I don’t consider myself a collector, but I do have a large collection of book-markers. I can’t explain why I feel the compulsion to continually add to the number of book-markers I possess.
Slide rules, of all things. That’s mostly from inheriting my grandfather’s collection, but they’re still something I value.
One of the exhibits at one of the museums here is John Glenn’s original slide rule, that he took with him on his first flight. All the employees know that if it ever goes missing, I’m the number 1 suspect.
Souvenir cups.
I’ll be damned if I can’t attend a baseball game, go to a specialty bar, or participate in an event without picking up a some kind of cup for it.
I have entire shelves dedicated to oversize plastic cups marking some event I was at.
Cookbooks and Christmas ornaments. I like to pick those up as souvenirs of travels. I also have more sweaters, shoes and kitchen gadgets than any one person would reasonably need.
Too many volunteer tee-shirts.
God damn beer coozies. Me and my wife have several hundred from all over.
Baseball caps. Not flat brim baseball hats, or high crown trucker style hats. Caps. I buy them from wherever I go. I refuse to wear branded merchandise from almost all companies, but when I go to Block Island or Virginia City, Montana, I got to have a hat. But I’m a piker. Guy down the street from the street from me has at least a couple hundred caps hanging in his garage.
Rejection slips.
It’s the key to success in writing.
I have a few guitars - some pretty pricey - that are the best tools for me. I try to keep the numbers low - 3 acoustics, 2 electrics. Not a collection, but acquired/built with intent.
Cast iron. I look for good pieces at estate sales and such, and restore them. I tell myself I’m not really collecting it, since I use what I acquire, but the truth is that I have some pans in redundant sizes now and pieces that I don’t actually need.
I have a cabinet full of guns and a small mountain of knives. I don’t consider myself a collector of either of those things since I use all of them. I think of collectors as people who accumulate these things and carefully preserve them NIB with all their papers.
I’ve got hundreds of beer glasses, yet I wouldn’t say I collect them.
I collect Social Security.
I’ve collected hundreds of beers, though I can’t say precisely where they are now.
Sheet music. '70s, '80s, obscure - you name it, I’ve probably got it.
That’s how I rationalize my yarn and fabric stash. It’s not a collection, it’s raw material. Yeah. That’s the ticket.
And crochet hooks. They’re TOOLS, for pity’s sake. Of COURSE I need several in every size. Suppose I lose one?? (Plus they’re really small and cheap.)
Um, yarn. Yes, of course, Kimstu, this is not collecting. This is making things out of yarn. Eventually.
Exactly!! How am I going to express myself creatively if I don’t have a certain minimum amount of material stock to work with when I get ideas? Besides, for heaven’s sake, it’s not like it’s that much.
Two large plastic bins of yarn and three dresser drawers of fabric and notions. How about you?
I don’t do fabric, just yarn. And knitting needles. And project bags. Just the usual supplies*.
*pretty much a closet full.
Old computer bits.
I keep all the cables, converters, etc that are left over from dead computers. Someone asked me if I had a spare ethernet cable - Why yes - what length: one foot, two, three, five, six, ten, twelve or twenty? I have a USB to God-knows-what converter just in case.