Lizzie Borden Society Forum

What kind of stuff do you collect, either now or in your younger days?

I seem to lean toward books even though I usually get rid of them without reading most of them. Right now I'm trying to collect hatchets exactly like Lizzie's HH. I collected Black Widows as a kid untill one got loose in my bedroom. Never did find her. Rocks when I was a kid and old tools now. Whatever tickles my fancy.

Lately I've learned to get rid of stuff I don't need and when it's gone I don't really miss it. What stuff do you like?

-1bigsteve (o:

When I was a kid, comic books were the bomb. I remember buying them for 10 or 20 cents, then trading them with my friends in the garage like they were made of gold. I also have always liked collecting stamps, my Grandfather was a postman, and always brought me stamps to add to my collection. Now, my hobby is gardening and plants, go figure.

I collect antiques of all kinds books, wash basins, magazines, lamps, irons, tables, anything. I also love candles and am constantly burning them. I own a wide sellection of candle holders, candle lamps....candles everywhere. Does that make me a bit of a fire bug? I collect books about the subjects that interest me, and I do read them all. I also have a very extensive movie collection. I also save what I would call momento's. There isn't any other way to describe it. The momento could be anything at all such as a napkin, a menu, a pressed flower, a letter, card, even a rock or seashell, and I put what I can in my scrap book. These are little reminders of certain people, places, or occassions. I even have the little tag they gave me to wear at the New Bedford Whaling museum pasted into my scrap book. I have many momentos relating to Fall River as well.

According to my husband, I collect jewelry and shoes.

According to me, jewelry is an investment and lots of women have over 200 pairs of shoes...

Seriously.... I have a museum quality collection of Momento Mori. I also like dishes and glassware, especially vintage. I have a lot of antiques but I cannot claim to have collected them. I just took them from my mother's home. When a family lives in the same house for over 300 years, things have a way of piling up.

Some might say I collect children!

Oh... cookbooks. Wind chimes. Milk Duds. (The last collection has a tendency to disappear!)

I collect photos of male and female tennis players from 1890-1940. I eventually want to get them framed and put them in my living room. I also have an Eleanor "Teach" Tennant tennis racquet from the 1930s that is already in my living room. It's an old wood racquet that is still in a wood press. Then I have my growing collection of all things Alice Marble. I have one poster from a movie short she was in called "Tennis In Rhythm" that came from the old "Passing Parade" shows. I also have an old "Click" magazine from 1939, that has Alice on the cover. And of course I have my tennis books. Everything from Allison Danzig's "The Fireside Book Of Tennis" to Bud Collins's "Encyclopedia Of Tennis".


Here is a picture from Eleanor Tennant's bio. She was in a movie with Bing Crosby called The Emperor Waltz. The movie and tennis was set in the Edwardian era.

Hey, Great POST Steve:

As I added somewhere, once a collector always a collector. When I was little my first collection was Model cars, and sea shells, marbles. A new collection was always on the horizon.

I had some serious money as a child behind my vast collection of comic books. Stacked in boxes under the bed. Included were some single numbered editions of Batman and Superman given to me by an old gent. They had belong to his son who had died. I was just 10 or 11 then; worth close to nothing then, but thousands today, if I still had them?

Of course, between serious collections, there was always fun mini collections, such as baseball hats, match books, from different restaurants.

Then again I would go on and on about things I have collected in the past.

In the last 5 years I would say I collect, Books of course. Lizzie, Polar, Azores, Madeira, G. A Henty, Robinson Crusoe, Boys Adventure Books, Books about Books, Lady Brassey's Voyages, Ray Bradbury, Rex Stout, Fall River.

A small collection of 19th century Robinson Crusoe plates.
Fall River post cards.
Silver Plated teapots. (Yes, that's what I said, teapots)




One item in hand, an acquisition.

two or three items, on a shelf, an accumulation.

Three or more items, in display, a collection.

My first collection started because I expressed an interest, and then everybody decided I collected these things: penguins.
Also boxes. For some reason, at some point, people all gave me boxes. All kinds of boxes- music boxes, round brass box with large hasp/clasp, woven straw, leather and fur, decoupage, stained glass, any kind you can think of.
Then there are my kaleidoscopes. These are my true personal collection- but I don't acquire them anymore.

