There are minimalists, collectors, over collectors and hoarders. When I watch American Pickers I see mostly men who have collected beyond their capacity to store their stuff. Yet they don't want to part with much. I feel I may be in that category. My attics are groaning with so many articles that are crying to be set free.
I started cleaning out an area in our basement and was determined to give things away to Good Will. Before I let the box go out the door I had removed three things I thought were too good to part with. Never mind that my shelves are so crowded that many of the vases I have collected over the years have to be set on the floor. How did I get myself in such a mess?
It started with the first thing I remember collecting, small trinket boxes. They were so cute and didn't take up much room. Plus they were affordable. My favorite was one I bought at a gift shop in the Hotel Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City.
Later that collection seemed to be growing out of control so I went on to something else. Violets! Anything that was beautiful, like a porcelain plate, or a small painting of violets had to be mine. Any piece of linen with violets seemed too beautiful to pass up also. Two antique dealers that knew me started putting things aside, items that were painted with violets, and then asked me if I was interested in buying whatever they had saved. How could I turn them down?
Before I knew it I had more violet things then I could display so I decided to be more eclectic. My collecting then became anything I thought was beautiful. Dishes were easy to find but then I became more selective within that category. My husband showed me a video he used in teaching his German classes. It was about the Meissen Porcelain Factory in Germany and the hunt was on. I found my first Meissen plate in a shop in Pentwater. After that I searched eBay and found that people selling Meissen in the U.S. were not demanding the prices that Meissen was fetching in Europe.
My husband and I were in a shop in Munich years ago where all they sold was Meissen porcelain. When we told the shop owner we were school teachers from America his demeanor changed. Then he asked us, "How can school teachers afford Meissen?" It ticked me off. Actually all I could afford in his shop was a small cup and saucer; so we left without buying anything and I told him we may be back. I wanted to buy something just to spite him, but then my common sense took over. However over the years I have found affordable Meissen in America.
We went to the Augarten Porcelain factory in Vienna in 2007 and the porcelain in their factory shop was very beautiful and resembled the hand painted patterns of Meissen. Augarten is also hand painted. I bought a couple of small things and since then have found many bargains in America. But my days of collecting porcelain have come to an end as well. Now much of it is packed away in boxes as I have too many pieces to display. And so it goes with my collecting bugs.
I'm not sure when it happened that I got interested in collecting vintage and European linens. I think it started when we took my husband's German students on four different trips to Europe. In Switzerland, Austria and Germany I found shops with beautiful affordable embroidered tablecloths. Those pieces were easy to bring back home and so it began.
But to tell the truth, I now feel overwhelmed with stuff. My attics are screaming to be cleaned out and things sold or given away. However that is easier said than done. Like a hoarder, if someone tried to come in and just tell me to get rid of my stuff, I would protest. I have boxes of treasures and trinkets from estate sales, auctions, antique shops and yard sales that have not seen the light of day for years. Yet if I were to examine the contents I would find something of value and think I needed to keep whatever it was.
I cannot begin to purge everything through my antique booth at Silver Hills in Pentwater, yet I have this thought of impending doom that my children will curse me one day when they have to sort and sell and throw out. Yet, in a way I feel a sense of mischievous glee that all the while they are doing that, they will sigh and think, "Oh mother dear...what were you thinking?" They might forgo the "dear." But they will eventually come to the end of it after months of hard work and delight that they have a few dollars to spend on whatever they want.
My collecting has slowed down to a snail's pace, but I would be telling a lie if I said it had stopped all together. Once a collector, always a collector. I recently bought a vintage toy. It has a small wooden horse which looks like a piece from an old puzzle hooked to a tin cart. I filled the cart with small vintage bottle brush trees that I bought at the same antique mall where I got the toy. I figured that after Christmas I could add the little toy to my horse collection. Have I told you about my horse collection?
I started cleaning out an area in our basement and was determined to give things away to Good Will. Before I let the box go out the door I had removed three things I thought were too good to part with. Never mind that my shelves are so crowded that many of the vases I have collected over the years have to be set on the floor. How did I get myself in such a mess?
It started with the first thing I remember collecting, small trinket boxes. They were so cute and didn't take up much room. Plus they were affordable. My favorite was one I bought at a gift shop in the Hotel Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City.
Later that collection seemed to be growing out of control so I went on to something else. Violets! Anything that was beautiful, like a porcelain plate, or a small painting of violets had to be mine. Any piece of linen with violets seemed too beautiful to pass up also. Two antique dealers that knew me started putting things aside, items that were painted with violets, and then asked me if I was interested in buying whatever they had saved. How could I turn them down?
Before I knew it I had more violet things then I could display so I decided to be more eclectic. My collecting then became anything I thought was beautiful. Dishes were easy to find but then I became more selective within that category. My husband showed me a video he used in teaching his German classes. It was about the Meissen Porcelain Factory in Germany and the hunt was on. I found my first Meissen plate in a shop in Pentwater. After that I searched eBay and found that people selling Meissen in the U.S. were not demanding the prices that Meissen was fetching in Europe.
My husband and I were in a shop in Munich years ago where all they sold was Meissen porcelain. When we told the shop owner we were school teachers from America his demeanor changed. Then he asked us, "How can school teachers afford Meissen?" It ticked me off. Actually all I could afford in his shop was a small cup and saucer; so we left without buying anything and I told him we may be back. I wanted to buy something just to spite him, but then my common sense took over. However over the years I have found affordable Meissen in America.
We went to the Augarten Porcelain factory in Vienna in 2007 and the porcelain in their factory shop was very beautiful and resembled the hand painted patterns of Meissen. Augarten is also hand painted. I bought a couple of small things and since then have found many bargains in America. But my days of collecting porcelain have come to an end as well. Now much of it is packed away in boxes as I have too many pieces to display. And so it goes with my collecting bugs.
I'm not sure when it happened that I got interested in collecting vintage and European linens. I think it started when we took my husband's German students on four different trips to Europe. In Switzerland, Austria and Germany I found shops with beautiful affordable embroidered tablecloths. Those pieces were easy to bring back home and so it began.
But to tell the truth, I now feel overwhelmed with stuff. My attics are screaming to be cleaned out and things sold or given away. However that is easier said than done. Like a hoarder, if someone tried to come in and just tell me to get rid of my stuff, I would protest. I have boxes of treasures and trinkets from estate sales, auctions, antique shops and yard sales that have not seen the light of day for years. Yet if I were to examine the contents I would find something of value and think I needed to keep whatever it was.
I cannot begin to purge everything through my antique booth at Silver Hills in Pentwater, yet I have this thought of impending doom that my children will curse me one day when they have to sort and sell and throw out. Yet, in a way I feel a sense of mischievous glee that all the while they are doing that, they will sigh and think, "Oh mother dear...what were you thinking?" They might forgo the "dear." But they will eventually come to the end of it after months of hard work and delight that they have a few dollars to spend on whatever they want.
My collecting has slowed down to a snail's pace, but I would be telling a lie if I said it had stopped all together. Once a collector, always a collector. I recently bought a vintage toy. It has a small wooden horse which looks like a piece from an old puzzle hooked to a tin cart. I filled the cart with small vintage bottle brush trees that I bought at the same antique mall where I got the toy. I figured that after Christmas I could add the little toy to my horse collection. Have I told you about my horse collection?
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