Here’s guest blogger Dorothy Ann Skarles!
Precious Keepsakes
Hobbies or collectibles from family members seem to become treasures that never leave the home where they were first displayed.
I have liquor bottles shaped like model trains (still full of liquor), antique bottles extricated from the earth, and unusual beer bottles in different colors (empty) that my boys say I cannot get rid of.
All this great stuff that has been accumulating dust throughout the years is suddenly in a different category.
They are now my responsibility.
I even have a beer can with Billy Carter’s signature. It says on the label:
Brewed expressly for and with the personal approval of one of America’s all-time great beer drinkers–Billy Carter.
“I had the beer brewed just for me. I think it’s the best I’ve ever tasted. And I’ve tasted a lot. I think you’ll like it, too.”
When asked where the other five cans went, my youngest said, “Mom, you’ve got some famous beer there. Billy Carter is ex-president Carter’s brother. That can will be famous one of these days.”
I can’t say I’ve ever been won over to have my own hobby or collectible.
Until now.
A growing collection of posts for Dash off A Memory/Create a Memoir.
Many years ago, while visiting a beautiful home, I saw a wall of shelves in the living room with white porcelain plates in delicate colors displaying coiled shapes of dog feces.
The excrement even came in little balls.
Believe it or not, I have actually seen this bizarre collectible twice in my lifetime.
Did you ever have a hobby? If so, do you still have it?
What did you collect? What are your precious keepsakes—stamps, baseball cards, maps, antique dolls, old cars?
Did you ever keep or see a strikingly out of the ordinary hobby or collectible?
daskarles©2011
Hi Dorothy,
You sure have seen some unusual collectibles.
I collect brides & grooms the ornaments on top of the wedding cake. I have about 30 from the 1920's to present. A delightful collection.
When I asked my husband if he ever collected anything, he said when he was a kid, he collected girls' phone numbers! bernadine
Hi Bernadine. You are the first one I ever heard of that collected brides and grooms. I'm curious. Are the 1920's very different from todays brides and grooms? How interesting. Your husband must have had a large, little black book of numbers.
Hi Dorothy,
There are differences through the decades. Personally, I like the earlier ones better. Some are big, some are small, depending on the size of the wedding cake I guess.
No, my husband's little black book wasn't large, but he said it was full!
I collected, ceramic and wood horses as a child. I had about 25 and when I got married I gave them to my cousin. Sometimes I wish I had kept them, because they were so unique you can't find them today.
When I grew up I collected music boxes, now I don't know what to do with them, they are dust collectors. I think bookmarks are a good thing to collect, as they take up little space and never need dusting.
Judy, I don't know what I would do with music boxes either. I guess you could play a different one every day.