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I started collecting coffee mugs as souvenirs of places I'd visited, until I realised I wasn't using them in case I broke them. Now as souvenirs I buy t-shirts which tend to wear out and get thrown away.
posted by
johnmacnab
on February 28, 2010 at 7:49 AM
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Alternative Theory...
Or perhaps, especially in my case, collecting can be explained in psychiatry as some sort of mostly harmless mental illness :)
posted by
Laurenzilla
on February 15, 2010 at 6:12 PM
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Nostalgia of the Collecting Itself
I have amassed a bottle cap collection in the thousands from all over the world. The itch to collect them when I was bartending can probably be categorized as both an obsession and bad habit, but nevertheless, I shuffle through the boxes of caps now and reminisce about 6-pack after case of beers in the dorms, house parties in college, that special 22 IPA my boyfriend gave me on Christmas 6 years ago. I do not drink beer anymore...but have caps I packed back from Cambodia, Argentina (Quilmes!!!), France, New Orleans, Guatemala... So for me (and I can't be the only one!!), it became a habit to stuff caps in my pocket and scavenge for caps on friends' counter tops at potlucks and gatherings. The collection itself is as enormous as the role alcohol played in my youth, and means to me what ten years of memories (or, perhaps, a lack thereof!) do. And so, beer-drinker or not, I am still compelled to save caps from a fate in the landfill.
posted by
Laurenzilla
on February 15, 2010 at 6:10 PM
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Childhood inspired my collections.
posted by
Amanda__
on February 14, 2010 at 2:33 PM
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Probably there are as many reasons to collect as there are collections.
posted by
TAPS.
on January 31, 2010 at 5:32 PM
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I feel that when one gets a collection it is a combination of all those things. Interesting the collections some people assemble.
posted by
FormerStudentIntern
on January 31, 2010 at 4:51 PM
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My collections are inspired by my decor! My den is all lighthouses! And then I collect Christmas things, among my favorites are nativities! Other than that I am not much of a collector. sam
posted by
sam444
on January 31, 2010 at 12:24 AM
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