“I had a friend once. He had a cactus. Same cactus sitting on his windowsill for 15 years. And then one day, someone gave him a second cactus, and within six months he had to move to a bigger house with enough space for his cactus collection. My mate Paul, he collected collections. (He) wrote a memoir, Recollections of a collection collector. As far as I know, it’s still unpublished.”
— From Detectorists, Filmrise, BBC Four, 2014.
As someone who has been both the subject and the object of collector’s condescension (a term I have personally coined and one whose semantics I will attempt to explain) I can say with absolute certainty that these sentiments do in fact exist. As a collector of (insert obsession here), I have looked down on those who do not collect items as floating through life without purpose.
On the opposite side, we find non-collectors who look down their collective noses at those of us lining up at swap meets, flea markets, boot and garage sales and antique shops. They see us collectors as mindless drones. We cannot think, therefore we collect. The deeper meanings of life have been lost on us. Life in all its infinite magic has tragically passed us by.
What does this have to do with holiday gift-giving? I am going to argue that gift-giving provides a golden opportunity to introduce your loved one to the world of collecting.
It really does not matter what they are to collect, as long as passion and curiosity are what connects them to the genre. Many choices of direction can be enjoyable simply because that they are beloved by many. This transactional world provides not only the beginning of a new impetus but also plentiful opportunities for blossoming relationships with other collectors.
Think of wines (oenophiles), first edition and notable books (bibliophiles), cars and automobilia (automobilists), pre-war bottles (bottle collectors), stamps and post cards (philatelists and deltiologists), coins (numismatists) comic books, classic sneakers, couture and mode clothes/fashion, vintage tech (digital antiquarian), advertising and holiday memorabilia — everything from well-loved aged childhood relics to new and ultra-modern devices are suitable for collection.
To know the collection is to know the collector. Every collection will be as unique and idiosyncratic as its collector. The collection will provide your giftee the opportunity to glimpse purpose in the material world, perhaps one with a connection to the spiritual world as well.
A few of our favorite local hotspots to spawn the gift-giving of collections are Red Owl Collective in Kingston, Antiques Barn at Water Street Market in New Paltz, Hoffman’s Barn in Red Hook, Hyde Park Antiques Center and Newburgh Vintage Emporium.
Join the family! 
