Collecting Corner: June 2009

Greetings

Collecting Corner is a blog that explores the fascinating world of collecting. It's about anything that can be collected or is connected with collecting. It's for collectors, those who want to collect, and those who don't collect but who want to understand the passion that drives those who do. It's about different ways to think about collecting and what can be collected, and ideas for figuring out what to do with your collection.

This is a forum for discussion of questions like:

What do you collect?
Why do you collect that thing, in particular?
Where do you find it?
Why do you collect, in general?
What do you do with your stuff?
What's your mode of collecting -- systematic, random, something in-between?
What's the weirdest thing you've collected?

Think of these as the standing questions of this blog. I'd love to hear from you. Please join in the discussion, or just stop by to see what we're talking about. I'll do my best to find and share information that is useful and interesting, and try to keep things organized, easy to read, and fun.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Avery's Comment on Mystery Piano

Thanks, Avery, for your comment on the post about the mystery piano in the woods. As far as I know, no one has admitted moving it into the woods, or claimed ownership of it, or figured out how it got there. If anyone has any information about it, I'd love to hear from you!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

A Great Big "Thank You!"

Hello, Riley, Camille, Lily M., Beckett, Eric, Noah, Ben, Sam, Zach, Sophie, Adele, Lily B., and Chase --

Thank you, each and every one of you, for your wonderful comments! I am so glad that you like Electra to the Rescue. I think the pictures in the book are marvelous, too. And Electra is quite a character. She reminds me that it's important to think for yourself, and not just do what everybody else is doing.

I loved reading about the different things you collect. Believe it or not, my husband has a big sister who collects fruit stickers, too! And I have beautiful colored rocks that include quartz. Electra's very first collection was a group of dolls that her grandma gave her. And it's exciting to know there will be more sand collectors among us! Marbles, webkinz, motorcycles, rocks, charms, quarters, lego guys, glass animals and figures -- you guys are incredible!

Thanks again for reading my book and for sending your comments,

Valerie

Monday, June 1, 2009

Mrs. Rogers' Neighborhood

Hello, Mrs. Rogers' students --

Valerie Biebuyck here. I hope you enjoyed your field trip to Shelburne Museum and that Electra to the Rescue helped you understand that special place. I was so excited to learn that you have been reading my book!

Mrs. Rogers told me that you are talking about your collections in class. Electra would have been thrilled to know that you are interested in her collections, and that some of you collect or may start collecting.

I'm sure Electra would have wanted to know all about your collections and your thoughts about them. Here are some questions I think she would have liked to ask you:

What do you collect?
Why do you collect that?

How do you organize your collection?

Do you display it? How? (Electra always was very interested in how best to display her collections so that everyone could enjoy looking at them.) Do you keep your collection tucked away in a safe place? Or do you display it sometimes and keep it tucked away sometimes?

What's the most unusual thing that you have collected?

If you want to start a collection, what would you collect?

When I was about eight years old, I used to collect sand from beaches my family visited. I would put it in pretty, colored bottles. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I was giving a presentation about Electra to the Rescue in Charlotte, Vermont. A woman came up to me afterwards and said, "Please sign this book for my friend. You would not believe what she collects. She collects sand!"

Collectors are everywhere! And if you think no one else could possibly collect what you do, think again!

Electra would have been very happy to learn of your interest in collecting. Collecting tells us something about ourselves and the world in which we live. That's part of the reason why Electra started Shelburne Museum.

Keep it up! Who knows what you might do with your collections someday!

Happy collecting,

Valerie Biebuyck

The Quintessential Collector

My name is Valerie Biebuyck and the inspiration for this blog is Electra to the Rescue, a book I've written about a quintessential collector: Electra Havemeyer Webb. She collected folk art for the most part, although she collected other things as well, throughout most of the twentieth century, beginning at a time when "serious" collectors viewed it as little more than trash. When she ran out of space at her house, she moved some of her folk sculptures (just one of many types of folk art she acquired) to an indoor tennis court! She had so much stuff (she collected more than 120,000 objects during her lifetime) that she actually started a museum. When she ran out of space at the museum, she started collecting buildings and bringing them to the museum grounds to house her treasures. She didn't limit herself to folk art and lovely old houses, though. She also collected a lighthouse, a covered bridge, a one-room jail, a railroad station, and a 900-ton steamboat. All of this is at Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont, a place that Electra called "a collection of collections," and where Electra has satisfied her dream of sharing the acquisitions of a lifetime with others.

A Collection of Moments

You can collect things that most of us think of as collectible, such as stamps, coins, dolls. You can collect expensive things, like art by famous artists who work in a particular style, or priceless historical artifacts, or sports cars.

But you can also collect things that are not tangible. Like Nobel Laureate Heinrich Boll's character in "The Clown," who was a "collector of moments." My father-in-law speaks often of the influence that concept has had on his life -- to collect moments, such as the surprise celebration planned by his children to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary, and another such surprise a few years later in honor of his 80th birthday. He also collects smaller, quieter moments, as well, such as a pleasant afternoon planting cedar trees and talking with my husband.

Many people think of these things as memories, but my father-in-law prefers to view them as a collection of moments.

What are moments you have collected?

Collecting Corner