COLLECTIONS By Sarah J. McNeal #TheWildingsSeries

 

I have to confess, I am a collector. I get interested in one thing, and the next thing ya know, I’m trying to find the space to put the MANY items I have collected.

Way back when my grandmother, who was addicted to auctions, got a box full of stuff at an auction and in it was a strange little ivory man with holes in his back which she gave to me. I wondered with all my imaginative might why it had those holes. Was it part of necklace that belonged to an Asian princess perhaps? Astoundingly, my high school sweetheart and I found another strange ivory figure with holes in it similar to the one I had been given by my grandmother at a unique shop, Maison Michelle, in downtown Charlotte. Curiosity really took hold. A few years later my sweetheart, who was then my husband and I found a wonderful shop, The Japonica, where unique Asian items were sold. The owner was friendly and even made us tea. She had several ivory figures with those 2 holes in them, so I asked her what they were. They were Netsuke, and were used as a slide knot with a pouch where the owner would keep things like pen and ink and so on. The item was worn on the belt and the Netsuke was made in such a way that it would always turn face out. Those little figures were actually very expensive, costing several hundred dollars each. I saved my money and bought one whenever I could until I had a nice little collection. I stopped collecting them when I thought about how they were made of ivory, and even though they were antiques, I felt guilty about buying any more.

My collection days were not over, however. I collected PEZ containers until my collection outgrew space. I also collected salt and pepper shakers because they were so cute, and I collected whirligigs until they began to cost more than I could afford. I loved the huge metal whirligigs in the movie “Twister” the auntie made and they were also musical. Awesome! I also collect interesting pens.

I don’t know the psychology behand the need to collect things and, quite honestly, I don’t really care. For me, it’s just fun and exciting when I have a collection of something and I find a new piece that is just too adorable to pass up.

Do you have a collection? What do you collect? How did you get into your collection?