Psychology of collecting

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ROBBYBOBBY64

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great question, probably a slightly different answer from each person. I'm convinced collecting was passed in the DNA i got from my mother. As a kid, baseball cards, comic books but also anything i saw and liked, i picked up and kept. As an adult i picked up and brought home rocks and shells and anything i found that i liked. I collected books (fine printing and private presses) until it got to be too expensive and i sold my collection to a dealer. Eight plus years ago we moved to Jersey City and live in what used to be the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company site so of course i started collecting Dixoniana have have hundreds of items from Civil War era stock certificates to advertising to crucibles ranging from a couple of inches to a couple of feet tall. Just before the pandemic started, i started going to Big Brook in New Jersey and collecting Cretaceous shark teeth (and a whole host of stuff from that era all the way to modern bone). I found the base of a pontiled bottle there and that's what started me on bottles. Bottom line is i like to hunt and find
My mother was big into antiques. We always lived with them so I guess it makes me feel closer to home. My parents are still alive but they don't live in the house I grew up in. It was sold after the 4th son moved out. It was a big colonial built in 1874. I would love to hunt Big brook. I am very close to there. The crucibles sound very neat. Couple of feet...non-chalantly said. Like you, I love finding fossils and bottles of course crystals too. I am forever playing in the streams looking for stuff to identify even if I don't bring it home. You know, now that i think about it, I guess I blame my mom for collecting.... I can't thank her enough!
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Wildcat wrangler

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I love glass, do you like glass? I have always wondered what makes us so drawn to bottle collecting. Past the primitive oooh...shiny aspect of it's lure. I thought this was interesting on the psychology of collecting. Am I collecting or hoarding? A little of both I guess. Oh well. What do you think about being psycho-analyzed. What's your diagnosis? Lol!
ROBBYBOBBY64.

I think we are hoarders who organize, clean, shine, light up, and respect our hoards! (Or are we curators?) I think of as my responsibility to caretake (and enjoy) some prized antiques while I’m here! I will ask my friend around the block, who happens to be a shrink, tomorrow!

I began my hoard…. I mean collection back when I was pretty broke…. And the bottles were around on the property I lived on. We couldn’t get cable there, so digging bottles was entertainment. 35 years later, I am hooked…. But buy any bottle I want, so I go for what speaks to me.

But we are some sick puppies, I’m guessing!
Great thought provoking thread, Robby!


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Wildcat wrangler

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I find it so interesting that everyone speaks of collections they have, beyond the bottles.that speaks volumes about the psychology of collecting. I, too, have many collections (hoards?). 100+ year old cameras, vintage but new makeup that’s that old, too…. Crystals, BMW’s- can’t part with any of those, the best antiques I can find, cloths, shoes, purses-omg, Robby…. Maybe there is something to this! I just thought I know what I like, and bring it home! But it’s getting out of hand as you can see…. Is why the eBay sales…. (So I can buy some more awesome stuff!). But…. The bottles I bought for a buck, back in the day, have done better than the silver dollars I have stashed away…. So it investments!
adf2d557cf27cb8c5d905e91e742acd7.jpg

5ad1c9f0b04a6911c31ae5b0ff78b891.jpg



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ROBBYBOBBY64

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I find it so interesting that everyone speaks of collections they have, beyond the bottles.that speaks volumes about the psychology of collecting. I, too, have many collections (hoards?). 100+ year old cameras, vintage but new makeup that’s that old, too…. Crystals, BMW’s- can’t part with any of those, the best antiques I can find, cloths, shoes, purses-omg, Robby…. Maybe there is something to this! I just thought I know what I like, and bring it home! But it’s getting out of hand as you can see…. Is why the eBay sales…. (So I can buy some more awesome stuff!). But…. The bottles I bought for a buck, back in the day, have done better than the silver dollars I have stashed away…. So it investments!
adf2d557cf27cb8c5d905e91e742acd7.jpg

5ad1c9f0b04a6911c31ae5b0ff78b891.jpg



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That's amazing....how did that cat got up on that case? Lol! Display/jungle gym. It's not that bad. I think it is neatly displayed. I've been in houses where you literally can't see the walls. That is too much.
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ROBBYBOBBY64

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fp9uhyoubhr0[8hgr[h9uefgh9[8gr9E{F&P! BBBOOOOTTTTLLLLEEEESSSS!!!!!!!!


View attachment 226860
Bottles and Bullets. I had the same dream. Do you remember The Three Amigos? That joke Steve Martin made to El Guapo about filling him so full of lead that he would be using his d**k as a pencil. Funny movie.
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DeepSeaDan

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I love glass, do you like glass? I have always wondered what makes us so drawn to bottle collecting. Past the primitive oooh...shiny aspect of it's lure. I thought this was interesting on the psychology of collecting. Am I collecting or hoarding? A little of both I guess. Oh well. What do you think about being psycho-analyzed. What's your diagnosis? Lol!
ROBBYBOBBY64.

Great topic, R'y-B'y!

For me, collecting is secondary to the joys of exploration and the thrill of the find. With very few exceptions, I don't buy or sell. When I gaze upon my finds, they evoke the memory of their discovery and I relive the circumstances of the finds, perhaps ruminating ( again ) about the history of the waterway and pondering over how the bottle came to be where it was found. An inherent interest in history I believe to be a common trait of the collector, with a multitude of contributing factors in play, unique to the person who is collecting. I can't say my interest in collecting has any resemblance to hoarding, as I give away many items to family & friends who express an interest in having a treasure from the deeps. I any event, I believe it to be a healthy, fascinating past-time that brings happiness to many.

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ROBBYBOBBY64

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Me too Dan. Even if not a collector, they still like bottles. I constantly give things away. Never got turned down yet.
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Screwtop

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Bottles and Bullets. I had the same dream. Do you remember The Three Amigos? That joke Steve Martin made to El Guapo about filling him so full of lead that he would be using his d**k as a pencil. Funny movie.
ROBBYBOBBY64.


That's pretty cool! Where did you get those bullets?
 

ROBBYBOBBY64

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That's pretty cool! Where did you get those bullets?
From a great seller on Ebay. act412romans58 he has alot of good things at reasonable prices. If you watch any item he usually sends you an offer with a better price. He combines shipping. And he is a pastor. Check him out. I have dealt with him a dozen times.
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