Psychology of collecting

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EvansBottles

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I have to agree with butchndad. Collectors are born not made. It's in our genes.
I too, since I was quite young, was fascinated with old things. From coins to arrowheads.
Then to Insulators then bottles. Next was 1858 dated Mason jars. And finally back to
insulators. And lately I've been dabbling in flint glass. Primarily tumblers.

Some come to it later in life. But I still believe that they were born into it. My parents didn't
collect anything. But my maternal grandfather collected arrowheads (Indian artifacts).
That he found on the farm he worked on. I think I got it from him.

MWE
 

mrosman

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Hi RobbyBobby.... good question.... At the end of my book on Orange Crush bottles I have a chapter entitled "Collectors and Their Collections." This is a summary of a thesis entitled "To Have and To Hold: Collecting and The Heart's Desire" written by Elaine Brodie, Ryerson University, Toronto. It is fascinating to read and my chapter (p.127), in a synopsis of her study, relating to bottle collectors. Michael
 

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B0ttleR0cket

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My collecting started in the early 1970s when my father gave me a slick medicine bottle he found in the basement of a friend's pharmacy that was about to close down. It was the connection to the past that I felt & loved immediately. My bottle collecting started up again when I was out walking one day when the water was very, very low, and I found lots of old bottles on the shoreline. It was again that connection to the past that I really "dug." :) I've given lots away to friends, thrift stores and antique stores and sold a couple on Ebay, so I'm not a hoarder yet, but I have a healthy collection. The ones I love the most are the ones I find, so I don't do much shopping on Ebay or in local shops.
 

cokemanracer

Commemorative Soft Drink bottles, all brands, ACLs
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Not posted for a while, a very busy tax season took forever it seemed and also been busy with a partial remodel of the basement. Took a lot of things out to storage and made room for more ACL bottles and other soda items.

I started bottle collecting in 1974, when at the age of 16 I got my first job. It was in a grocery store and I was put in charge of sorting the returned pop bottles. Pulled a few neat ones out of the racks and the store owner let me buy them for the deposit. I never imagined it would grow into what it is today. Did a ton of research, met a lot of collectors, made a lot of lifelong friends in the hobby but that's for another discussion. Over the years I've had to get creative with shelving and displaying and I'll never be able to display everything. I could dig a basement addition into the backyard but it would soon fill up too.

I've always loved ACL bottles, the colorful labels are nice to look at. I started with all brands of commemorative soft drink bottles and still love collecting those, but with the demise of glass pop bottles there's not much to collect as far as commemoratives other than to look for older bottles to fill in the gaps. I've never really messed with the 8 oz. commemorative Coca-Cola bottles that come out today. There's just too many out there. I will pick up an occasional one if its' local or if getting them for friends.

I've been collecting all my life though. It started on vacations with picking up postcards, then stamps, baseball cards, comics, albums and 45s, it goes on and on. About fifteen years ago I started collecting anything that has to do with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500, I grew up a block from the track and always loved open wheel racing. Now, thousands of racing collectibles compete for display space with the soft drink stuff. And I've pretty much kept everything, can't seem to part with anything. I've got a storage unit full of pop bottles, cans and a few racks (I gave up on can collecting a long time ago but decided to keep what I had already accumulated). The back room of my office is full of what I pulled out of the basement. I dismantled my Coca-Cola Christmas village display and it went there, plus cases of extra pop bottles. Once in awhile I'll still set up at a bottle show but for the most part things just stay stored away.

Never really thought of it as hoarding. To me hoarding is what you see on that TV show about it, a big junky mess. At least all my collection is neatly displayed and of course it's all worth a fortune - at least to me. I can't get rid of anything it seems, even lower grade pop bottles I've replaced with others still get a place in storage.

I think I got it from my mom, she saved a lot of things. Dad never liked it and would often give me a hard time when I'd bring something else home.

A good collector friend recently passed away at the age of 87. He had a fantastic bottle collection and at one time it was all neatly displayed in his basement. But over time boxes of collectibles filled up the open space and he eventually had five 24x20 storage units packed full of pop bottles, cans, glasses, etc. In his basement you had to inch along around stacks of boxes to see the bottles. I'm not there yet, I'm 63 and have a few years to go. This man would even pick up the empty 8 oz. Coke bottles from restaurants and keep them (NASCAR Cokes, etc.)

But, after a lifetime of collecting I wouldn't change a thing. I'll collect and go to antique malls, flea markets and shows as long as I'm able. My wife is very supportive of my hobby and will call me about a bottle or race car if she's in a shop. And if we're in an antique mall or flea market together I have a tendency to get ahead of her and fly through the aisles. Often she'll see something I've missed and tell me about it. I'll go back and if I already don't have it, will pick it up.
 
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ROBBYBOBBY64

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Not posted for a while, a very busy tax season took forever it seemed and also been busy with a partial remodel of the basement. Took a lot of things out to storage and made room for more ACL bottles and other soda items.

I started bottle collecting in 1974, when at the age of 16 I got my first job. It was in a grocery store and I was put in charge of sorting the returned pop bottles. Pulled a few neat ones out of the racks and the store owner let me buy them for the deposit. I never imagined it would grow into what it is today. Did a ton of research, met a lot of collectors, made a lot of lifelong friends in the hobby but that's for another discussion. Over the years I've had to get creative with shelving and displaying and I'll never be able to display everything. I could dig a basement addition into the backyard but it would soon fill up too.

I've always loved ACL bottles, the colorful labels are nice to look at. I started with all brands of commemorative soft drink bottles and still love collecting those, but with the demise of glass pop bottles there's not much to collect as far as commemoratives other than to look for older bottles to fill in the gaps. I've never really messed with the 8 oz. commemorative Coca-Cola bottles that come out today. There's just too many out there. I will pick up an occasional one if its' local or if getting them for friends.

