research

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.

Last December, I ran into an article on swimming sensation, silent film star, author & entrepreneur, Annette Kellerman.

Called The Australian Mermaid, billed as “the Diving Venus”, and dubbed “the world’s most perfectly-formed woman”, Kellerman had her share of scandals, including being arrested in 1907 for indecent exposure for appearing in her bathing suit & being the first big star to appear nude in a film. She also authored several books (on fitness as well as children’s stories) and had a fitness club in LA.

I know some of you classic film buffs are scratching your heads, thinking this all sounds familiar… It is. In 1952 Esther Williams played the role of Annette Kellerman in Million Dollar Mermaid.

Knowing that those-in-the-know estimate that only about 20% of the silent features have survived, it made me wonder & worry… Have any of Kellerman’s films survived? And if so, are they only shown in exclusive locations and the silent film festivals of larger cities? Would I ever be able to see a Kellerman film?

Then I read about Mary Ann Cade.

Mary is one of those collectors I hope I grow up to be someday (even if we are nearly the same age). She’s not only a great collector; a serious, dedicated researcher; but a rescuer of silent films. She’s actually found Kellerman film and other silent film footage which had been presumed lost.

Can you imagine?

I get frustrated when I can find no answers after a few weeks of diligent searching, but here’s a person who searches even when others — who ought to know — stamp an object “presumed lost”.

Naturally, I had to talk to Mary.

A most gracious, and, as you shall see, fascinating person, Mary agreed.

When & how did your interest in Annette Kellerman begin?

Well, let me start by saying that I have always been interested in silent films since viewing my first one around the age of 13. The article I wrote for Tim Lussier’s website about Lost Silent Films starts out with my first exposure and interest in silent film. I was so fascinated by silent film after seeing Phantom of the Opera, I started researching silent film at the time and checked out all the local books in my area library (long before the invention of the internet and Ebay) to find out what I could.

One of the first books I checked out was The Pictorial History of the Silent Screen by Daniel Blum which has tons of photos of silent stars and film scenes, many of which no longer survive. My introduction to Ms. Kellerman was through this book (as was my introduction to Valkyrien) and I remember checking it out numerous times after that until I could locate my own copy for purchase.

After viewing the Annette Kellerman bio-pic Million Dollar Mermaid with Esther Williams, I renewed my interest in Ms. Kellerman and started searching to see if any films of hers had survived. Kellerman was kind of like the Oprah Winfrey or Madonna of her generation with her film career, hippodrome shows, books, physical fitness books and health clubs and it is just a shame how forgotten she is today.

Since the invention of the internet and Ebay, I have been collecting lots of silent film books and memorabilia, including film and movie props.

I have one of Ms. Kellerman’s bathing suits that is in excellent shape considering it is over 90 years old. It still has the Annette Kellermann (with two n’s) label sewn into it.

I have an autographed photo of her film still, The Daughter of the Gods, with the famous nearly nude shot, probably the first nude shot in history.

I also have a silent film pen pal who purchased Ms. Kellerman’s A Daughter of the Gods wardrobe trunk. He has sent me photos of it and I have been asking him if he would sell it for a long time, but so far I haven’t been successful.

The story of your hunting for any lost films by Kellerman is fascinating! When I read it I was swept away — and a little envious too. While you blithely write about discoveries in Russia — including tracking them down to physically get your hands on such lost films — I’m sure there was a lot more hard work involved. Tell us a bit about this process.

My article for lost silent films started when Tim Lussier of SilentsAreGolden.com had been asking me to write an article for his website. I had seen many reviews for films and originally I was going to do a film review, but couldn’t really decide on which film, so instead of that, I asked him about an article regarding the decomposition of nitrate film stock and the loss of almost 90% of the silent films ever produced. I think around the time of the article, there was the discovery of the 1922 Rudolph Valentino/Gloria Swanson film Beyond the Rocks that was presumed lost and found some 80+ years later that gave me the idea to do an article about lost films.

I had been corresponding with Ned Thanhouser of Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, Inc., whose grandfather Edwin Thanhouser, started Thanhouser Productions in the early 1910’s. Ned is on a mission to locate every surviving Thanhouser film production and get them preserved and released so they can be viewed again. I started doing Google searches on silent film, obtaining film contacts via the internet and contacting the Library of Congress for assistance via their Ask a Librarian feature on their website.

The information I was given by the LOC regarding the possibility of some Kellerman footage surviving in archives worldwide, led to my contacts at Screensound Australia and my email conversations with Bronwyn Dowdall. I contacted her and found that about one reel (20 minutes) of footage survived from the 1914 release Neptune’s Daughter and could be purchased directly from their archive on VHS tape. I contacted Jack Hardy of Grapevine Video and together we purchased the footage.

