interviews

Frank DeFreitas With Holographica Postcards

Ever since I met ephemera collector Frank DeFreitas at The Ephemera Network and learned what he does with his collection, I’ve wanted to do an interview with him. So, here it is.

Frank, what exactly is it that you collect?

I collect ephemera related to the Nobel prize-winning field of holography. A practitioner of holography (called a holographer) creates those magically seductive three-dimensional images known as holograms.

Ghostbusters Cereal Hologram

While I do collect (and make) holograms, the biggest part of my collection is paper-based ephemera and memorabilia related to the field: posters, books, advertising art, exhibit catalogs, postcards, brochures, newsletters, patents, documents, letters, magazines, press releases, newspaper articles, announcements, letterheads, envelopes, postage stamps, and many other examples.

Numbering in the thousands of pieces, it is one of the largest collections of its kind (holography) in the world today. However, holography as a topic is a relative newcomer to the field of ephemera, covering the second-half of the 20th Century (my collection ends at the year 2000). Therefore, it is definitely part of what I call the “new wave” of ephemera collecting. Being so recent, I guess the best way to describe it is “contemporary ephemera”.

With holography-related ephemera, if you’re at all geeky / nerdy (even secretly) and think lasers and holograms sound cool, then you’re really going to love this stuff. It runs the spectrum from kitsch to fine art (artists such as Salvador Dali worked with holography over the years).

Museum of Holography Looking Glass Ephemera

When did you start collecting — and what inspired you?

I started collecting in 1976 (for comparison, the Ephemera Society of America was founded in 1980), after attending my first art exhibit of holography. It was an exhibit from the Museum of Holography in New York called “Through the Looking Glass”. I kept the ephemera pieces from that show: a poster and various associated paper. After that, I have spent the rest of my life involved in the field of holography, so I obtained my collection piece by piece, year after year: the items from 1976 were added in 1976, 1986 in 1986, 1996 in 1996, and so on, as the history of holography unfolded in real time.

Also, I wrote an article on holography-related ephemera in 1988, calling it “Antiquarian Holographica”. I started my blog, Antiquarian Holographica, in 2008 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of that article. So, while somewhat of a new kid on the block in ephemera circles, I’m actually quite an old-timer. I was just off on my own, doing my own thing for nearly the past 30-plus years. But here I am now.

Sony Wonder, Sony's Instant Holographic Portrait System

What is the shinning star of your collection?

I would have to say that, taken as a whole, the entire collection itself has to be looked upon as the shining star. As for what may be of most interest to others, I would reply that postcard lovers would really enjoy seeing and hearing the history behind the beautiful artwork postcards; commercial art and printing technology students would love looking at and learning about the ads that incorporate holograms into the design scheme. And so on and so forth. There really is something very interesting and unique for everyone, regardless of their interest in ephemera (or holography), since it is a “thematic” collection.

In the past, I have had selected hologram pieces exhibited at such venues as the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. I stepped outdoors after giving a lecture one night, and turned to see the Washington Monument lit up right in front of me. That was certainly a shining star, world-class moment that one never forgets.

Sense Galaxy Theater Brochure, Tokyo, Japan

What’s the furthest you’ve ever gone to add a piece of ephemera to your collection?

The pieces in the collection hail from over 42 countries around the world. The majority of them were sent to me via post, rather than me having to find avenues to obtain them, seeking them out. They were sent for the specific purpose of becoming part of the collection, and to this day I am honored to be their guardian.

This continues today, and every so often I still receive a package in the mail. Someone in holography will be cleaning out a desk drawer or a filing cabinet and send me a box of ephemera. It then gets recorded and entered into the collection. My latest box arrived last week. I’m very fortunate in many ways.

You know that I’ve been fascinated ever since I heard of how you use your collection with middle school through high school students — I just love it when collecting can serve a purpose! Tell us all about that.

Through different programs, including the National Science Foundation and the Urban Systemic Initiative (among others), I work with urban, at-risk youth and, as a holographer, I design educational programs to introduce them to careers in lasers, optics and photonics. One of the most successful ways of engaging them is through making holograms. This has proven itself time-and-time again over the years.

Holography in Scientific American, 1965

However, for my initial orientation, I provide an exhibit of historical ephemera, mostly of what I call “holography in print”.

This gives the students an opportunity to see how holography has been used in real-world applications, and also allows them to make a historical connection to the modern world.

So, ephemera plays a very important role during the most critical part of the program: the beginning. If it fails to engage, then the rest of the program is on shaky ground. So far it has performed its task admirably AND every student knows how to correctly pronounce the word “ephemera”!

What are typical reactions to the educational program — what do you hear from kids then, in the moment?

Since most of the ephemera that I use contains three dimensional holograms, it is usually a reaction of astonishment. “Whoa!” is a usual reaction from the students.

POLSKA Hologram Stamp

You still seem to have the same reaction yourself — after all these years. *wink*

One day, everyone reading this interview will see images projected into their homes, schools and workplace as three-dimensional holograms. We will leave the “flat” two-dimensional images that we are so accustomed to behind. These holographic images will be so real, that you will want to reach out and touch them… But your hand will pass right through them. I don’t know if I will live long enough to see it, but this is the future of holography, and this is the history — in the making — that I collect.

Your passion for holography is equally matched by your passion for collecting ephemera; tell us about your latest project.

