basement---LADYBUGS---Dead ones, live ones---thousands of them! Do you want them sent to your new address?

Seriously tho, I've got a pretty good collection of the OLD TMEN, quite a few Homepower Mag., several Graveleys with several attachments and TOOLS!

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2001

Gosh, I'm not feeling so embaressed... books naturally on about everything under the sun, lots of homeschooling books... TMEN magazines up until the #90's series, have all of Back Home, the collections (can't spell that big word) of Backwoods Home, just started collectioning Countryside again... did anyone collect the Small Farmer's Journal from Oregon???

John... you have Graveley's... I have Simplicity walking tractors with all different types of attachments... haven't gotten mine out this year... just to much going on....

fabric... oh, yes, used to work in a fabric store... now it is cheaper to garage sale... which brings up the 55 drums of clothes I have in the barn ... you know the kids will grow... and the grand kids..

my collections of herbs ~ dried, cutted, powerderd, mixed... you name it in herbs, tinctures, (ah, and the vodka to make them tinctures), essential oils, my homeopathic, gem and crystal,flower essence collections THAT WE USE ALOT... takes up good portions of the basement and my bedroom..with the books... I have bookshelves along walls in the basement... about 36'of bookshelves from floor to ceiling with books and herbs ... and don't contain all of my books and herbs...

beings that I have a small homestead and the whole 9 yards that goes with it... I have a full house and barn... I can fix about anything and grow\raise anything... and have done it all I feel some days...

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2001

Books, Daylilies, Ornamental Grasses, Red Wing crockery.

As far as the books go, I don't collect anywhere NEAR the number of books that I used to. I usually get them from the library first and then buy the ones that really appeal to me (mainly gardening and craft books now).

I would LOVE to collect more of the Red Wing crockery but it tends to be expensive so I don't have a lot of the stuff. Maybe when I win the lottery that will change - but I guess I should buy a few lottery tickets once in a while if I hope to have any chance of winning, eh?

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2001

Books, tall ship minatures and bottle caps.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2001

Gee I look like a copycat but BOOKS! And fabric...lots & lots of fabric! (10 big Rubbermaid tubs full!) Have a couple of gargoyles & dragons & fairies. The Breyer horses are all in a box, been thinking about selling them on Ebay.

Hey Tren--I got a real giggle about the sign about being a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie doll world--I love that! Never thought of it that way but it's so true!

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2001

Fenton glass, especially the cranberry glass, the factory that makes it is just an hour and a half away, so we go there quite often to see what is discounted in the "seconds" part of their store. You can pick up some wonderful bargains there, also when they have their tent sale in the first weeks of July, too!

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2001

I collect candy dish chickens, or some call them hens on a nest dish. I have all sizes and colores. I also collect strawberry things for my kitchen and that started when I was a teenager. Also old vases. That has been sort of like Polly's chickens in her kitchen. I find some I like, but then my dad brings me any he finds at rummage sales old or new. I also have a puter collection that I did while growing up, when my mom use to get little magazines thru the mail with minature puter in them for not much. Now I can't find them and when I do they are just outragously priced. Plus various nick nacks all over my house that without dusting would be alot easier. Oh also I have alot of candles. Phyllis

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2001

If this was a contest of our favorite thing to colect! Books would win! TRen

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

I didnt even mention books cuz I've blabbed about them so much before. Guess I don't really view my books as collecting, dont know why. Maybe I'm in denial.........

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

Earthmama, Your too funny.Thanks for the smile! Tren

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

Rebekah, what does Luther burbank write?

Kirk, I'm a junk finder too,or a dumpster diver or a Pull over driver!, whatever you want to call it! Not so much as I used to be, because I got enough! But I furnished our whole living room for free. Maybe we should start a thread about this!

Your girls, Polly, Dianne and Phyllis who talk about collections that you have because people think that you are collecting them, gave me a chuckle. I remember that happening to my Mom, with Owls, then STrawberries. Tren

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

Tren, Luther Burbank was one of (if not THE) greatest plant breeders in history. He bred for example the Burbank Russet potato, Santa Rosa plum, Shasta daisy, thornless blackberry, and many, many others. He was truly a pioneer in plant breeding, it seems that up until that time most people thought it was wrong somehow to try to change and breed plants, and he was something of a maverick and a scandal. Partly because he was a Darwinist, during the time when genetics and evolution were still being debated as opposing theories.