There's a weird story attached to this, in a way:
Some of us grown children had taken our mother to a psychic demonstration at a gathering at a local hotel venue. The psychic said there were kaleidoscopes involved with someone in the audience. That was me. I raised my hand. She asked me if they were *here*- had I brought them? I said no. She said *these are nearby.* Then my sister had to admit that in the trunk of our car, right outside, there were gifts of kaleidoscopes wrapped as Christmas presents and the psychic had blown the surprise!

I collect books of course. I used to collect shifter knobs off of junked cars.

When I was a kid I went to Disneyland and seen the Pirates of the Carribean, it gave me a desire to collect candle Lanterns, the kind you can carry around outside. I couldn't find many back then but since then I have collected several of them.

I like antiques. I have many old family items like pictures, my grandad's ice skates that clamp onto your shoes, his first electric razer from about 1941 (it still works) a pair of boots he had in later years, I wear them once in a while and tell people that they are boots from a man that was born in 1892.

I have my grandmothers brass table with the carvings on it, a scarf my great grandmother knit for my dad in 1946 and many other family heirlooms.

Gee, where to start? I collect all kinds of Art Deco things: cocktail shakers and sets, Bakelite, chrome, graphics, lamps and furniture. I also collect things connected with local history. Much of my furniture comes from local Art Deco nightclubs and casinos that have been torn down.
Among the other things I collect: books, Lizzie and Fall River items, Vintage Mad magazines and TV Guides, art pottery, old restaurant china, sheet music, and movie musicals from the early 1930s. I also am a big fan of the works of Edward Gorey and Charles Addams.
Needless to say, I have too much stuff!

cocktail shakers.......... Very good!

I absolutely love art deco and collect things from that period. I also started a little porcelain shoe collection years ago and now have a corner curio full of them. Music boxes- I have about twenty now. Can't collect much more now though because we just have a little mountain cabin. Other than my collections of dogs and cats.

Yes Angel:
Music Boxes are Mystical Things. They transport you somewhere else as soon as you wind one up. I was in the FRHS about a year ago and they had two beautiful highly polished wood music boxes. I'm not a collector, but almost walked off with one. They were around 100 dollars, but well worth it.

Come-on Angel you can always find more room....................................

I have this one friend who's wife collects teddy bears. I am bared from his home if I discuss collectable bears with her. When I get to his home he usually screams out to his wife, "Hey Pat your ebay friend is here." That is where I buy many books, and her, many bears.

I have this other dear friend who's a book dealer/collector. His collections have taken over his home. As you walk into his house you need negotiate isles of boxes full of treasures. His bed is a mattress over boxes filled with hundreds of books. (yes he' single) A true Alice in Wonderland of books.


Yes, many funny stories, and met many odd people here in Old Fall River,
I dare say; with a tinge of pride, I'm one.

Audrey, please tell us about your collection of Memento Mori.

When I spend too much time on the computer, I collect dust!

I've collected many things over the years myself, from Victorian photographs to antique furniture. When I have the money to indulge, my current collections inclued vintage dresses, mostly 50's cocktail dresses and early 60's working girl suits with pegged skirts and extremely fitted jackets. Disney collectibles is another favorite of mine, especially items that are Haunted Mansion related. Vintage Barbie dolls, though the price has skyrocketed on those, I mostly have to satisfy myself with buying the vintage reproductions that Mattel produces today. Oh, and art and Victorian architecture books and my growing Lizzie library.

Hello All, sorry I have been among the missing! Working on the house and work have kept me from much time on the pc. Catching up here and thought I would start here with a fun post!
If you asked my husband this question he would tell you I collect everything! Well, am a bit of a pack rat, but not quite that bad!
My favorit collection is a modest collection of Peanuts Gang things and I specifically collect Peppermint Patty items. My dad was Charles aka "Chuck" and he used to call me Peppermint Patty. We both loved Shultz and wouldn't miss a tv special. Now I have them all on DVD/VHS to share with the grandkids.
My next favorite collection would be my china. I collect various patterns of Blue Transferware with Blue Willow and Old English Village my main ones.

Elizabeth Ann:

Do you have the Peanuts Pop Up book that came out last year?

I also collect Pop up books........ Not the expensive one's though, because I like playing with them.

I thought that Shultz had placed it in his will that the Peanuts cartoon was to die with him, yet it is all around and still running each week?


