What CoALL Collects...
Druet Cameron Klugh

What a wonderful and varied group we are! I confess I've gone beyond the fuschia-haired troll stage, to collect tea cups (only 50) and candle sticks (about 100), but my collections pale beside the interesting and creative items that our colleagues have gathered. Following are descriptions, in the collector's own words, of some of the wonderful groupings they have assembled.

 This collector considers it a "quirky collection", but I think it's fascinating:

 I collect political cartoons (I was a poli sci major ... ). I started back in high school, cutting them out of the newspaper and putting them into photo albums. I don't cut everything out, just those that I find particularly poignant or that support my political views or that I just find really funny. Now that I'm busier, I don't do it as much anymore, but every month in Newsweek magazine, there is a page of cartoons that I tear out. I have a box full that I need to do something with. I like to go back and look at the albums occasionally - it reminds me of what was going on in the world back then, and it also illustrates how my political views have changed over the years.

 A very artistic and literary colleague collects "remnants of expensive fabric":

I collect remnants of expensive fabric that I always plan to make into scarves or frame, but never do. I have fabric scraps from my aunt dating back to the forties. I also have pieces for a quilt that need to be sewn and quilted, probably from the thirties from the same aunt. I'd like to hire someone to do it for me. If our CoALL readers have anyone to recommend I'd like to have their name and phone number. The more recent fabric was collected just for the pleasure of looking at it and touching it and imagining what to do with it whenever....

The same person also collects "books on D. H. Lawrence and his wife Frieda":

I just recently started acquiring D. H. and Frieda Lawrence biographical works. I came across remaindered bios at the Tattered Cover over the last two years and became as fascinated with their lives as the literature "Lorenzo" produced. They would still be considered radical today in some circles and were quite the bohemians and destroyers of convention in their time.

The next collection grows out of the collector's experience as an attorney:

Because of my background practicing criminal law, I collect books about forensic pathology, forensic anthropology, F.B.I. profiling, crime scene investigation, and serial killers. I recently had to move my books out of the dining room because my husband found Ted Bundy's face staring at him from a book cover to be a little unappetizing! (The collection is now housed in a beautiful loft library reached by a spiral staircase from the living room. -- Compiler's note). I practiced criminal law for 13 years, and still consult with other lawyers about trial strategy.

Here is a collection with a South Western focus:

I love the little Indian figure of Kokopelli ("the humpbacked flute player"), a symbol of fertility among southwestern Indians [although this is *NOT* the reason I like him -- I just think he's cute!]. Since I discovered him on our first visit to the southwest in the early 1990's, my friends and family have quickly picked up on my infatuation. I now own many pieces of Kokopelli jewelry, t-shirts, art work, etc. I even have a Kokopelli doormat. This item must fall into the category of "If you make it, someone will buy it" -- and in my case, they were right!

This husband-and-wife collecting team has a variety of interests, including many types of cartoon cels:

(In addition to those by Disney, we have actually branched out and purchased both a Warner Brothers and a Hanna Barbera cel. The Warner Brothers was just too perfect to pass up--It's Bugs Bunny as a Judge surrounded by hourglasses, Elmer Fudd on the witness stand being examined by Foghorn Leghorn and Daffy Duck is sitting at the plaintiffs table with his bill bent in all directions--it's going to come to my office ... once it's framed!

Another collection we have is Michael Ricker Pewter. We have Mythology Series, Wildlife Series, Western Series, and a bunch of Christmas pieces. This may mean more in our area than it would nationally since Ricker is based out of Estes Park.

I also collect cookbooks--many I buy along our travels. We also collect odd ball handicrafts that appeal to us on our travels: a kachina, a totem pole, an Inuit mask made out of whalebone and ivory, a soap stone carving of a walrus, a ivory seal, a large Swedish horse ... Many are tied to the doll collection I inherited from my grandmother.

Our house is an eclectic jungle--we don't have enough walls for our pictures or shelves for our knickknacks. But we have fun adding to the assortment.

