Taming the Collective Beast

   If you are reading this, I'm sure you will understand. Quite simply, if you are a collector, which most of us who enjoy Early Americana are, then you too are at risk. For what? Well, you may be at risk for having to live in the garage or the basement, while your treasures take over the house. Because there is so much to collect in this area, it can be difficult to choose in which direction to go. Furniture? Pottery? Textiles? Tools? Lighting? Well, you get the idea. The list just goes on and on.

   We all start our collection with the best of intentions, buying only the best examples or only a piece a year. Sound familiar?  Or how about the old, "I only want one, I'm not looking to collect."  Then, the best examples turn into, "It's not the best, but it is a great price!" or "It looks pretty good, and it is hard to find..." Then the one piece a year ends up an adiction to auctions, tag sales and the hunt itself. And the "I'm not collecting" ends up being a non collection that has taken over the living room and is swiftly moving to the dining room. For us, collecting is a passion and it can be fun, challenging, rewarding and satisfying. It can also be expensive, overwhelming and time consuming. So how do you control and manage these collecting instincts?

    It is assumed, since you are on this site, that you either are or want to be a collector of Early Americana, antiques, primitives, etc. So, we start a process of elimination. Now, if you are furnishing a house from top to bottom, then this is as far as you need to go. But, for the rest of us, this isn't the usual case. So, now we take our thoughts further. Say you want to collect pottery?  That can be a pretty wide open area, so you need to decide...Yellow Ware? Bennington? Red Ware? Fancy or primitive? Yep, it can be a decision. Same with say, textiles. Quilts? Clothing? Rugs? Samplers?  You get the idea. You need to narrow down the field.

    Now what if you are one who wants to start a collection, but have not a clue as to what you want to collect, let alone how to get it narrowed down. All you know is that you want to collect Early Americana. To be honest, this is not usually how a collector starts, although that is how some neat collections have begun. However, by begining your collection by chance, you can run the slight risk of becoming bored with it

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