Be Mine

Another couple weeks have flown by, along with a couple more trips to our local antique mall to fluff the booths.  Actually, it was a little more than that - two weeks ago we located a curio cabinet to use for display, so that week was spent hauling it, cleaning it, shopping hardware (locks), getting more items ready for display, and THEN placing it in the booth space.  Yesterday we restaged two major sections of our displays because the crock bench sold (new display photos to come, but the bench that started the major overhaul is here: http://wvpanoply.blogspot.com/2013/01/new-year-new-arrangement.html).  Fluffing's more like overhauling for us when just one item gets displaced because we have so.much.stuff.

We're ready for Valentine's Day, where the universal message seems to be, "Be Mine".

I guess that's the universal theme for collectors, too - be mine.  I've read many a blog or article that asks the rhetorical question at its end, "What do you collect?"  My list is pretty long, depending on how many you count as the rule for calling something a collection or not.  And then there's the other two-thirds of Panoply's lists (my two sisters, M & J).  By the way, you can also follow us on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/wvpanoply/ (the easy button's in the right-hand column of this blog).  I have one board devoted entirely to Panoply - Three Sisters' Antiques & Other Treasures, as well as several other boards.  Here's [some of] our lists of things we collect:

• Purses - antique beaded & mesh, and the not-so-easy-to-find children's purses.  This is my all-time favorite pasttime, so much so that I even travel to gatherings with like-minded collectors in distant cities just to be with them, shop among them, and share with them.  They are my friends.  Purse ephemera (particularly photographs of women with their antique purses) are another extension of this collection - a little hard to come by, but much more affordable than the purses.
• Antique dolls - my sister M has been collecting antique dolls like I have purses, only longer.  She's a master dollmaker, and has had a small business in the past of repairing antique dolls and producing reproductions of many, as well as teaching dollmaking.  Suffice it to say she has an entirely gorgeous suite in her home that was built with her doll displays in mind.
• Primitives - my sister J loves primitives and feels certain she was a servant in a former life.  Her home comes to life with a classy mix of traditional decor with a dash of primitive accessories.  She's very into crocks, utensils, and hardware, and has made entire wall displays of her collections. 
• Linens - love, love, love old linens, especially those which are hand-worked.  Within this are sub-categories:  quilts, pillowcases, tablecloths, dresser scarves, hankies.  My sisters and I all love linens.  We buy, launder & press them, keep many, and sell the rest.
• Miniature books - an oddity that I thought perhaps my voracious reader husband would get into (but no, he doesn't like 'stuff'.  I know, sad, but true).
• Religious relics - I just feel the need to rescue them, probably a guilty complex left over from parochial education.
• Old china - which I actually use.  I come from a big family, and host several get-togethers annually.  My jadeite is my favorite china collectible, but I also collect mismatched pieces of white ironstone and [mostly] brown transferware.  I also have several sets of of very useful estate acquired patterns, ranging in service from 12 to 24.
• Then there's sterling and silverplate serving pieces & utensils, hotel silver, hats, perfume bottles.......

So, I guess the better question may be, "What don't you collect?"  That answer is pretty easy - glass.  Coming from West Virginia, that speaks volumes, as there are numerous glass factories that were started along our river valleys, most notably Blenko and Fenton.  None of us - M, J or myself - collect glassware, but we will occasionally purchase it for resell (as in the photo above, which has a piece of Pilgrim glass).

What makes your heart go pitter-patter?  What speaks to your heart and says "Be Mine"?  Hopefully, it's more than some "thing", and your heart is full with someone or several someones.