I used to date a man who collected things. He collected books, 78 records, magazines, cameras, musical instruments, interesting old machines, among other things.
You know how those men's magazine covers from the 40's and 50's are now being shown in museums? He collected those.
Ever heard of Bettie Page? He collected stuff about her.
Science fiction from the Golden Age.
Personal computers from the beginning the era, including Sinclairs and TRS-80s.
He lives in a nine room house that is so full of antique furniture and objects that it's hard to move around.
Collectors are different from accumulators.
The saddest people are the ones who accumulate things they don't value, but cannot bring themselves to dispose of. Those are the people they find dead months after their death, crushed to death by piles of old newspapers and magazines. Some places actually have mental health workers who specialize in these people. Fairfax does. One case I recall, they got called by neighbors when one lady's accumulation was so immense that she could no longer even fit into her house and had to sleep in the car.
In her case, that was a mental disorder. But the line between insanity and genius is sometimes hard to draw. My old friend is often sought out by museums and scholars because of the interesting things he collects. But even though he's admired, everybody still thinks he's kind of nuts. Well, eccentric.
Sometimes I wonder if this type of behavior can be found in other cultures. I mean, how could someone living in a subsistance economy accumulate enough stuff that it dominates their existence? |