[Interviewer's Note: Jack Hardy of Grapevine Video confirmed that the found Neptune's Daughter footage is an extra on the Venus of the South Seas disc.]

In the meantime, I had been in contact with Thomas Christensen of the Danish Film Institute and he had footage from a 1911 Kellerman short entitled Siren of the Sea. This short film wasn’t even listed in Ms. Kellerman’s credits on IMDB until I located it. He sent me a copy of the footage which is about 3 minutes in length.

The research for the article took time and patience but it was a labor of love for me and most people were very kind and helpful so it wasn’t that difficult. The biggest problem was getting some archives to respond. I think some of the difficulty could be the language barrier. I think many of the sites are dual language now, which helps, but for example, Gosfilmofond of Russia, most of the site is in Russian, as is their catalog, so you have to be able to contact someone who can read and interpret English. I think this is why it is difficult to get regular responses from them. They confirmed in emails that they hold about one reel of footage from Neptune’s Daughter but cannot tell me which section of footage they hold. They also stated that it can be purchased from TekNoVideo but no one ever gives a response regarding the purchase and I keep sending emails without success.

How long have you spent researching Kellerman? Estimates, even if on say one film etc., would help illustrate how much effort you’ve put into this.

Research time on Kellerman would be impossible to pinpoint in hours or time searched. I wouldn’t even venture a guess. I have probably spent as much time on research of her as I have on Henry VIII and the House of Tudor and that is another passion of mine since the 6th grade as well. I found out much later that my maternal great grandmother’s surname was Tudor many years later, which might explain my fascination with him and the era.

I am not sure what you mean about estimates? Are you referring to time spent or money spent? If it’s money spent, it varies considerably from archive to archive. Some will charge minimal amounts for films, while others can charge over $1000 for a copy of a film. It just depends upon how the archive has structured their fees.

Any estimate on time taken to research Kellerman? Even just hours spent on one film or something, to give readers a bit of perspective as I’m not sure that those who do not research for writing etc, who only ’search’ for bidding/buying, will understand the enormity of how much time you’ve spent researching.

I would say I have probably spent at least 6 to 9 months (if you count it in one timeblock) in gathering research and dealing with archival sources, waiting for replies, etc. on Kellerman. This does not include the time it will take to sort through all the resources I have compiled and put them in an organized article.

You’ve found some spectacular things; I’m impressed beyond words. And exhausted just reading of your work — I know that there were/are hours of unrewarded searching, dead ends etc., while you still hope that you’ll get a reply or find another thread to pull…

The turnaround time for replies, diarying email requests for followup and then pursuit of additional leads is what takes the longest time. There have been instances of some archives (Gosfilmofond of Russia is a prime example) who continue to ignore email followup replies. This can also put longer research time into a project because of continued followups and still awaiting the missing information.

My whole goal is to find that lost silent treasure languishing in a private collection or archive and finally being one of the first people to see it after almost a century of being hidden away. This is probably the major reason I continue to do this in my spare time.

Your dedication is astounding — and so appreciated.

I appreciate the compliment. My whole reason for doing any of this is to save these films from extinction and to get them out there so the general public can see them. This is why they were created in the first place. I think it is a complete tragedy that some of these films have been held hostage in these archives for decades, some are deteriorated beyond repair (before people knew about cold storage techniques) and are either lost for good or kept hidden, much like the stereotype of the reclusive forgotten star of yesteryear.

When you ask the average person about silent film, most people will know Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, Lillian Gish, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, or Lon Chaney but when you ask them about people like Olive Thomas, Carol Dempster, Betty Bronson, Florence La Badie, Muriel Ostriche, Boyd Marshall, Marguerite Snow, Maude Fealy, Violet Mersereau, Claire Mersereau, Martha Mansfield, Mabel Taliaferro, Louise Glaum, Louise Lovely, Arline Pretty, Ella Hall, Ethel Grandin, Valda Valkyrien or Annette Kellermann, you get blank stares.

Most people when hearing the name Fatty Arbuckle immediately think of the 1922 rape and murder case of starlet Virginia Rappe and don’t realize he was acquitted in several trials but the case in effect ruined his career. He was just starting to get back into show business as an actor and director (under a pseudonym, William Goodrich, because he couldn’t get parts under the Arbuckle name) when he died in 1931.