I know we have some mother's out there, Robert Sabuda has a new Pop-Up book coming out this month. If you are a mother of young kids, or a kid yourself, you need to read a Sabuda. He is the king of Pop-ups after all. His new book is about sea creatures, sharks and alike. Paper engineering is beyond description. Talk about visual candy? Can't wait. Are we there yet......., are we there yet?

I forgot to mention my Georgia Brown collectable stuff, her records, Theater World magazines, photos of her, 8 track cartridges, her obit notices and such.

I also collect old kids books. Recently bought all seven volumes of Donna Parker all in mint condition, first editions, yesss!!! Been waiting 40 years for that! I collect 1964 nickels, old pennies, old photos of one of my friends who's a figure skater, old hammers and just about any old tools. Pollywogs in jars when I was a kid. We had a small pond and one year it filled with pollywogs. It leaked so I had to fill it twice a day so they wouldn't die but I didn't get back in time and I found them all dead. It broke my heart. Those were fond memories. Never cared for snakes. But I have been tempted to send a big one to Kat.

-1bigsteve (o:

Wow Steve: Yes pollywogs. I forgot all about them. You know when I was a kid they were all over in small ponds. Then all of a sudden they all disappeared. I remeber seeing them in small ponds swiming under the ice. I remember I had just started driving. I would drive down this dead end road with my girl to make out. I would leave the car with a flash light and go search for pollywogs instead. (reason I'm single today, I think) The only reason the girl would wait for me was because we were in the woods and she was afraid to leave the car and walk home. Remeber one time she was so mad she wouldn't open the car door. I think about it today, glad I got to see does pollywogs. (stop it, you know what I mean)

A POP UP BOOK??? No, I missed that! What was the title, might have to search ebay!

Yes Elizabeth Ann:
It was published in 2004. How time flies. It's called, "Peanuts A Pop up Celebration." I looked into Ebay. Wow surprise on how many Peanuts books that were published. Hundreds. But if you wanted to take a look at it, here are the item numbers. Still having trouble transferring site address though.

ebay items

4616496100
4601942521
8052840889

Gee Susan, too bad that you and I are at opposite ends of the country...I own an antique shop that specializes in vintage clothing. And the racks are fairly bursting with '50s cocktail dresses and "Jackie Kennedy" suits!
I don't have any "Peanuts" memorabilia, though (sorry, Elizabeth Ann). But have you seen those great books recently published which are the complete "Peanuts" comic strips, starting in 1950? There are two or three volumes out so far.

Memento Mori is meant as a reminder of of our mortality. It has come to be a souvenir of a person's death, but it's 'purpose' is more intense than that. 'Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die' sort of thing! Many people think that they are merely photographs of corpses, posed in various ways-- but it can be very diverse and interesting!

I have a large collection (about 600) of typical photographs of dead people. Most of them are strangers to me-- But I do have some of various ancestors. I keep these in decorative boxes as I do not wish to damage them by mounting them. Most of them are very old and many of them are in delicate condition.

These photographs are typically difficult to find-- as many have been destroyed by more progressive generations! Who wants to see photos of dead people?

At one time I had several sculptures as well-- but I did sell them. They were a bit (too) macabre to display and I was pleased to sell them to a private collector and put all new windows in my house with the proceeds!

I also have some sketches which were made of corpses. I do have these framed and matted and they used to be displayed in my bathroom! They are now in storage.


I also have 2 painting which depict 'Memento Mori' content. One is quite peaceful and shows a 'film' above a cemetery with a hand coming from it as if to lead a soul to eternity. The other depicts an angel carrying a child in her arms. This painting also depicts a cemetery scene in which the mourners are in agony and the child appears very content and peaceful in the angel's arms. Again, they are disturbing to some and I do not display them at this time.

I have never and will never collect photographs of the people I know now or in my past.... I have no desire to do so!

Some 'Memento Mori' photographs show corpses in various stages of decay and I have come into possession of some of these while buying 'sets' of Memento Mori at auction. I do not like them at all and feel they are not only gruesome but an invasion of the person's privacy and have respectfully and carefully destroyed any of these that I came to own.

I have collected police or autopsy photos of crime victims, Christine Demeter, Sharon Tate and the other Manson victims, President Kennedy and his patsy Lee Oswald, Jayne Mansfield, the Bordens, Marilyn Monroe and a few others. I only collect what I need during my studies of the crime or accidents. I had photos of three murder victims with hatchets stuck in their heads but those and others got erased when I restored my hard drive to it's original state. Now I copy stuff right away.

