Thursday, August 9, 2007

What DoYou Collect?


Blue Willow china, cinnabar boxes, children's toy sewing machines? Maps, baseball bats, or old fishing lures? All around the house are collections of favorite things. Toy cooking utensils sit in an old tin box on the shelf in the laundry room. They are brought out at Christmastime to decorate a kitchen tree. Glass refrigerator boxes take up room in my pantry. They remind me of my grandmother's kitchen. There are baskets full of aluminum ice trays, wooden handled strainers, and melon shaped pudding molds. Some people say it's old junk-I think it's charming. We broke our own rule and had a garage sale once. It was amazing what people came up and asked for. The collectors were easy to spot. They knew what they were looking for. If they didn't see it they asked you if it was in the house. Things like old cameras, military equipment, and movie projectors were popular. Not for me, but someone out there loves them. Collecting is such a personal thing. My collections usually remind me of things my grandmothers had. Like the sewing basket I bought last fall in Greensboro, Georgia. They were both such warm, caring ladies, it gives me a connection to the feeling I had in their homes. I also love to see the toys I had as a child. None of mine were saved so it's fun to see that they are still around, undoubtedly been sitting in an attic- forgotten until the place is cleaned out. Then the find becomes a treasure for the collector.

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