I've been collecting all my life though. It started on vacations with picking up postcards, then stamps, baseball cards, comics, albums and 45s, it goes on and on. About fifteen years ago I started collecting anything that has to do with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500, I grew up a block from the track and always loved open wheel racing. Now, thousands of racing collectibles compete for display space with the soft drink stuff. And I've pretty much kept everything, can't seem to part with anything. I've got a storage unit full of pop bottles, cans and a few racks (I gave up on can collecting a long time ago but decided to keep what I had already accumulated). The back room of my office is full of what I pulled out of the basement. I dismantled my Coca-Cola Christmas village display and it went there, plus cases of extra pop bottles. Once in awhile I'll still set up at a bottle show but for the most part things just stay stored away.

Never really thought of it as hoarding. To me hoarding is what you see on that TV show about it, a big junky mess. At least all my collection is neatly displayed and of course it's all worth a fortune - at least to me. I can't get rid of anything it seems, even lower grade pop bottles I've replaced with others still get a place in storage.

I think I got it from my mom, she saved a lot of things. Dad never liked it and would often give me a hard time when I'd bring something else home.

A good collector friend recently passed away at the age of 87. He had a fantastic bottle collection and at one time it was all neatly displayed in his basement. But over time boxes of collectibles filled up the open space and he eventually had five 24x20 storage units packed full of pop bottles, cans, glasses, etc. In his basement you had to inch along around stacks of boxes to see the bottles. I'm not there yet, I'm 63 and have a few years to go. This man would even pick up the empty 8 oz. Coke bottles from restaurants and keep them (NASCAR Cokes, etc.)

But, after a lifetime of collecting I wouldn't change a thing. I'll collect and go to antique malls, flea markets and shows as long as I'm able. My wife is very supportive of my hobby and will call me about a bottle or race car if she's in a shop. And if we're in an antique mall or flea market together I have a tendency to get ahead of her and fly through the aisles. Often she'll see something I've missed and tell me about it. I'll go back and if I already don't have it, will pick it up.
That's great that your wife supports your hobby. I did Acls in the beginning. Found an old bottle and I was off to the races. My collection is much larger now. The ones I can't display are safely packed away in the basement. Not big on paper labels. I have maybe 5 of them. I worry about moisture and the sun. I stick to embossed local beer or soda. Not many from my town so I collect a select local few cities. I'm in N.J.
ROBBYBOBBY64.
 

UncleBruce

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Dad collected coins, but I liked to spend them instead so I never really got bit by that bug. I did have a large collection of comics books at one time. I got a quarter for an allowance and I could buy two comics. I would also pick them up a yard sales as that was what we did on the weekends. After my junior year in high school we up and moved back to Missouri and the folks started an antique shop. My senior year my best friend (now brother-in-law) had a buddy and the two of them collected beer cans. They talked me into collecting them too. I went into the military and kept collecting them until the 80's when I sold them to go to college. While in the military my folks didn't think I wanted the comics anymore and sold them. In the following years I've collected beer glasses, soda cans, beer signs, trays, and embossed beer bottles. Some I got rid of and some I still hoard. It has been a progression so I think collecting just kind of crept on me without me even thinking about it.
 

ROBBYBOBBY64

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I have met collectors old and young. I started mid life, 25. And it has kept me out of trouble ever since. I also find most diggers to be hard working down to earth people. I am proud to be a collector and always will collect.
ROBBYBOBBY64
 

Oregonbottle

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I have collected things most of my life. I think the first thing that I had a collection of was Wacky Packages, they came in packages like baseball cards. I've collected rocks, stamps. coins, Hot Wheels (still collecting those) and bottles which have been an interest of mine since about the age of 10. Oh forgot about record collecting, something I still pursue. Also into Model Railroading. I can't imagine not collecting something.
 

ROBBYBOBBY64

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I have collected things most of my life. I think the first thing that I had a collection of was Wacky Packages, they came in packages like baseball cards. I've collected rocks, stamps. coins, Hot Wheels (still collecting those) and bottles which have been an interest of mine since about the age of 10. Oh forgot about record collecting, something I still pursue. Also into Model Railroading. I can't imagine not collecting something.
I remember wacky packages, some of them were funny. My brother may still have his. I have a couple hot wheels but not alot. I still have vinyl records limited edition and imports. I bought an album every week with my allowance. My 3 brothers would buy new music while I made a bee line for the collectable and imports. That was the first thing I technically collected.
ROBBYBOBBY64.
 

Wildcat wrangler

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I thought about carpeting the one walls and ceiling and putting shelves that he can climb or lay on but never got to complete the dream. He has a huge cat condo to himself. He would probably have kept me up raced up one wall across the ceiling and down the other wall all night. Lol! Aren't cats great! Rodger does not and others agree act like a cat. He is without a doubt a dog.
ROBBYBOBBY64.

He would love any of that! My cats are like a normal domestic cats energy on steroids- super athletic but their endurance is not great. So fast but will easily pant if you have them jumping after a wand toy, fora while. A bored Savannah ends up in trouble- so it’s good to help them direct and burn off some of that energy.







The ladder is out of there, and I’m thinking about rehoming that little table & chairs for space-it’s a nice spot to do contracts when selling the babies- still it’s a smallish bedroom .(& we have added a 4 kitten litter in there) all areas inside and out in the catio have cat wheels that they wear the bearings out in, often. That’s why when I did the suitcase shelves, I just gave up keeping the cats off them. Pointless!
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