I’m pretty sure all you collectors know Wes Cowan from 13 years appraising on Antiques Roadshow and six years as a History Detective. Many of you might also know that he was raised in a household filled with Victorian antiques by a mother who liked all things “old” and that he turned his love of “old” into degrees in anthropology and archaeology; eventually teaching and then becoming Curator of Archaeology at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History. But what you might not know is that Cowan has always been a collector.

As a child Cowan collected fossils, arrowheads, and china plates; as a young man in college, he collected antique photographs. In fact, if it weren’t for a passion for collecting he might never have become “Wes Cowan, Auctioneer,” let alone a regular on those TV shows. After 15 years of collecting photographs, Cowan had amassed what was, at the time, the best collection of Frank J. Haynes photographs & stereoviews — which he (somewhat painfully) sold to start his business.

When we met Cowan briefly before his Thursday night lecture, part of the Plains Art Museum’s Trash or Treasure event, it was really clear that his passion for collecting isn’t just some front to appease collectors or fans of the shows. Within the first few minutes the talk turned quickly to collecting. Not just asking us what we collect, but making an off-hand comment that he’s been kicking himself for not starting a collection of hotel door key cards earlier. It’s just the sort of comment you’d expect a traveling collector to make.

Once he began his talk, Cowan focused on the appeal of History Detectives. He said that the show “taps into our inherent interests in the history of our country and the history of our families.” His enthusiasm for collecting and understanding of collectors was clear as he talked about how objects hold stories and how collectors should think of themselves as curators. (In my notes I wrote, “It’s like Wes reads my columns!”)

When discussing History Detectives, Cowan winced and ducked from imaginary tossed tomatoes as he told us that none of the stars of the show do the research. He explained that they may suggest objects and stories they run across but it’s the producers who select the objects & then assign them to the show’s researchers. Working in pairs, researchers have six weeks to do the research. From this research, a loose script or story lay-out is created, allowing the History Detective to provide off-the-cuff narration — including the inclusion of new or changing information as it comes in. Each History Detective then has three days to be filmed telling the story, with two days of travel. (With so much travel, it’s no wonder Cowan laments not starting that hotel door key collection earlier.)

Cowan feels honored to be a part of the show, saying, “It’s a privilege to be invited into homes & stories and to go & do what others can’t.” Watching him say it, there’s no doubt of the sincerity of his words.

Antiques Roadshow production has far more of a family atmosphere among the appraisers; not just because he’s been a part of the show for twice as long but because he and the other 75 appraisers work together at each show. And boy do the appraisers work at each show. Even if each city Roadshow visits airs as multiple episodes, it all was taped in one day. That means 75 appraisers work with 7,500 people — each one bringing multiple items — all in one day. None of the appraisers are compensated in any way for participating in Roadshow — flights, food, hotel etc. is all paid for out of each appraiser’s pocket. Each appraiser does it for the fun and exposure. Or I should say for the potential exposure. For while there are 12 million viewers, there is no guarantee that any appraiser will have a taped segment. As appraisers run into great stories, they have to make a pitch about being filmed to producers. If they make a strong enough case, they may get air time; if not, they’ve paid for the trip, done an exhausting day’s work, all for naught.

Well, almost naught…

Appraisers are allowed to set their cards and literature on tables. However, they are absolutely forbidden to solicit business. This includes verbally giving out their contact information. Cowan tells the story of a lady who asked how to contact him. He replied that he couldn’t say, but mentioned where his card could be found. When she stated she was unable to read the print on his card, Cowan told the woman she would need to get her granddaughter to read the card because he was forbidden to read it to her. That’s pretty strict; but just goes to show you how ethical Roadshow is.

As for his “day job” as auctioneer, Cowan says the business has changed a lot. “Farm auctions are no longer lucrative,” he said, and, “Sotheby’s & Christie’s have proven that auctioneering is all about marketing.” And he addressed the impact of the Internet too.

Within 5-7 years, eBay and the like have quickly shown that “rare” is indeed a relative term based on dealer opinion &/or experience. Once “rarely seen” things were shown for the readily available stuff they were, and the prices for low-to-middle end antiques & collectibles dropped drastically. However, the accessibility of the Internet has assisted those searching for scarce items, likely bringing stronger auction sales for high end antiques and art. He also said the accessibility was a good thing, allowing people to find objects, connect with other collectors & collecting groups, as well as research more easily.