This same sense of fun is reflected by our next collector, who scouts out a special type of barware on the Internet and elsewhere:

I collect Kentucky Derby glasses. I have been collecting them since I was in high school in Indiana. I attended two Kentucky Derby races with my Girl Scout troop and discovered that mint juleps were served in fancy glasses! (OK- like a typical teenager, I fell in love with the horses, too.) Each year there is a new colorful design on the glass. Now that I am far from the Midwest it is a little more difficult to find older glasses but Ebay.com is a good auction site to browse what is available, and my father loves to haunt auctions on my behalf.

Another equine-ophile has acquired quite a collection of horse figurines:

I was a horse happy little girl in the New Jersey suburbs. You get the picture, small 1950's ranch house with a small triangle-shaped yard. I wanted a live horse. My parents started me on figurines. I have been collecting since I was 9 years old and have over 100 pieces. Many were gifts; some toys, some expensive collectibles, some from trips of mine or friends. Some are quite small, others take up quite a bit of space in the curio cabinet.

Best pieces: hand blown, blue Pilgrim glass from the West Virginia pavilion at the 1964 NY World's Fair; hand carved, sway backed nag given to my mother by the cousin who made it; the pewter foal I gave myself as a college graduation present; and the first truly expensive piece I ever bought, an Anri wooden carousel horse. I buy fewer now; space and something truly unique are the main considerations. It is fun to watch the faces of friends' and relatives' children when they see them!

I never planned to start a second collection of anything, but when we bought the house I decided I needed a Christmas village. Many of those things are very expensive, so I started with a few wooden pieces of a cheaper line called Cat's Meow. So much for a small, inexpensive village! I have more of this than I do horses and no place to display them except at Christmas when it takes over the entire wall unit. The line also does custom pieces so I have the Governor's Mansion, the old #1 Firehouse and several of the historic buildings from the Marietta College campus. Gee, I wonder why I bought those?

Christmas items are a popular collectible with our audience, as our next entry also indicates:

I collect Precious Moments Christmas tree ornaments. I used to collect the figurines, too, (I started back in 1975) but there were just too many and my husband finally had to put a stop to it. I have approximately 100 ornaments - many are retired and/ or rare. I had about 75 figurines in 1993 when my husband decided we really no longer had a place to keep all of them (we were moving into a new home). I sold or traded many of the figurines for ornaments at that time - keeping only those figurines that had been gifts from special friends or family members or had special meaning to me.

I also collect cookbooks and kitchen gadgets. As for the cookbooks, I am the wife of a Lutheran pastor and Lutherans hardly ever get together without some sort of food - either desserts or potlucks! I lean toward the dessert side so most of my cookbooks are for baking, or desserts of any kind. I also like to pick up "hometown" or organization cookbooks from all over the country. I will admit that since moving to Colorado, I really don't have this "high altitude" stuff down so now I'm picking up Colorado specific cookbooks. I just LOVE any kind of kitchen gadget, too. One of my most recent is a chefs torch. It puts the finishing touch on a fabulous creme brulee - see, I told you I'm a dessert person!

Variety is the name of the game for the following collector; and I'd say they have their priorities in order:

I will confess that I collected dolls. I also collect books, records, stamps, MacGyver tapes,(remember that name), Stargate SG-l tapes (Remember that man who played MacGyver ... !), and hopefully friends.

A self-described "Member of Collectors Anonymous" mentions this sign of the times:

(I collect )dating partners. Having been single for some time, I ventured into the dating world and found myself collecting short/tall, blond/gray haired, working/unemployed/retired, vegetarian/ order escargot examples of dating partners. I even gave some of them nicknames: the monk, the drunk, and the skunk. Yes, it is the '90's and monks and skunks do date!

