Buying gifts for the collectors in your life can be a difficult thing. Along with all the usual gift selection issues, it’s hard to know what they already have and/or if an item’s conditions will meet the collector’s standards. What can you do?

Here are 13 gift ideas for collectors of all types of things — at all price levels.

#1 Collecting Books & Guides: The wide array of titles from Schiffer Books means there is likely something to appeal to most any collector. From Antique Dresser Sets to My Pretty Pony, from Canes & Walking Sticks to Josef Originals — even Civil War Tour books, Schiffer’s got a wide selection. Not only that, but new editions may mean these are guides your collector doesn’t already have.

Currently Schiffer is offering a special: Any US customers who purchase any three titles from their website get 20% off their entire order. (Should you be really confused about exactly which war it us Uncle Bob collects memorabilia from, there are also gift certificates.)

#2 Cleaning Tools & Storage Supplies: Each type of collection requires special care and that means special tools. Sure, you know all about Polyethylene & Polypropylene sleeves and archival supplies for comic books, magazines, trading cards, postcards, other ephemera, and coins, but there’s so much more.

Perhaps your antique textile or furniture collector could use a proper screen &/or vacuum for taking care of their fancy antiquities. Or maybe your bibliophile needs repair tools and supplies. Oddiophiles Audiophiles need vinyl cleaning solutions, phonograph needles and turntable belts. Virtually any collection can use items for proper display. Maybe your collector just needs more shelving. Whatever it is, large or small, collectors appreciate these gifts.

They may not seem exciting to you, but they are. Where you see plastic bags & boxes or ‘just cleaning supplies’, a collector sees a safer, more cared for collection — and the extra money in her pocket means she can bid a little higher on something at auction.

#3 Pocket Tape Measures: Why give just any tape measure when you can give one of these beauties from Kyle Designs? Not only pretty to look at, but practical for measuring furniture, hardware, and even the size of your car doors as well.

#4 Black Light Keychain: Make it easier for your collector to make the right decision with this take-it-everywhere Ultra-violet Mini Light.

#5 Magnifying Glass or Jeweler’s Loupe: Otherwise known as ‘the loop’, the small portable (and discrete) magnifying tool allows for collectors to better inspect items for everything from maker marks & signatures to flaws & repairs. A collector can never have too many jeweler’s loupes.

#6 Calendars: Each month brings a new item to covet with collectible themed calendars.

#7 Digital Cameras: It’s not just that collectors need want to show their junk off (like here), or maybe sell it online, but they do need to record their collection for insurance purposes too.

#8 Kitchen Goodies: Everyone thinks of vintage textiles and linens — and they are fine ideas too — but there’s so much more. For pop art lovers there are Pop Art Cappuccino Cups, for kitsch lovers these Paint by Numbers Coasters, for Coke collectors, oven mitts, and for fashionistas, coasters featuring vintage sewing pattern illustrations. (Don’t forget Cafe Press for nearly any theme, anything, on a mug.)

#9 Gift Certificates: Yeah, eBay’s got gift certificates, but you know the expression, “Think global, act local,” so get your collector gift certificates from their local antique mall or thrift shop. They will be happily received and greedily used!

#10 Collection Software: You need a gift idea; they need something to do during the long winter (non-buying) months. There are many sorts of collection programs & databases, which can help with insurance issues, pricing, &/or general organization. Check Visual PackRat and Primasoft for some ideas, and Trussel for book software or do an online search.

#11 A Wallet: Even chicks dig groovy wallets. Tucking them in a pocket is much easier than carrying a purse or shoulder bag & squeezing through the flea market throng.

#12 Seeds: Sounds crazy, especially this time of year, but seeds make excellent gifts for collectors. Not just plant collectors love ‘em, but anyone who loves vintage living does, and of course the vintage crate collectors & anthropomophic veggie folks do too. Rare strains & organic seeds sell out quickly — I always forget to order my Moon & Stars Watermelon seeds early and end up saying, “Next year…” And there’s a Seed Savers Membership for the really big gardening guru (or wanna be, like me).

#13 Folding Shopping Carts: Metal or canvas, these portable carts are great for collectors who haunt block rummage sales, auctions, and flea markets. Can’t tell you the number of times we’ve whined as we’ve had to carry all our goodies in our arms — or drawn straws to see who will schlep bags & boxes to the van while the other one gets to continue the buying fun.

I suspect many marriages and relationships could be saved if only a folding cart was in the trunk.

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I had promised to touch on some of the other items we have accumulated around our house. The real prize is a wood-workers workbench sitting in our kitchen.

When we looked at the house we bought about nine years ago, the owners had what they called an Amish bread table in the center of the kitchen floor. It filled the space but sat too low to be useful as counter top.

After moving in, the need for a replacement was added to our clipboard list of needs, along with the dimensions of the floor space it would occupy. And our search started.

It turned into more of a task than I first imagined. We searched all over Southern Wisconsin. Many items were looked over with nothing just right.