On Friday, before the VIP Trash or Treasure dinner, we had yet another opportunity to talk privately with both Wes Cowan and his colleague, Danica M. Farnand, a specialist in American Indian Art. We have lots more to share from those conversations, but for now we’ll leave you with the one question that every collector & watcher of History Detectives wants to know: What are their favorite resources for research?

Farnand first mentioned Google, then added that she most often uses the Burke Museum database, as well as the Smithsonian database, AskArt.com, and Peabody’s database (but added that it was a bit difficult to use). Cowan added ArtFact.com, Prices4Antiques, Ancestry.com, ABE.com, CivilWarData.com, and The Library of Congress’ American Memory Historical Collection to the list. He also said that more and more universities and museums are adding their archives online, so the resources would only be growing.

Skeptical that they were hiding something, like secret databases and clandestine meetings in private libraries off limits to the average collector, we pressed a bit. “On History Detectives you have a lot of access to archives and libraries of organizations… Do average collectors have such access?”

“In my experiences, as a collector, researcher and auctioneer, I’ve found archivists & librarians are always anxious to help,” he said.

“Even if you’re not a History Detective?” we asked.

“It’s not like a librarian’s ever going to tell a researcher to go away,” he added, laughing. Then he leaned in, grinned and conspiratorily added, “But being a History Detective doesn’t hurt!”

I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit tired of (and frustrated by) declarations that collecting is bad; that it’s materialistic, and nothing more than bad consumerism. You know that I’ve ranted and raved the opposite, but in my desire to better separate collecting from poor consumer habits (and the related anti-consumerist movements and organizations) I figured you needed more than just my words. Or maybe I just needed to be validated. Anyway, I went looking for an expert.

And I found one: Professor Marina Bianchi.

Professor, please give us a brief biography of yourself.

I graduated in Rome, Faculty of Philosophy, with a thesis on the problem that things often have a particular value for their users that is not matched by their value (price) in the market. Very soon I was appointed as a researcher in the Faculty of Economics in Rome, La Sapienza. Now I am professor of Economics in the University of Cassino, where I teach Microeconomics and Industrial organization. I visit often The United States where my husband teaches Economics at Duke University. At the moment we are both teaching a course in Venice entitled The Economics of Creative Goods, where we explore the characteristics of both the production and the consumption of creative goods and activities (from movies to fashion, from videogames to books).

Please describe your work/study.

I was always interested in the problem of the choices individuals make: whether they are efficient (or rational as economists say), how learning and skills affect hem, and how they change through social interaction. At first I studied the role of entrepreneurship and competition in generating change and innovation. Later I discovered how important, though sadly neglected in economics, is the often innovative roles played by consumers. My theoretical tools mixed philosophy, game theory, psychology, and economic history.

I read your papers, but I would like confirmation that I am understanding them correctly… Would you briefly define/describe the following areas of your studies:

*consumer choice theory
*preference formation, the role of novelty in consumption & satisfaction

I soon realized that consumers too have entrepreneurial abilities. They take advantage of unexploited opportunities and create novel solutions to problems in the pursuit of their own wellbeing, just as entrepreneurs do in the pursuit of profits. Think of the re-discovery of past trends, or of quite fresh ways for dressing, that can come from the street; or of the original and unique ways one can combine elements in music, or furniture, or clothes and accessories. Think too of consumer-created products such as YouTube, Flickr, or MySpace. Consumers also adapt things made available by producers in completely unexpected, creative ways: for example, new model creation by fans of Lego; downloading and file-sharing via cell phones.

In studying consumer choice I try to emphasize the active role of consumers. In this process of creation of new alternatives on the part of consumers, I also stress how preferences change and become more refined. Why should change and innovation be the preserve of producers and be assumed to come only within the organizational framework of firms and corporations? Whereas most economists tend to assume preferences are given and explain choices as due to changes in relative prices or income, I posit a much more restless, exploratory role for consumers.

How & when did you find yourself specializing in the areas you do?

Individual choices are at centre stage in economics but, strangely, individual preferences and motivations are never analysed. Motivation and preferences have been left to others – psychologists, sociologists – to explain and document. They are considered too inscrutable and subjective for a precise and exact science as economics wants to be. But I was always curious about individual motivations and thought that there was something important missing here.

