Book Review: Magnificent Obsessions

Magnificent Obsessions

Magnificent Obsessions: Twenty Remarkable Collectors in Pursuit of Their Dreams by Mitch Tuchman (photographs by Peter Brenner) was published in 1994, however that doesn’t diminish the book in the least because this isn’t a price guide or even a true collectors guide; this book is a celebration of collecting.

Each of the 20 collectors covered in this over-size softcover is given a few pages for some Q & A about — and beautiful photos of — their one obsession. While many of the collectors admit to collecting more than the one “thing,” they are limited primarily (otherwise how would I know they collect more things?) to just the one collecting category. However, what they say isn’t only of interest to those with similar collecting obsessions; the joy, pride, humor, collection rearranging, haggling, discovery, etc. are universal.

But that doesn’t mean you won’t learn anything. Well, maybe I can’t promise that; I don’t know the depth and breadth of the knowledge you retain in your noggin. But I learned a few things. Or at least was reminded of things.

Like the pre-internet days of collecting.

Not only because what this book is, really, is a paper bound version of excellent blog posts with gorgeous photographs, but because it’s a time capsule of collecting before the days of search engines, online shopping carts, e-newsletters, and digital communities of pixel sharing comrades. Each of these 20 collectors was, at the time at least, a pretty big-time known collector in their category. (I Googled a handful of them; some have since passed away, others only exist in their daytime gigs, others I found no online mentions other than this book. But like I said, I didn’t Google everyone.) And every single one of them became a Big Time Collector without the internet.

(Sure, we all know about the joys of hunting at flea markets, many of us belong to real world collecting clubs, and most of us know that not everyone is “on” the internet; but still, are we making the most of forays into real places, meeting real people, as much as we are saved searches and bookmarked pages? Just something to think about.)

The book also holds another pre-internet reminder… In these days of complaining that eBay and other online selling avenues have “ruined” both the prices and spirit of the antiques and collectibles marketplace, don’t you remember that collectors have always complained about, feared, or been annoyed by other (real or perceived) influences in the world of collecting? This reality bonked me in the nose when I read swizzle stick collector Norma Hazelton’s lament:

Kovel wants to put a book out on swizzle sticks. Of course, that’ll kill the business. It’ll make the prices sky high like antiques and everything else went.

I haven’t studied the swizzle stick collecting market and I’m too lazy to even check to see if Kovel’s put out that book; but I bet that swizzle stick collecting has been affected by a great number of things outside of the collector’s control — and that’s rather the point, isn’t it? We can’t control the collectibles market any more than we can anything else we care about.

What else did I learn or remember? Along with some very specific things about very specific categories of collectibles, these general points stuck out:

• The differences between collectors and accumulators may be sound, even agreed upon; but here there were Big Time Collectors, known in their category, who identified themselves as accumulators. (Score one for my fellow accumulators!)
• I was reminded yet again *heavy sigh* that ephemera and books are of seemingly little value; there’s not a single collection dedicated to either. (Boo-hiss!)
• For nearly every bit of good general collecting advice, there was someone to corroborate otherwise; the anecdotal evidence continues to support the fact that each collection is as unique as the collector/curator’s individual philosophy, process, and, yes, I’ll say it, dreams.

Magnificent Obsessions: Twenty Remarkable Collectors in Pursuit of Their Dreams is available for very cheap at Amazon — and that’s something that any collector, in any category or however self-identified, can be happy about. (Makes a great gift for the collector in your life too — hint-hint nugde-nudge.)