I’ve recently started a podcast centered around ephemera and the people who collect it. I have been broadcasting a similar show for holography online since 1996. I hope to feature two ephemera interviews per month. I’ve seen many interviews take place on web pages with text, but I thought that by hearing people in their own voices, it would make it much more personal. Also I would like to explore other options such as educational modules and events coverage as well.

The show can be streamed online, or it can be downloaded to a portable mp3 device such as an iPod. I hope you visit and listen to a show!

Oh, you know I will — thanks , Frank!

Hologram Trade Card

If anyone would like to receive more information on Frank’s holography ephemera collection, and/or the opportunity to have the collection exhibited along with a lecture/presentation at your school, gallery, library, club or organization (Frank makes it available at no cost to regional non-profits in his general area: PA, NY, NJ, DE, MD, CT, etc.), please contact him:

Frank DeFreitas
815 West Allen Street
Allentown, PA 18102

email: holoservices@gmail.com
phone: 610-770-0341

Katy Perry Wearing A Vintage Inspired Mandate of Heaven Romper At MTV Appearance

You may or may not know who Katy Perry is, but she’s the hot singer who, when not kissing girls wearing cherry Chapstick, is helping to bring back the vintage romper. Since authentic vintage fashions are difficult to come by, even in Katy’s smaller size, the pop star wouldn’t be able to sport nearly so much vintage glamour if it weren’t for new fashion house, Mandate Of Heaven, and it’s cool designer Carissa Ackerman.

I’ll admit it; Mandate Of Heaven vintage inspired rompers are so pretty, that I’d kiss a girl wearing them — no matter the flavor of her lip balm. Smitten, I decided to track down the designer to see just what inspired her…

Deanna: You have a number of rompers in your collections… Can you share what inspired them?

Carissa: I’ve been collecting vintage clothing with my mom for as long as I can remember. The matching 2 piece or, more prevalently, one piece outfits with shorts that my mom called “playsuits” were always among my favorite finds. Originally created for sports and playwear, playsuits were always adorable and rare to come by, perhaps in part because of their functional use. I’ve loved them ever since- I’m a feminine girl, but my klutzy tomboy side adores a pair of shorts. I guess I started making them myself as soon as I figured out how to do it properly.

Fashion Designer Carissa Ackerman In Her Own Vintage Inspired Creation

Deanna: How long have you been creating fashions?

Carissa: I’ve been into art and fashion for as long as I can remember. I started Mandate of Heaven with my former partner, Nick Olsen (also a collector of beautiful things), in January 2001.

Deanna: Did you notice that what, a year after your rompers appeared on the runway, Betsey Johnson and a few other designers had rompers (or onesies) in their collections?

Carissa: Playsuits have been around since the teens of the last century, although they have drifted in and out of fashion. While I’m very flattered by the comparison, I would hazard a guess that Betsey Johnson has made a few before in her 40 or so years in business

Nevertheless, they were certainly not in style in the least when I made my first version in 2004; and I do think that, particularly here in New York, Mandate of Heaven was among those that helped encourage their resurgence in popularity.

However, as with all trends, there were many factors involved. For one thing, a general trend in collecting vintage fashions had just hit the mainstream, adding considerably to the number of girls who, like me, were thrilling to the original versions. Moreover, a related, more general trend toward wearing dresses had just gained popularity, partially displacing the preference for mix and matching ones own separates that was so de rigeur throughout the nineties. Once people wrapped their heads back around the idea of wearing one garment as an entire outfit, playsuits were a natural progression.

Carissa Ackerman's Vintage Hat Collection

Deanna: Many of your designs have a vintage throw-back edge. Who/what/where/wear inspires you & these designs?

Carissa: My mom has amazing style, and was my original role model and inspiration. She introduced me to all things visual and artistic, and I think I took what she taught me and began pursuing additional visual inspiration independently at a pretty early age.

My style now is a summation of what I think is the best of everything I’ve come across, combined and tweaked to create the best items I can with the materials available.

Ackerman: "One of my favorite things - a red plaid metal vintage picnic set with matching thermoses - as it appeared in a recent photo shoot." (See above photo.)

Deanna: Do you collect anything?

Carissa: Vintage fabric. I used to collect vintage anything, but now all my cash goes into my line!

Most of my pieces are constructed partially or completely from vintage fabrics and/or recycled clothing; thus, the materials I use are both specifically limiting, and specifically vintage related. Not all of the recycled clothing I use is vintage, though; I work with anything I can find in a thrift store. However, I think the secondhand aspect gives a certain “vintage” feeling to a lot of my garments.

I don’t believe that creation happens in a vacuum. I think we are all a composite of the experiences and influences we’ve been exposed to. People have been making clothes for thousands of years; I think to ignore the existing wisdom of this tradition would be both arrogant and ultimately impossible. My aim is to use all of my favorite influences from the past and present to create my ideal wardrobe for the future.

Deanna: Will you continue to make rompers?

Carissa: Absolutely.

Deanna: Awesome; because I need some more time to get my behind romper-ready.

Because her creations are very limited, keep up with Carissa & Mandate of Heaven fashions at the official blog — so you don’t miss a thing. And don’t forget to buy her vintage inspired designs (you’re supporting a fellow collector, you know!). The studio/store is located at 406 Lorimer Street, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn, NY; and you can shop online too.

Paige Wood Wearing A Vintage Inspired Two-Piece Set By Mandate Of Heaven

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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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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