-1bigsteve (o:

THanks for asking Audrey to explain her collection, Stuart! And thanks Audrey for describing it and your ethics.

Susan: I can SO see you in those outfits!
That is certainly cool!

Peanuts Easter is on tonight, as you probably know....

Music boxes make up the largest part of my collection! But I am most partial to the leather & fur box as my brother made it for me.
I also seem to have a collection of bubbles and wands.

Am clearing the yard and heard there were snakes Steve- but they all went next door!!

stuartwsa @ Tue Apr 11, 2006 7:10 am wrote:Gee Susan, too bad that you and I are at opposite ends of the country...I own an antique shop that specializes in vintage clothing. And the racks are fairly bursting with '50s cocktail dresses and "Jackie Kennedy" suits!.

Ooooo, sounds like my kind of place, Stuart!!! Love those Jackie Kennedy suits, she was truly a fashion icon in her day. I recall Doris Day wore some great outfits in her movies that were along those lines, very stylish stuff. I think that may be why I'm so into the vintage Barbies, they have such beautifully made cooture clothes.

Thanks, Kat. I've tried to purchase dresses with the thought in mind, would Audrey Hepburn wear this? God/dess, she was such a beautiful woman and everything she wore looked great on her! Lately I get compared to Terri Hatcher's character, Susan, on Desperate Housewives. My comfortable clothes are more on the funky side like her characters, but, thankfully I'm not that much of a clutz!

My favorite!
I have a little suit my mother made in the Jackie style- it's an early 60's tho she probably made it c. 1965.
Short jacket with 3/4 sleeve included.
I have 2 clutch purses of hers from the 60's too, and one velvet hat I got from my neighbor, hairband-style.

BTW: I meant to tell you: I bought my first antique this week. A c. 1900 CAMP CHAIR! It's petite! I should take a picture to show you!

I LOVE vintage clothing.

The only times in my life I regretted being tall was when my mama cleaned out her closets.....

We were close enough in size 'up top' but my height is all in my legs... All her skirts and dresses look like minis on me and even if they had a hem to let down they never look right when you do that....

Kat, I have one Jackie style suit that I absolutely love to wear when I get to tag along with my boss and have to dress up for the occasion. Its this nubby, tweedy sort of fabric that is this kind of oatmeal/brown color, it is fully lined with this shocking robin's egg blue satin/acetate fabric and has these huge 3" buttons. I have the shell top for it that is in the same blue color. The jacket has the 3/4 sleeves and I have elbow length milk chocolate brown gloves to go with it. I wear these vintage brown alligator 1" stillettos and have a small faux alligator bag purse to match. Add some faux pearls and pearl earrings and put my hair up in a chignon and I'm ready for business!

I'm with you, Audrey, I love vintage clothes. I'm so jealous, I would love to have long legs. All my height is in my torso. I'm sure, like Audrey Hepburn, anything you wear looks lovely on you! I have a couple of late Victorian/early Edwardian petticoats that on the original owner they probably swept the floor and on me they end at my shins. They would probably end at your knees!

I collect composition dolls, from the 1950's on back. I like to restore them; in fact, I do have a doll restoration business. My husband collects Superman...mid-1960's on back. His collection is so large it has totally taken over our dining room, and about 1/3 of it is still packed and not being displayed right now.

What does he think of the new Superman movie?
For some reason, tho I never saw any Batman or Spiderman movies, I think I would like this one.

When I think of Superman I always think of George Reeves. I loved those corny episodes.

-1bigsteve (o:

I used to collect Superman comic books when I was a kid. That and baseball cards, I had complete sets from the '50s and early '60s. They all got tossed many years ago, but I wonder what they would be worth now.

My brothers and I collected comics, but we did not treat them well. Superman was my favorite.
My Nancy Drew's got sold in a garage sale here when I was in Boston.

Well, the old superman comics go for huge prices these days. Superman #1 from 1939 goes for about $250,000. Any Superman comic from 1960 on back can go for several hundred dollars, depending on condition. He has his Superman comics in archival sleeves, and my huge, built in china closet in the dining room is packed with old comics. He has some extremely rare items, and Superman is slowly taking over our house. He's eagerly anticipating the new Superman movie, but is disappointed that the costume has been changed a bit with the burgundy coloring instead of RED. I love the old Superman shows with George Reeves. It's a good thing, because he has every one of the episodes on DVD, and frequently his days off are spent viewing a Superman "marathon".

