Dear Lee,

Collecting can be fun and teach you and your family a lot of things. Not just history or art appreciation, but day to day skills that you might never think you would need.

1. It is OK to haggle. I thought when you went to the fancy department store, you paid the price on the tag. No. When you buy antiques, haggling (bargaining) is expected and reflected in the price. There is always a discount for dealers or decorators or special customers who buy a lot. So if you politely ask, “Is that the best price?” or “Can’t you do better?” you can often get a discount. And at a department store, try “When does it go on sale? or “Are alterations free?” I have seen it work.

2. You will learn something new. When our children were young, just able to see what was on the tables at an antiques show, we brought them along and played our own games. A favorite was showing a piece of jewelry and saying, “This green stone in the ring is an emerald.” By the time they went to kindergarten, they could identify most gems and pearls, fossils, crystals, and even some shells. They also could identify all sorts of tools.

3. Don’t expect everyone to understand why or what you collect. My upstairs hall is covered with pictures made of strange things like cork, feathers, seedpods, wax, postage stamps, silk ribbons, sand, cut paper, needlework, and carved wood. I don’t even remember what made me start the collection.

4. When there is a marketing idea that creates too many things, don’t collect them. That includes Christmas plates, Hummel figures, McDonald’s toys and Beanie Babies. I collected banana stickers when I noticed the number and country of origin changed. I quit when there were too many that promoted movies or TV shows and every piece of fruit had a sticker, not only the bananas. But I learned what 911 on the sticker means, an almost useless bit of knowledge. Also learned you shouldn’t peel stickers off the fruit and leave a hole in the skin. Soon after I wrote about stickers, I found I was not alone. There are banana sticker friends in many countries. A 15-year-old boy in Denmark contacted me. He had started a club and we corresponded (and exchanged stickers) for several years.

I’m always looking for the story of a strange collection. This week I learned about razor blade safes. More next issue.

P.S.:  911 is the code that tells the cashier what kind of banana it is and how much to charge.

Kovels Item

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