Anyway, he wrote a lot of books about plant breeding, and a few about how children should be raised and cared for. It was his hope that others would take up the work of plant breeding after him, so the books tell how he accomplished so much in one lifetime. I've been trying my hand at some amateur plant breeding and also apply some of the concepts in the goat breeding program. The books are not in print anymore, you can get them on ebay from time to time.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

I've really had to think about this, b/c I collect a little bit of lots of things and don't consider myself a collector. Sometimes I consider myself a packrat! I have collections of old linens and things, especially embroidered, knitted, or crocheted ones (family stuff from my great-grandmother's baptism cap and all her hand-made linens, to hand-tatted hankies that my grandmother made (as well as knitted items...she was an AWESOME knitter!) to all the embroidered tablecloths, etc., that my mom did!) I also have some Queen E. coronation linens, and lots of stuff from Scotland from my mom-in- law. I too, collect fabric, although I only have maybe one or two Rubbermaid tubs full! I have also secreted a couple of dozen liquor store-sized boxes of books in the garage (in garbage bags inside.) Hmm. I collect lots of old magazines. I finally gave away about 30 years of Sunset a few years back. I collect looms....have four now, I think. I still have lotsa correspondence from high school on...so I guess I also collect letters. I collect wool, yarns, embroidery floss, and thread.

Mr.S. seems to be collecting beer bottles! We are doing a lot of brewing and it seems that there's bottles, carboys, or something just about everywhere I step! We need a bigger kitchen! Someday, we'll do that remodel!

Fun post! Thanks!

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

Unlike the rest of you, I collect BOOKS.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001

ha ha Sam vvvveerrry funny. smile Tren

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001

I collect a lot of the things already named except around here it isn't dust bunnies, husband refers to them as dust elephants. Oh, well, the vacuum fits his hand as well as it does mine!

I love netted lace and fancy linens when I can afford them. My interest for about the last 10 years has been usable antique spinning equipment. I have 3 great wheels (one in need of some restoration), 2 saxonies with distaffs, a wheel made in Germany just after WWI as a survival tool and my Ashford. I have 4 looms, two clock reels, a Pennsylvania Dutch flax break and 5 hackles of various coarseness. I think my favorite is the one the auctioneer called a wooden thing with pins on top. I also collect fibers but that's a whole other story. If I spun a pound a month, I'd still be spinning when St. Peter calls.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001

Marilyn...oooh!! How cool! I only have two wheels, but I have a bunkhouse full of fiber! St. Peter will have to call me twice, as I won't be able to hear him for all the wool stackin' up!

Sometime, tell us more about your fiber and fabric makin' equipment. I would love to hear more!

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001

We've been building and moving into this house for two years, so collecting has really taken a back seat. We love old canning jars, our kitchen is open shelves and we store dry goods in all shapes and sizes of jars. We have a pretty good collection of chickens, up to about 20 breeds. Books, of course, catalogs too. Old tools - can't go to an auction without buying more hand tools. Neighbors' kids. Different kinds of tea. Salt and pepper shakers. 5 gallon buckets. Tacky light switch plates.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001

I haven't answered this one before, because sometimes it seems like I collect everything! Surely that isn't true . . . .

Besides the ubiquitous books, I collect decks of tarot cards, small wooden boxes (suitable for tarot decks), Native American pottery (most of it miniature), various small animal figurines -- particularly ones carved from stone, piles of fabric, and Fire King kitchen glassware and grey granite enamelware (but only stuff I can really use). I used to collect teddy bears and rabbits and the small cottages (David Winter & Lilliput Lane), but I'm not getting any more of those. I'd like to weed out my cottage collection and just keep the most favorite pieces.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001

What I collect

Hmmmmm.... not much as I'm not very materialistic.

Mostly old useful things like my hubbie,40's gas stove,kerosene stove,huge stone grinding wheel on a metal frame with a handle that works real good at sharpening things.Yeah my new toy.

Wine press,sausage press,lard press,waffle iron,crosscut saw,other one man saw,gigging forks,wood rudder from sailboat..Oh yeah wood things...printing drawers and birdhouses and marquetry eagle and kid size willow rockers and...Oh yeah rockers...Gramma's shaker one and one I refinished and my friend who weaves baskets has to finish the seat and back and ..Oh yeah baskets.... old,new all shapes and sizes and that reminds me... I have fire king that started with a few pieces of my other grammy,not the one who loved gardening and...oh that's right,now I thought of all my heirloom seeds and perennial plants(but not daylilies except for that old one-want a piece,Jim?)

Oh and books..and building supplies bc we keep building then moving... and canning jars who collection started with ones that I found in a swamp....

Well,I could go on and on,but I won't(snort) I wouldn't want to bore you :oD

Did I tell you I have dust mite allergies and am supposed to keep my house dust free? Did I mention that I've moved alot and have dragged this stuff all over creation piled in pickups like I was a refuge in the Grapes of Wrath?

Have I hinted that I might be just a little bit cracked?

Have I thanked Nick today for putting up with my more insane moments for almost 20 years? Well,guess I better,then.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001