When is enough ENOUGH?

[PrettySquareGal]

Calling all collectors- I am getting a bit worried about my uh collecting "habit." I want to know how you personally decide when you have collected enough of anything? When you need to rent extra space? Move? Get threatened with divorce? Can't sit on your couch because it's covered in things to sort through before you can put them away???????????? Or worse, all the closets are filled and any empty space is now storage-ready?!

 

[Foofoogal]

I have no clue. It is a true addiction for sure. Why I had to become a dealer. I know I am overcompensating for being so poor monetarily as a child but also love the history and cannot stand to see history not appreciated and preserved. I am just now starting to use some of my lovely linens for myself I will not sell.
As the first thing to do with an addiction is confess you have a problem I really am not there yet but like you close.
People bowl, fish, etc.
I guess if it is causing you problems or someone else real problems then it is a problem is my answer. I have a honey that is ok most days with it. He is not too keen on watching Antiques Roadshow or going to Antique malls or sales too much though anymore like he used to. [huh] I still love them as much if not more than when I started. It is a real passion of mine.
I will say I did not become a dealer till our children were raised. I don't think I could of ever done my work with them. I started in 1996. Our youngest graduated in 1999.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I'm not at bag lady status yet, and I still have an open, spacious home. However, I can sense impending danger if I keep up my hunting and gathering.

 

[Zemke Fan]

When you have EVERYTHING...

Okay. Just jokin'. But, seriously, I think that one alternative is to limit yourself to collecting a NARROW range of items. For example, I collect WWII Army Air Force memorabilia and Boeing 307 Stratoliner memorabilia. The Stratoliner category is sufficiently narrow to allow me to collect just about everything that's out there (except for the plane itself, since only one example exists). With respect to the USAAF collection, now that I have complete winter and summer uniforms and crushers (hats) in my size, the only thing left to collect are items from the specific fighter group units of interest (56th FG and 57th FG) and certain wings (command pilot) and insignia (colonel) that I don't have. The search is so much more challenging as you narrow in to a complete collection. Makes the final acquisitions SO much more satisfying.

 

[LizzieMaine]

When I find boxes in my garage that haven't been opened in ten years, full of things I forgot I owned. And instead of cleaning the garage and putting said items in Uncle Henry's or on eBay, I drag them into the house and put them back into use. And I live in a very very very small house.

 

[MisterCairo]

"There is NEVER too much! There is only NOT ENOUGH!"

Pasquale the Restaurateur, "Big Night" 1996.

 

[Paisley]

A hobby should be a break from everyday life. It's too much when it starts taking over your life or becomes a substitute for life.

I agree with Zemke Fan about putting a limit on a hobby: a narrow range, space limit, dollar limit, or hour-per-week limit.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

A hobby should be a break from everyday life. It's too much when it starts taking over your life or becomes a substitute for life.

I agree with Zemke Fan about putting a limit on a hobby: a narrow range, space limit, dollar limit, or hour-per-week limit.

Surrounding myself with vintage items is definitely not a hobby for me but a part of my everyday life. I guess I have to limit my ways of living.

I've started with my Christmas collecting- if it doesn't fit in the allocated storage space I have for it, I can buy more but then something has to go.

 

[DutchIndo]

Oh it's an obsession, I have tubs and tubs full of Uniforms and field gear. My closets are full of Jackets I never wear. I won't even get into to Firearms. I think in the last 10 years it's gotten worse for me. Two reasons becoming single again and the Internet.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Oh it's an obsession

I like to think of it as a passion...you live passionately.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Possessions should not possess us.

I know it's difficult though. I just moved across the country, so I had to get rid of some stuff. But I know it's just stuff,...and I can always get more stuff.

 

[Paisley]

Surrounding myself with vintage items is definitely not a hobby for me but a part of my everyday life. I guess I have to limit my ways of living.

