Lately, I've been thinking a good bit about expanding my horizons here on Hive.
As part of that effort, I am mixing up the content a bit and writing my first post to the Hive Collectors community because — after all — I have been a collector of various things for pretty much all my life!
Very old Danish stamps from the 1870s
Roots of Collecting
My parents were both keen collectors of "stuff" of many kinds; my dad was into art and he was into old coins and he was also the one who introduced me to stamp collecting. Overall, my parents were very interested in making sure that I had an appreciation for esthetically beautiful things, particularly handmade things and old things.
Even when I was a relatively small kid I would be dragged along to museums and antique stores and shown all sorts of things. At the time I think it was probably pretty boring, but they tried their best to make these outings interesting for me... and a lot of it stuck in my head so when I grew into adulthood the idea of forming collections of things was strongly ingrained in me.
An old Danish painting from my parents' collection
Stamp Collecting
I started collecting stamps when I was maybe six or seven years old, because my dad worked at an import export business and he asked a lot of people there to clip the colorful stamps from all around the world from the envelope — yes we still used stamps back in the late 1960s — and then he would bring them home from the office for me.
I found it really cool because there were so many of them and they were quite colorful generally. My dad thought it was a great idea because it was a way for me to learn about geography, history and the cultures of many different corners of the world.
An assembly of postage stamps from the Scandinavian area
In the late 1960s stamp collecting was pretty common. In Denmark, I would estimate that probably 1 in 10 kids collected stamps. After all, it made sense: they came for free in the mail all the time and it was one of those things you could get started on without having to spend any money.
Unlike the vast majority of youngsters who stop their stamp collections at the same time as when they discover the opposite sex, I just kept going with it... perhaps because I had a relatively solitary upbringing and so I needed to be able to entertain myself.
1800's stamps from France
What to Collect
Because I was Danish, what made the most sense was for me to collect stamps from Denmark. Because we spent a lot of time in France, as well, I also started collecting stamps from France. Yes, I had lots of the other ones too, but since I was fully dependent on getting those from my dad's workplace I didn't pursue it quite so much.
When I was about 14-15, one of my best friends and his family moved to Sweden, so I started collecting Swedish stamps, as well. Besides, we could look across the Sound down the street and see Sweden, so that made it feel "relevant," as well!
Swedish stamps from the 1890's
All these years later, I still have my Danish stamp collection, as well as smaller French and Swedish collections and I still enjoy working on them from time to time, particularly during the winter months when it's too miserable outside for anything but indoor activities.
Along the way, I also started doing what is often inevitable with collecting fields that are very large: You start specializing in certain things, because trying to collect "everything" is a scope far too big!
1920's Danish pottery cigarette holder, which I now use as a pencil cup!
Danish Pottery and Ceramics
The stamps are not the only thing I've collected as I've gone along the way.
As I mentioned, my parents were passionate collectors and somewhere along the way I got interested in earlier 20th century Danish pottery. I was probably well into my 40's before that really became "a thing," because many of these pieces are fairly sought after and they can become quite expensive! And I am not a wealthy person!
Southwest USA "blackware" pottery, Zuni Pueblo, Arizona
Because I also lived in Texas and Arizona for a long period of time, my Danish pottery collection was supplemented by Southwest Tribal Pottery as well as occasional pieces of Mexican pottery.
The appeal of pottery for me has always been the aesthetic and the extreme skill shown by the artist who created the pieces. There was a time in my life when I thought I might take up pottery as a hobby but I never really got around to it and it's one of those things that I think I am better off appreciating as a collector than trying to create as a maker.
1942 Liberty Silver Half Dollar from the US
Coins
I've also dabbled a bit in coin collecting, most of them old gold and silver coins from Scandinavia, although — again — that is a hobby that requires a fair amount of money and so it has always been fairly modest.
Some might call me a "gold and silver stacker," but I really am more interested in the numismatic beauty and value of the coins and I am in the value of the base metal itself.
We each have our own way of approaching "how to collect," and I think that's part of the beauty of it!
A collage of beach glass and pottery I have found!
Beach Combing
Of course, some of the things I have collected aren't something you can buy from a store or flea market!
Ever since I was quite small, I have loved going to the beach and picking up "interesting things" I saw there. This has been everything from unusual rocks, to sea shells, to old pieces of pottery and glass polished smooth by the waves over decades or centuries, unusual pieces of driftwood... and whatever catches my eye!
That's more of a "revolving collection" for me, because if I get tired of something or run out of space, I simply take it back to the the beach for someone else to enjoy!
Yes, it's a very wide range of stuff, so I might (somewhere down the road) make separate posts for each of my collections, in more detail! For now, it's just this summary!
Thanks for reading, and have a great remainder of your day!
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Created at 2024-02-25 16:37 PST
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