A most eclectic collection includes just about every "thing"for this person's desktop:

If I really think about it, I collect all sorts of things. In fact, I would have to say that my favorite collection is of "things "----things that I use for paperweights. It's a changing collection, but currently includes the orange rhinoceros piggy bank that my best friend in high school gave me, the purple octopus from AALL in New Orleans that squeaks when you squeeze it, a small gargoyle ("Edmund"), a mouse ("Doe") made by my older son from a rock and a few pieces of gray felt, a fabric homed toad filled with sand, a paperweight from a SWALL conference, and a rock with a buffalo carved into it. At times past I have also used a neon pink hippopotamus, a leaping buffalo, and a wooden BB (two separate wooden B's joined together by me with paper and glue --- another gift). Sometimes the paperweights are in use, sometimes they're clustered together at the edge of the desk. But each reminds me of someone or some event, and each is special.

This self-proclaimed "Grinch " has some praise­worthy items amassed:

I am a minimalist and try not to collect anything. (I'm a grinch and hate to collect material objects - or anything that isn't used regularly.) I do, however have a stamp collection that I haven't had the guts to get rid of yet, and I do have a collection of 20 marathon finishers medals.

A lover of activity and adventure has the following unique collections:

I collect Peak Experiences. My goal is to collect all the 14,000 foot summits in the contiguous United States, the highest peak in each of the United States, and the highest peak on each continent. To date, I still need to collect a few of the l4ers outside of Alaska, two of the continental summits, and most of the highest peaks in each state.

I also collect biographical accounts of female adventurers and mountain climbers throughout history. My favorite author in my collection is Dervla Murphy. If you want a good read with lots of adventure and excellent historical research, give her a try.

Our final description is of a fun and fabulous grouping that we may get to see next April:

I have been collecting flamingos for about 13 years. I first started collecting them because everyone knocked them as "ugly" and they were a joke in the animal world. Most people only associate them with plastic lawn ornaments. Needless to say this "art form" does nothing for their reputation.

When I moved out here, I also moved my flamingo collection. At that time it consisted of 17 copy paper-sized boxes of various flamingo bric-a­brac. If it exists in a flamingo form, you can be pretty sure I own it. I have mirrors, clothing (a bathing suit, suspenders, necktie, many different types of socks, sweatshirts, t-shirts, a flamingo belt), money, stuffed flamingo animals (over 30 and counting), beanie babies, stamps, stationary (over 15 different kinds), money socks, hangers, plates, cups, glasses, utensils, jewelry, glass ones, wood ones, crystal ones, pewter ones, plastic ones, paper-mache ones, flamingo puppets, flamingo mobiles, flamingo tins, flamingo vases (one of them is a one-of-a-kind original). This was just a small sampling of what I have. I would love to have a separate flamingo-only room for all my great pink buddies. I hope to one day have a pink and black tile bathroom so that I can decorate it appropriately.

Believe it or not but there are quite a few flamingo collectors. At one time, I belonged to the Flamingo Collectors Society. Yes, there was such an organization.

 I am always on the look out for anything flamingo. I have gotten a little more selective in my old age. I strive to find pieces that are "nice" and unique or old. I have managed to acquire a few things from the '50's. These are some of my prized items. Unfortunately flamingo items are hard to come by in Colorado and most of the ones that I have found I already own! I have yet to get to Florida. The flamingo opportunities are mind boggling. I have a trip tentatively scheduled for the spring!

I have also taken my collection on "tour" back in Michigan. I displayed it at two public libraries and had a lot of positive comments. Most people had no idea how many different ways or forms that flamingos are available in. My next scheduled tour stop will be at my firm during National Library Week.

 THE CONTEST!

Now that you've read this far, you're in for some more fun: can you match the names of the collectors with what they have collected? The best response will win a gift certificate for $25 at the Tattered Cover. Let's see how well you know your colleagues. Here goes:

After you match them up, please send your responses to me by January 31st for compiling. I look forward to hearing your responses. Send to: Druet Cameron Klugh (fax 303-866-0200 or e-mail klughd@hro.com)