collections department

somewhere in the mid 90s i was at a house party in the haight and some one , was telling me about this really cool website that was a virtual auction. i remember her telling me, 'it's like going to the marin city flea.... but BETTER!!' this girl, went on to tell me how she had not been a collector before, but because of this site, became a collector and great connoisseur of carnival glass (which totally reminds me of my stinky piano teacher, mrs harper, and her carnival glass bowl of circus peanuts)
along my travels, i had picked up 10 coffee mugs in the mid-west, for a dollar each. made of something called jadeite. (or is it jadite? i don't know what the hell it's called) i bought them because i loved their color and smoothed, beach glass feel. so i used this as a spring board. i began to search this newly created site called, 'ebay' and i hit the motherlode. all these years later, i own a great collection of jadeite. i would love to add more to it, but frankly, the prices are ridiculous (those coffee mugs? easily 10 bucks a piece these days..oh, and at one point, i started to collect vintage egg cups. most have been tossed by now) collections can start anywhere. and can be found in the best places.....
kaylovesvintage
what i love about collections is the strong emotional draw people have to an item.
knitlatte
and mostly, if it's a beautiful grouping, it's hard not to see the beauty in the mundane
kaylovesvintage
no matter, where you search, if you focus, you'll find your little collection
camillae

Comments

Anonymous said…
Ahhh, I loved the Marin City Flea. I still can feel the sand blowing in my face. I still can list the "ones that got away" and can still walk around my apartment and relive tracking down the "scores". I can remember the special drag I wore for The Flea: layers and cowboy boots (that have rarely been worn since and still carry vestiges of the mud of my last Marin Flea). It's demise coincided with an end for me of a certain kind of collecting and no other flea market could measure up. So I just stopped. Ebay did take over for a while. Earlier this year I got a taste of Alameda which was awesome but I'm like a junkie with my drug of choice: I can't even go near that block or I'll buy.
Pigtown*Design said…
A collection is more than three of anything! I collect old kitchen copper, and used to have more than 100 pieces of it. When I moved, I sold all but a perfect set of french copper cookware my parents bought for me in france. I have a collection of decorated tin boxes, like old tea boxes. And an extensive collection of cashmere sweaters and blankets.

That's more than enough, don't you think?
cotedetexas said…
I love ebay. and your jadeite - do you use it to eat on too? jw.
72 and sunny said…
sparkie, remember when the flea moved to the embarcadero? i found some pretty great stuff then too. i think my entire first house was done in flea market chic. it was sweet.

joni, yes, we use the jadeite daily. it's so hearty. it was made for restaurant use. it always makes a summer meal look really fresh, which i love.

pigstown: you're a girl after my own heart. over the years, pairing down my households, i've had to totally edit my collections. but i'm a collector for sure.
Such a beautiful post. I love all these collections. I am a crazed collector of many things myself.
Anonymous said…
I want a collection of seltzer bottles. It sounds useless enough to be right up my alley

Popular Posts