When most people hear the name Mary Miles Minter, if they even know who this person was, they immediately think of the William Desmond Taylor unsolved murder case of 1922 and how both the careers of Mary Miles Minter and Mabel Normand were effectively ruined over the sensationalism of the case and the accusations hurled by the press in general.

By preserving and making the existing films available to the public, the stars of these productions, whether they are big names or forgotten ones, will have an enduring legacy that will live on.

The interview with Mary continues. Part Two will be published here at Collectors’ Quest on Monday — and believe me, you don’t want to miss it!

If you’d like to reach Mary Ann Cade, you may email her at cadesmall@sbcglobal.net or mcade@ccmsi.com. See more Annette Kellerman items here too.

Most collectors will admit they can’t wait to watch an episode of Antiques Roadshow. At our house, it’s a regular. But by far my favorite television show on collectibles is History Detectives. It’s a great show for the whole family.

It’s not that I dislike Antiques Roadshow — we do watch and enjoy it. However, it is my opinion that History Detectives is the better show — and not just because I can (and do) groove to the show’s theme song, Elvis Costello’s “Watching the Detectives” either. I have other reasons.

While Antiques Roadshow focuses on price & condition of antiques and collectibles, it also somewhat misrepresents the other fundamentals of collecting.

In one episode, many items are paraded in front of you; most with very high prices. The kids eyes bulge when they hear that some guy dumpster dove and retrieved a painting (by no artist we’ve ever heard of) which is worth more than half of our neighbor’s house, or when a Navajo blanket fetches three times what our home would. Their jaws drop when they hear that the 50 cent score at a flea market is worth more than our van. Our eyes bulge, our jaws drop too. But as adults, we know that these are the rare finds, the less than typical situations. (Otherwise, we’d drive a better vehicle and live in a better neighborhood!)

In one hour of Antiques Roadshow, approximately 50 items flash before you, each with a satisfactory ending. It may not all be rags-to-riches, but rarely is an item a complete ‘unknown’ with no information or appraisal given. The kids not only think that we’re sitting on a pile of earthly treasures, but that finding out an items worth is just a matter of walking up to some guy who is sitting there waiting to tell you that you’ve struck oil. They also think finding a seller will be that easy. They have no idea the amount of research that goes into discovering just what you have, and how important knowing what you have is to finding the right buyer.

History Detectives, on the other hand, shows the process of research. These folks are searching databases; visiting libraries, museums, and galleries; interviewing historians and specialists (including getting on planes to do so); and using technology as well as expert opinion to authenticate items.

In fact, it’s rather like CSI, but without the crime. Who knew you could do the things they did when they investigated to see if this house was owned by accused witch, Martha Carrier?!

But ultimately the real reason I adore History Detectives is because it focuses on the real value of items: the stories, the histories. Items are not reduced to a price tag, with or without the “of course, it’s priceless to you,” tagged at the end. (Even when Roadshow appraisers tell people that the item should be in a museum, they still give a dollar value.)

In one hour of History Detectives, you may ‘only’ get three objects — but along with them you get three fascinating stories. Even if the family stories and legends don’t pan out, the stories are fascinating. Fascinating enough to get a seven year old boy interested and engaged in the program.

Recently I watched an episode of History Detectives with the kids (admittedly right after Roadshow). One of the items investigated was a Liberty Bell pin. During the show, they mentioned the Civil War. Hunter, who has just finished the first grade, asked what the Civil War was. When I explained, his face brightened and he said, “Oh, President Lincoln!” He was so proud to be able to bring something to the conversation — and I was proud to know he really does pay attention in school!

But the story doesn’t end there.

That episode aired here on Monday, July 2, and when we went to the local Fourth of July celebration on Wednesday, Hunter ran with glee to a display of a replica of the Liberty Bell, made of oak by Ordean Swenson.

“Oh! The Liberty Bell!” he said with excitement. He even wanted his photo taken with it.

Then we discussed a few things from the show, such as how the crack was actually made larger as a “repair” so they could ring the bell in honor of George Washington in 1846. (This method of repair, called stop drilling, increased the size of the crack so that the sides of the fracture would not rub against each other, allowing the bell to ring.)

Through the investigation and story narration on History Detectives, we learn something. We make connections. We build on what we already know and share with the rest of the family watching. This way we’re more likely to remember what we’ve learned. The prices on Roadshow are jaw-dropping, but do I retain any of them? Nope. But I do remember the stories on History Detectives. So do the kids.

Now that’s TV programming I, as a parent, can really get behind!

No wonder PBS executives say that History Detectives is one of their most popular programs, “capturing an audience that ranges from elementary school children to truckers.”

Note: PBS also has a History Detectives site just for kids.