What do you think the things people collect says about them?

I do not know.
I collect knee caps, what does it mean?

I collect books.

I’m not sure what chairs say about you. But, this specific photo shows that you have exquisite taste and love beautiful things.

I’m not much of a collector, but I do have this sterling flatware pattern: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ELSINORE-INTERNATIONAL-STERLING-SILVER-FLATWARE-SET-SERVICE-106-PIECES-ART-DECO-/130953155553?hash=item1e7d6a93e1:g:~fkAAOxy5fJR5F7b. It’s from 1931 and, although it’s very simple and understated, it has a distinctively Art Deco style. If I come across a piece I’m missing, and if the price and shipping charge are affordable, I buy it.

How cute are those ice cream forks (spoons with tiny prongs)? It seems that this item was very popular until the middle of the 20th century, when refrigerator/freezers replaced iceboxes. It seems that frozen desserts were previously much more frozen, and difficult to eat, than they are now.

Sometimes, I open my silverbox, and remove and admire the items, just to relax. There’s something about my collection that transports me to a different time, when people appreciated such things.

Oh, yeah… I also use the flatware for eating!

Oh, I like those too, @Love_my_doggie!

Thank you for the compliment. My daughter said she got her eclectic / elegant style from me, which left me scratching my head. I never thought of myself as elegant. I just know what I like when I see it, and it all happens to work together.

I would gather those who collect things believe in some way what they collect will have some purpose or that there is some value in what they collect. The rub is, unless you collect a sizable quantity of the right stuff and sell them before you die, it is just a bunch of junk someone will have to dispose of once you are gone, or at worse, they will make a mint off your hard work collecting all that. It is basically no different than any other items, even those that have no seemingly collectable value, just stuff, it ain’t going with you I don’t care if the U-haul follows the hearse to the graveyard, the stuff is being left here for others to sort out.

^^^ Most collections have no intrinsic value and, in unappeciative hands, are nothing more than junk. Just try to sell grandmother’s china, crystal, and silverware on eBay; you’ll get few buyers, all of whom are looking for bargains. You’re lucky if you can get anyone to take tchotchkes off your hands, and the buyer won’t want to pay for shipping.

I am a rare and obscure item collectors, especially old movies. What do you think of me?

Material…

The old and the significant gives humans a chance at continuity.

A real Rolex is undeniably expensive. But it is reliable and serviceable. It belonged to your father, your grandfather, perhaps your great grandfather. This matters.

Of course there are going to be those that buy such items for image, or should I say, the wrong kind of image. Some people spoil everything.

What you own and inherit speaks volumes about you. Some of you will disagree, but it is a fact. However it is of course not that simple. There is the context of how you own and use a collectible. For example:

The prices for early-ish, air cooled Porsche 911s are skyrocketing as we speak. Some are snatching them up because they are a thing of purity, something to be experienced, others sadly are seeing them as a monetary investment.

Personally, I am not a collector. I would rather have just one of the best example of something within by grasp. I do not desire a bunch of shit, but instead the best man made expression I can afford to enjoy.

@Dutchess_III – i hope you aren’t collecting salt and paper shakers from places like restaurants…just kidding..))

^^^ I searched around online to find and buy these diner-style salt and pepper shakers: http://www.retroplanet.com/PROD/13333.html?gclid=CLS239vV-8wCFQIfhgodNCYBeA.

I’d had a pair, for many years, that been perfect, but they met the inevitable fate of glass when it crashes to the floor. I splurged and spent a whopping $3.49 for replacements.

This is my personal version of materialism – finding a $3 purchase irresistible.

I don’t actively collect things, I don’t think… but I do hold onto things… For example, I hold onto all the ticket stubs from the things I’ve gone to… movies, plays, ballets, shows more generally… Of course none of it’s organized. I tuck them into drawers and boxes for safekeeping, and then use them for bookmarks, because I love that moment when I pull them out, see them, and remember the whatever-it-was from however-many-years-ago. But when I finish reading a book, I usually forget that I’ve tucked the ticket into the earlier pages for safekeeping… so most of my books now have ticket stubs in them somewhere (or when I’m low on ticket stubs or not near my stashes, who knows what… I lost a check that way once…) So I’m so sad that movie theatres all seem to be using more receipt-like tickets… they just don’t keep as keepable. Of course, not sure what that says about me anymore than collections say things about others. But it’s an interesting question to think about

I collect books but I also actually read them. I collect movies and music collections, of which I also make use. I am aware that there are few who would value the books, but my kids would fight over the movies. The music would all be taken by my oldest. I have removed most “things” from my life and am happier, I believe.

I have a salt and pepper shaker collection, and I have a lot of knick knacks of the ceramic and porcelain type from my mom and grandmother, which I’ve added on to in the past. I don’t buy much of that stuff any more, as I have a small house and the curio cabinet is pretty full.

I have a lot of jewelry and I can’t resist if I see something nice and it’s well priced.

I have a lot of arts and crafts stuff, and it’s pretty well organized in cabinets and containers. Ribbons, scrapbooking stuff, paper punches, rubber stamps, acrylic paints, jewelry making charms and notions, stuff like that. I do a lot of crafty stuff and so does my daughter and so we’re prepared.

I have a lot of books and they’re in book cases. I also have more in the attic.

I like tableware and cookware but I don’t have a lot of room so I am pretty careful with purchasing it.

I don’t buy anything with the intent of leaving it to someone in my Will, or thinking it’s valuable. It’s valuable to me, in that I like it and get enjoyment out of it. A good friend has full sets of fancy china (dishes, etc.) which she thought her three adult children would want, but she found out that they don’t want her “grandma style” china, they want their own stuff, their own style and choices. Now she’s got these full sets of old fashioned stuff which she doesn’t use because she thinks of it as too valuable, and nobody else wants it.

My mom used to buy dish sets. She had, like, 3 dish sets. I convinced her to offload two of them, and she did.
Within two months she’d collected 2 more sets!

Collecting comes from a personality characteristic called Input or a Strength by The Gallup Organization. If anyone is a collector, it’s worth clicking on the link above and reading the description.

Input is one of 34 different Strengths that we all have in varying degrees. If it is low on a person’s list (from an assessment anyone can take), they usually do not understand the desire to collect. On the flip side, those of us that do have it (it’s #1 on my list), there is a great pleasure in collecting.

What people with Input choose to collect and why is as different as each personality.