Collections from our Youth

Post Date

Wed, 03/30/2022 - 02:00

Categories

Lifestyle

A.O. Scott, NYT film critic, and Questlove, “Roots” drummer and Oscar winning filmmaker, have recently wrote about their collections of records, toys, CDs, books, memorabilia, etc.

Scott inquires whether the things you loved when you were young will ever make you feel young again? Questlove asks whether collecting is an act of devotion or creation? Everyone has different answers. I collected baseball cards and stamps when I was young. I can’t throw the cards away and enjoy looking at them from time to time. Lots of stamps were given to me by my grandparents and the memories of that relationship are strong when I browse through the albums.

Questlove has 200,000 vinyl records stored and catalogued at a barn. I have 500 in my basement and attic. The records are great reminders of days gone by. I have a few hundred CDs and can’t toss them. Knowing that I can pick up an album or a CD and hold it in my hand feels good. It doesn’t make me feel young but listening to the music feels good.

Collecting books was an addiction. I still have hundreds of books from a variety of genres. I enjoy seeing the books shelved next to other books by the same authors. It is like having “book families” living together. Books take up so much physical space and I was forced to prune my collection. I felt good when I was able to donate boxes of books to charities. The decisions about which books had to go were difficult.

I agree that knowing the collections of my past are still with me is comforting. Connecting with the past via objects is surprisingly satisfying.

How do your collections make you feel?

Comments

Fred Klein

NULL

My collections encourage me to revel in my (good) madness!

Flo Feinberg

NULL

Since space is at a premium for me and I was warned never to rent a storage unit for collections I am constantly moving, filing and pruning…and you know our kids won’t want any of it!

Victoria Drogin

NULL

I collected books I loved my whole life. Moving forces you to prune and donate for sure. I miss my library walls. Technology and being able to read on devices also impacts this. My iBooks library doesn’t take up any space and I can still browse and reread. I share a Nook with my mom and sister too.
I’m a born collector and “grouper” of artifacts in ways that let me see them newly. Paul has learned to live with it…. He collects Bills memorabilia and antique Bourbon bottles. Lol.

Daniel Schwartz

NULL

My parents had a very large book collection that took up wall space in several rooms. I was never a big reader and it was quite a burden to find like minded "collectors" when the time came when they passed. I collected coins and had a great and growing stash until my parents house was broken into and I lost most of them. I had collected comic books (now some are quite valuable). I did have a fairly large baseball collection, but mostly new unopened sets from the "Steroid" years which today are worth little. I regret the time and money wasted during that part of my life. I got into art collecting (nothing of significant value, purely for joy) at a later age and never hung most of my collection to this day. So after moving to Florida and downsizing a bit, I only kept the comic books, some baseball sets I was not able to sell and the art which resides, wrapped in my home office and closet, that needs to go up...someday. I tell my son, please do not collect things unless for true and meaningful event. It can be an obsession and definitely a burden later in life. I didn't count my records and CD's which are hard to part with never thought of them as collectable.

Shelley Simpson

NULL

Several years ago I packed up much of what was left after many moves and a couple of floods. I sent my kids each memorabilia that "belonged" to them along with things I thought they would enjoy - china, crystal, tchotchkes, etc Photos have all been scanned and then sent to the kids. Books are what fill up the shelves these days and I try to send them off to good homes as quickly as I can. Now I collect friends and memories. They don't take up space except in my heart.

Robert Intelisano

NULL

Wow, this one hits me deep. I did some DJing in my teens. A good friend of mine DJ Mugsy Mugs stuck w it as a side hustle to his teacher job. Mugs lived down the block from us in Rockaway so I "lent" him 12 crates of vinyl LPs many rare including the first non black vinyl colored hip-hop albums. Mugs sent his family away and stayed to "protect the house" during Hurricane Sandy. He dislocated his shoulder trying to save said records in his basement and almost died. Next door neighbor threw him a rope tied to a boogey board and he slept in his next door neighbors attick. He saw another neighbors dead body float by during the struggle. The end result is Mugsy is on long term disability from PTSD (I helped him w the claim and the TRS) his house is rebuilt and my records are somewhere along with our beach house in the Atlantic Ocean.

ODEY RAVIV

NULL

Agreed that collecting brings up so many memories and decisions.
Enjoyed reading all the comments except for Robert's amazing story. Shelley's perspective is so on target, If only I could bring in the dumpster!