By looking at what other disciplines had to say about motivations I discovered why novelty, variety, complexity, surprise and even uncertainty play such an important role in choices. Take novelty, for example. Do we find the repetition of a single note in music pleasurable? No. Not that unbounded change and novelty is pleasant either. But novelty, within recognizable bounds, is associated with positive feelings of pleasure and the same is true with variety and the other properties I just mentioned. When you read a novel or watch a movie, or listen to a story, why do you like it so much? Because while the plot with its characters gives you the reassurance of a frame of reference, the unfolding of the plot with its suspense, surprises, and new twists gives you the thrill and stimulation of novelty. So it is with collecting: we organize our collections and constantly re-order them too. Each order we impose gives the items a sense or meaning; yet each additional item is new and exciting, whether it adds something different within an order or provokes a re-thinking of that order. This is why collecting can become such a passion.

I found you searching for something more positive on collecting and consumerism. Seems there are quite a few blaming consumerism for darn near everything, and other than a few concessions that collecting can be a good thing for its recycling points, most see collecting as a negative hobby or activity. Do you see collecting as a purely consumerist activity? Is all consumerism ‘bad’?

You correctly infer, from my writings but also from what I have just said, that I am very impatient with those who caste consumers in the role of victim – the dupes of advertisers – or active consumers as aberrant: going overboard in acquisition or exhibiting a kind of mania as collectors. Clearly there can be excess in the consumption of things as there can be in the imbibing of food or drink. But it is unreflective to take the pursuit of variety and change, as in fashion, as due only to a search for status, or to jump from observing careless or wasteful consumption to calling for a new era of frugality and restraint. I do not see consumption as an activity that destroys rather than creates and production as something nobler.

It is true that in order to be more enjoyable and creative consumption must be skilled consumption: you must know the goods and experiences you are consuming. But, the more consumption will be thought of as inferior or wasteful, the less prepared we will be in acquiring the skills necessary for creative consumption. Fortunately things are changing, and fast. The communities of interacting consumers that form through the internet in a variety of new and ingenious ways are very important for the creation of skilled consumers. And in many ways we see them leading producers and opening up new potential for living lives of satisfaction.

Do you yourself collect anything?

Yes. In the past I collected ‘forties dresses and costume jewellery. More recently I have developed a real passion for bakelite bangles. It started by chance and soon I discovered how infinitely combinable and variable they were. Unfortunately for me many others have discovered the same so that they have become very expensive. But this is the destiny of many collectables and it does not destroy the possibility and the joy of finding a never-before-seen piece at a price that you are willing to pay. Moreover, extraordinary substitutes are being used in creative ways by designers, which introduces new consumers to the pleasure of this pursuit at more affordable prices.

Fundamentally, is there much difference between ‘research’ and ‘collecting’?

I think that between intellectual or scientific research and collecting there are many things in common. In research, as in collecting, we have a frame of reference that provides the organizing guide and that gives shape to problems or challenges and tells us where to look for possible solutions. And also in research the aim is to conquer something new that reshapes one’s organizing framework and opens new paths. But collecting is more playful, light, and pleasurable in every phase. Enjoying your collection is as pleasurable as when you are searching for a new addition to it, and the difficulties you meet only increase the final enjoyment. Buying an already made collection would destroy half the pleasure. Research is more costly in terms of intellectual efforts and discipline, but, yes, the principles are the same!

So there you have it, folks: Collecting isn’t bad. As a collector you can be an educated consumer, be helping the economy, be creative, and, actually be living a satisfying life. Who knew? Well, actually, we collectors already knew that. But now you have some research to back you up.

I meet a lot of interesting collectors, who also just happen to be as interesting and unique as their collections, and I thought perhaps you’d like to get to hear their thoughts on collecting. (This is an ongoing series, so if you’d like to participate, please email me.)

What do you collect — and what is the most common reply you hear when you tell people about your collection? (Yes, blank stares and laughs are acceptable replies!)

Collin David: (Sure, you know him from this very blog; but sometimes it’s fun to also be the interviewee. He also can be found at his own blog, ResonantFish.com, and in the CQ Community.)

#1 Among other things: I primarily collect Batman stuff and action figures of all kinds. Secondary (but still scary) collections include vinyl records, art, robots, squid, DVDs and videos, trade paperback comics, Legos, gaming miniatures, trading cards, all kinds of books, scrap pieces of plastic, wood, metal and beyond, instruments. I’m actually slimming down a bit due to space concerns. And when I say ‘concerns’, I mean ‘am I going to be crushed in the night?’

Shelley Brice-Boyle: (Is also known as sweet*cherry*pops, the delightful seller behind Sweet Cherry Vintage Lingerie.)