By everyday life, I mean going to work or school, paying bills, cleaning the house, running errands, working out, etc. Hobbies and collections shouldn't interfere with a job, relationships, health, ability to pay bills and put away money for retirement, or the ability of paramedics to help if the need ever arises. (I've been in houses so cluttered that that could be a problem. It's not very sanitary, either.) When a hobby or collection starts causing problems like that, it's gone way too far.

 

[Foofoogal]

I definitely love to dig for goodies in those types of home Paisley but I am a neatfreak. No way. That is what storage units are for. lol

 

[Fletch]

I like to think of it as a passion...you live passionately.

The greatest collections - art collected by rich stylish people possibly excepted - aren't built on passions, but obsessions. A passion is an obsession polite society admires - an obsession is a passion they don't.

I believe that the greatest collectors are almost always male, both for their intense competitiveness and their purer, more abstract relationship to objects.

 

[scottyrocks]

Thats a tough question.

When I collect things that have a commonality, I just always seem to know when I have enough. I just look a what I have and say to myself,
'yes, this is good, and I am happy with what I have.' None of my collections seem to become huge, but then again, I am the poster child for 'everything in moderation.'

 

[inge77]

trust your instinct on this one

Hey, I think it's really brave of you to recognize this about yourself, not to mention admitting it here to everyone!!! I can relate to your conundrum, because I got in REALLY big financial trouble w/eBay and Paypal over buying too many antique and vintage clothing items. I knew in the middle of it that I'd spent all I had, but I couldn't stop, even though I'd already gotten a lot of great items, in addition to those I already had from previous months and years. So, I'd say, if you feel at all like your vintage collecting is too much/has gone too far, then it has gone too far indeed. Trust your feelings on this. I'm not trying to tell you what to do--I just don't want you to end up like me, in super-debt and unable to fall asleep at night for a few weeks. As for me now, I am able to look at vintage and antique clothes, but NOT buy. I've regained control over myself. So I can still be into vintage without getting in trouble. And I know that I can buy again one day, it just won't be right now. Sorry for such a long response--I tend to write a lot. Hope this helps in any case. Good luck to you!!!

 

[Fletch]

A Red Flag...

...is when you acquire objects for the sake of the collection, rather than because you plan to use, enjoy, or otherwise profit from them.

When the collection becomes reified - becomes a "thing" with importance and meaning beyond the objects in it or what they mean or do - that's the time to sit down and ponder larger issues.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

The greatest collections - art collected by rich stylish people possibly excepted - aren't built on passions, but obsessions. A passion is an obsession polite society admires - an obsession is a passion they don't.

I believe that the greatest collectors are almost always male, both for their intense competitiveness and their purer, more abstract relationship to objects.

There's nothing polite about many of the antique and collectible "pickers" I've run into, and they are often the source for the art at auction that your rich stylish polite society enjoys.

How is not being sentimental more "pure" than appreciating an object beyond its surface value?

How do you define "greatest" collection?

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Hey, I think it's really brave of you to recognize this about yourself, not to mention admitting it here to everyone!!! I can relate to your conundrum, because I got in REALLY big financial trouble w/eBay and Paypal over buying too many antique and vintage clothing items. I knew in the middle of it that I'd spent all I had, but I couldn't stop, even though I'd already gotten a lot of great items, in addition to those I already had from previous months and years. So, I'd say, if you feel at all like your vintage collecting is too much/has gone too far, then it has gone too far indeed. Trust your feelings on this. I'm not trying to tell you what to do--I just don't want you to end up like me, in super-debt and unable to fall asleep at night for a few weeks. As for me now, I am able to look at vintage and antique clothes, but NOT buy. I've regained control over myself. So I can still be into vintage without getting in trouble. And I know that I can buy again one day, it just won't be right now. Sorry for such a long response--I tend to write a lot. Hope this helps in any case. Good luck to you!!!

Yikes! I am very glad you turned this around and thanks for sharing!

I am nowhere near that point, but I want to make sure I don't head in that direction, so cautionary tales are appreciated!

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I definitely love to dig for goodies in those types of home Paisley but I am a neatfreak.

This I can relate to.