Yooper, your complete sets of Superman comics from the '50's and '60's would now be worth several thousand dollars!

DWilly @ Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm wrote:I collect photos of male and female tennis players from 1890-1940.

This one is for you--we were in Newport, RI, on Tuesday, the 8th of August. If you look closely, there are players on a grass court inside the courtyard.

I have a thing for keychains. There, I've said it. I've never admitted it to anyone.

kash

Wow! nice photo Stefani: Hey, that's near by. Will need to go look for it. Hope I can find myself there.

That's a busy street. You must have been standing in the road when you took it, no? How did you not get hit by a kaa?

No, honestly Stefani, came out real nice, look how cool!!! Is that the Japanese flag?

Stefani @ Sun Aug 13, 2006 1:46 pm wrote:

DWilly @ Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm wrote:I collect photos of male and female tennis players from 1890-1940.

This one is for you--we were in Newport, RI, on Tuesday, the 8th of August. If you look closely, there are players on a grass court inside the courtyard.

Thank you Stefani. Actually, about this time last year I was there. I got to see five of Alice Marble's personal photo albums that are in the Tennis Hall Of Fame. I also took a tennis lesson on one of the grass courts that are in the back and to the right as you go in.

Some people dream about hitting all of the top baseball stadiums in the country. Well, my dream is to go back east and starting in Brookline, Mass play all of the old top grass court clubs on the East Coast the way the old players use to. Go on to New York and play Rye, Seabright and East Hampton.

Btw, the Tennis Hall Of Fame use to be known as the Newport Casino and that's where the wealthy use to go during the summer months to play. I still wonder if Lizzie ever played? If she did I bet she had one heck of a chop shot.

mbhenty @ Sun Aug 13, 2006 2:51 pm wrote:

Wow! nice photo Stefani: Hey, that's near by. Will need to go look for it. Hope I can find myself there.

That's a busy street. You must have been standing in the road when you took it, no? How did you not get hit by a kaa?

No, honestly Stefani, came out real nice, look how cool!!! Is that the Japanese flag?

As I recall on the streets in parts of Newport it is written in big white paint that pedestrians have the right of way. Or something like that. Out West pedestrians just have to run fast and play Dodge Car.

I collect witchy stuff ;)

I collect pictures of Andrew Jackson.

Yes DWilly: Sorry you were a victim to my joke just above. I was there when the photo was taken. I am pleasantly surprised that it came out so well, since it was taken from the car; thanks to Stefani's expertise manipulating the shutter.

When we were driving by there was an artist across the street, sitting on the sidewalk in a beach chair, sketching the building. Looked like charcoal?

Jay has a few hundred tacky little snowglobes from different states and vacation destinations, as well as some expensive, beautifully made ones from stores (like Saks and Bloomingdale's)

Besides my Bordenalia, I'm a devout horror film fan, and an Edward Gorey enthusiast, though not a completist. I have a huge DVD library, and I also have (to replace the lost Aurora models of my youth) several of the Sideshow Classic Horror figures. Otherwise, books, books, books, mostly on horror films, Hitchcock, theatre and film, and humor (I love those Cornelia Otis Skinner, Jean Kerr, and Peg Bracken books). Oh, and lots of Steve King.

Hey Bob G,
Check this out-I'm a big fan too...LOVE "Old Possum's Book Of Practical Cats". And The 'Tinies" of course.

http://www.edwardgoreyhouse.org/

kash

Did you read my little vacation report - or did I forget to mention that Jay and I took two gents from our Provincetown hotel to Gorey House with us for the opening of the "Edward Gorey's Dracula" exhibit?

Bob,
No, I will find your vaca report. I can't wait to see the house. What great stuff on the site.
I used to tune in to "Mystery" just to see the opening credits (and because I had such a crush on Diana Rigg...)

kash

Too bad Gorey never got around to doing a full treatment of the Borden case...

stuartwsa @ Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:06 am wrote:Too bad Gorey never got around to doing a full treatment of the Borden case...

WOW, Stu! I never thought of that...

Books. Lots and lots of books.

I also have a major stash of cross-stitch supplies and beads. But that's not a collection so much as an overoptimistic idea of what I can actually get stitched in this lifetime.

When I moved west, I sold almost all my antiques, and I lost some of my other collections -- notably the beautiful and varied candlesticks I'd gathered over the years.

Lynn