#2 I collect and wear vintage lingerie, and totally passionate about it. I collect everything from bras, panties, slips, negligee’s and peignoir sets, anything from the 1930’s to the 1980’s. I not only sell it, I wear it, live it, dream it! When I tell people I collect vintage lingerie, they look at me with an expression of “Huh?” and “Why?”

Marty Weil: (The award-winning journalist, SEO content strategist, and editor/publisher of ephemera, a blog that explores the world of old paper; he was recently interviewed here at CQ, and can also be found in the CQ community.)

#3 For the most part, people have not heard of ephemera, but when I tell them it’s old paper, they perk up. There are a lot of people who collect old paper, but they don’t know it. They have drawers full of vernacular photographs or old menus or postcards. All of these things are considered ephemera, and once people realize the scope of it, they can see that it touches just about everyone.

Angela: (She owns Dorothea’s Closet, a virtual and real-world vintage clothing shop.)

#4 Satin boudoir slippers from the 50’s and older (primarily older, and I am most interested in Daniel Green pieces, but look for Oomphies as well as a few other labels). Advertisements and other paraphernalia as well. Typically people don’t even know what they are as the art of glamorous lounging is no longer practiced, sadly. I don’t collect fuzzy old lady slippers, these boudoir slippers are shoes meant to be worn indoors but meant to be seen…worn with silk and satin hostess gowns when entertaining at home.

Mary Ann Cade: (The lady who was interviewed here and here. She can also be found in the CQ community.)

#5 I collect many different kinds of things. I collecting movie and television props, and have a huge prop jewelry collection. I collect Henry VIII items and I collect things that I remember from childhood, dolls I had as a child, movies, television shows, etc., as well as silent films. Many of my things fascinate people but I do get those stares from people that question if I am eccentric or just a nut.

What two characteristics or personal traits you feel are essential to being a collector?

# 6 Mary Ann: I feel that you need to be collecting things you are interested in, not collecting items that everyone else is collecting, just to be part of a group. Dedication to collecting is important without going overboard or crazy about it. The best part of collecting something is getting the item for a bargain and not letting your heart rule your head.

(She’ll have to teach me how to do that!)

# 7 Collin: I wanted to say ‘disposable income’, but then I recalled my growing collections of feathers and dead bugs and scrap metal and wood and how gloriously free they were. I think that a collector needs to have a desire to hunt - not even acquire, just the excitement of discovery of something rare or unusual within a set theme.

A second characteristic would have to be the ability to organize and stay organized, because collecting takes up space. Being able to understand and monitor that space is essential to a successful collection.

(OK, I’m going to have to debate him on this one day; “organization” is not one of the strong-suits ’round here…)

# 8 Shelley: I feel you are a collector if you are very passionate about something. You see it, you get butterflies in your tummy. You see it, you have to have it. You see it, it’s your’s. You see it, and you want more and more of it.

(That’s more like me — let’s just hope Shelley & I won’t ever be vying for the same bit of vintage lingerie!)

# 9 Marty: It’s funny that you ask… I’ve actually done some research on this subject, and I wrote an article called the Highly Effective Habits of Collectors. The seven traits I identified, based on interview with dozens and dozens of collectors, were patience, persistence, scholarship, understanding, preserveration, Internet savvy, and fraternity with other collectors.

Did you ever get an item for your collection so cheaply that you felt like a thief? Ever stumble into such a great find that your fingers shook when you picked it up?

# 10 Angela: Bright lipstick red satin wedges with black deco piping and braided buttons on the vamp, 40s, in mint condition as well (and my size!). I had been hunting them for years but only found them on high end sites at prices out of my range. These I spotted at a antique fair in the streets of a local neighborhood and the woman selling them looked at me as I picked them up and said, “Those are so pretty, but you know they’re not vintage.”  Pretty? Absolutely. Not vintage? Only if you don’t consider something vintage unless its 75 years old!! It’s likely the flawless condition that threw her off. But lucky me! They were TEN dollars!

As a collector, what is one thing you cannot live without? (Not the objects/items themselves, but other things related to collecting, such as ’space’, ‘acid free paper’, ‘eBay’ etc.)

#11 Marty: The Internet.

#12 Shelley: Estate sales and clothing racks.

#13 Collin: I’d like to think that I’m entering a place where I don’t ‘need’ anything. In my current state, I do need space like crazy. If I had to stop collecting? It would be a really bad shell-shock, but I think I’d live and throw myself immediately into something else. Like a freeway.

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