One item of interest was a laboratory work table, with gas plumbing for a Bunsen burner hook-up. Nice and chromed, but the black material of the top seemed somewhat stark for the room, but close to acceptable as its length, width and height were perfect.
Then one Sunday afternoon we went to one of our favorite antique stores in Gurnee, Ill.

The Gurnee Antique Mall.

http://www.gurneeantiquecenter.com/index.shtml

Just off Highway I-94, south from Kenosha, Wisconsin. And there it was, an antique wood workers bench, bright and sparkling with fresh shellac. Its price was a bit of a shock, so when we left, it was still sitting there.
Our house took two minutes to decide to buy, the workbench needed pondering.

Luck beats skill every time.

It’s a month later and we are still trying to decide if the investment in an old work bench was worth the money, also checking on new counters and cabinets for reference.

We headed out one early Saturday morning to an auction along Lake Michigan, just North of Kohler, WI. Sitting on the grounds waiting to be sold were not one but two work benches. WOW a bonanza.
Sitting restlessly thru many items, the first bench came up for auction. It was probably from a school wood workers class. It was a small piece, most likely from the 1920s and it was sized right to fit in almost anywhere, but small for our needs. The bidding was hot, and it went for a great deal more than I had expected, but I was starting to justify the price for the bench we had seen at Gurnee, and was sure I would be out-bid.

The larger one, still waiting to be auctioned was older, probably made before the turn of the century and better constructed than the one we had seen in Illinois.
And so we continued to patiently wait.
Finally the large one comes up for bid. The bid call starting at a modest $400, - “300” – “200”, “Two Hundred - anyone Two”, then the auctioneer called “One, One Hundred” , I have One”, My hand was up at “One”, but the auctioneer had pointed to another and called “One”, He turned to me and shouted “One Fifty”. And since my hand remained up and the other bidder dropped her hand when I bid and no one bid the “Two Hundred” The item was mine.
Wifey was sure it would not fit in our mini-van, or that we could not lift it. But with help from the auction crew, we removed the legs and carried the top into the van.
Once home, we took a look at our prize, complete with two vices, one with a wooden handle in bad repair, a great wood shaving trough at back, square peg holes where wooden “dogs” were installed to hold long pieces of wood for planing. Wood wedges that held the leg braces firmly in place. It measured 86″ long by 34″ wide complete with vices and 33″ tall. The top is 78″ long by 24″ wide.

Beautiful dovetailing on the vices and twenty layers of multicolored paint splashed over the wooden top. What a challenge for wifey to get that removed before adding about four layers of shellac finish.

It’s now a thing of beauty with lots of character in the form of tool scratches, hammer dents and chisel gauges. I added a wire mesh shelf on the leg cross braces for cooking and serving pots as well as a drawer.

That piece was purchased many years before and never used. It’s a metal cash drawer that now holds our spreading knives and serving forks for hors d’ oeuvres.

It serves as our cooking work island. During gatherings it becomes a serving table with everyone crowded around and nibbling on their favorite treat. Cracker trays sit in the shavings trough, platters and hot serving dishes sit on top, towels hang from the vice handles, and utensils rest in the square peg holes.

The shaving trough has another purpose as well. When the grand kids come over, the slanted ends become launching pads for Tootsie Toy or Hot Wheel cars to race from end to end.

Our family, friends, neighbors and visitors all comment on the piece, it’s so unique and so useful, and we love it.

Until the mid 1900s, the kitchen was the undisputed heart of the home and most families, and mothers in particular, spent many hours in that room. From piecrust crimpers and apple corers to cookie cutters and potato mashers, a variety of tools were available to make kitchen chores easier. Many of these tools can still be found today at flea markets and antique malls and have attracted all sorts of collectors. With their bright colors and interesting shapes, kitchen collectibles are fun to look at and make great wall displays in the kitchen.

Many of the kitchen collectibles, such as butter paddles and dough boxes, were made from wood. Others were made entirely with metal such as cast iron apple peelers or wrought iron choppers. Still others were created with metal bodies and wooden handles. Some of the tools were for such obscure uses that it’s not unusual to come across an oddly shaped kitchen gadget that sends you searching through books to discover just what it is and what tasks it performed.

Until the 1920s, most kitchen tools with wooden handles were painted black. At that time, however, manufacturers began using bright, cheery colors on the handles. The economy was booming, and makers sought to attract buyers with color. Red and green were used most often, but other colors were employed as well. Brightly colored wooden handles remained popular until the 1950s, when plastic handles became more common for kitchen gadgets.

To keep your kitchen collectibles in good shape, be careful when washing them. You don’t want the wood to crack or the paint to peel. Do not put the kitchenware through the harsh environment of the dishwasher. Always wash the kitchen collectibles by hand with a gentle detergent, but do not allow the wood handles to soak. Make sure the kitchen collectibles are completely dry before storing them.