Does anyone else ever get really depressed about their collections?

[whirlpolf]

not depressive, rather annoyed at times

I remember having trashed a 2 garages full collection of purely Vorwerk machines. I got so annoyed that "they" (the Vorwerks) started eating up more and more of my time and space (the firm kept on developing more and more of those tiny detail changes, sometimes in highly irrational patterns that I lost track of what was when and why. Setting up a database about these changes was not an option, that would have turned out to be non-paid fulltime job.

Then one day, this "holy frenzy" got hold of me and I sold major portions of the collection, for the rest I just called the bulk trash to pick them up and shred them /dump them. (They had to call for a second truck). Relief! Space!
Still today I find some bits and pieces of that old collection on Ebay and Quoka, being offered for dozens or hundreds of Euros (but being reoffered the week after that with no sale completed).
Funny: Not the rarest prototypes or salesmen's specialties were the ones that I was missing (a bit) but just the standard market models.

Today I only keep rare oddities that I find technically amusing or entertaining (all brands this time). Should one of them start collecting dust without being played with, I sell them.
Just to be on the safe side (in order to not be regretting one day) I first ban them down to the basement playing "as if gone" for 6 months. Not touched within that time? Sold.

This way I keep but some dozen of units that are really being used. All others come in, I learn about them, maybe keep photo memories on the computer (not taking up any space) and let them go again, once I have "learned them by heart".

Even the "inner core" keepers must work and serve me, my family and my friends to do jobs.
There is no more "just look, don't touch" machine in my house.
Yes, they do get scratches from that (so do I), yes they will die from that one day (so will I as well, so what?)

Back then, I was working for my vacs, now it is the other way round ;-)

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I DO enjoy seeing all of the different cleaners around

my home. I TRULY enjoy enjoying them with my friends whom I invite here often. I liked so many of them as a child, that know, it;'s great to look around them and see so many of them . I just really need to store and display them properly. Long gone is the need/plan to hide them from public view. My family and friends all know about them. It certainly has invoked quite interesting discussions .To those who don't understand, appreciate them OR "ME", for that matter, can simply "Go and fry ice".

 

[ultimatevacman]

I've had a few surprised reactions from my friends at school about me collecting vacuums, I don't tell them, only when thy come to my house and ask "what are they doing here?" I just explain. Some of them find it weird, which if I'm honest, it is, but that's not going to stop me collecting, as I enjoy my vacuums, and I'm looking forward to my collection growing and getting bigger.

Joe

 

[alexhoovers94]

I find it weird, which it is....

Well, to quote Norman Bates from Psycho..."We all go a little mad sometimes!"
Maybe we are all mad on here, all the time! Haha.
I don't really think it should be something to dwell on, otherwise it will make you feel more depressed. You just need to think to yourself that it is your hobby and accept it and don't question it.

Alex.

 

[jmurray01]

"Well, to quote Norman Bates from Psycho..."We all go a little mad sometimes!"" Oh the amount of times I've used that excuse Alex...

 

[portable]

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; font-size: medium;">Turbo 500 -</span>


<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; font-size: medium;"> </span>


<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; font-size: medium;">I think everyone has contributed excellent input about this. Matt's questions to you seem really helpful, primarily because they isolate the issue to how you relate to this hobby and to the world at large, and how you see your collecting. </span>


<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; font-size: medium;"> </span>


<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; font-size: medium;">Long ago, I made the decision to limit my collection, first because of practicality, and later because I LIKED the freedom and room that a smaller collection gave me. Much like Whirlpolf, I liked the results of having a smaller collection, and I USE what I have left of my collection. Though I admire others' collections, I would not want to be saddled with finding the space it takes to house them all. I have seen other collectors go through agony and misery when they HAD to downsize. </span><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; font-size: medium;">I made the decision to keep most of my paper collection, which takes up far less room. However, I do get seized by the "bug" now and then and just can't pass up a vacuum that calls my name. Those times are far fewer than they used to be. </span>


<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; font-size: medium;"> </span>


<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; font-size: medium;">I wish you best of luck in deciding what you will do (or IF you will do anything about it). Sounds like you are feeling better about it, anyway.</span>

 

[kenkart]

I dont give..

Two hoots what anyone thinks...but trying to move this stuff in 95 degree heat and 90 percent humidity, is about to kill me, Im not getting rid of vacuums, but I sure am considering thinning out the other stuff.

 

[williamr1248]

Does Anyone Else ever get depressed about their collections?

I guess I am going to give you the other side of the story. I had collected for years and for some reason this last year I was done with it. It was a BIG job but I sold almost everything off and kept only a few.
Collecting is a very personal thing and I have never looked back and don't miss them at all. I still have the interest and sure enjoy the vac forum and the wonderful friends but I was at the place where I no longer wanted all the clutter. I enjoyed each and every one but I also enjoyed putting the money in the bank and having a clean basement. The one thing I learned very quick that I had no trouble selling the Miele's, Dysons, Rainbows, real Electrolux's but had to almost give away most of the newer Hoovers and Eureka's.

 

[cb123]

If it helps to keep a muzzle out of your mouth, perhaps all out collecting may consequently be cheaper than a funeral. But on the other hand if it makes you want to drop the boom on yourself, then by all means rid yourself of the temptation at once. Don't be rash, nor hasty in your reasoning, for what done is done as sure as a chainsaw accident. Molder over it a while longer and just maybe the sun will be all the brighter tomorrow. You'll make it somehow, you always do. Good luck!

 

[mjm0424]

vacuum collections

Do you enjoy working on them,fixing the broken ones,with parts you come across? It's no different than people who collect stamps,dolls,jewelry,etc. Jay Leno has a warehouse full of classic cars.Keep them if you enjoy them.If you want to sell certain ones,sell them,& buy something else you want.I use mine in my business,& the older ones;are better than any of that plastic that they make today. I keep the repair parts in the basement,so the house isn't cluttered. Don't get rid of something because someone else's opinion. My best friend constantly tells me my basement is cluttered,my mid-century furniture,& appliances,are outdated.I tell him "you're Hyacinth,& I'm Daisy".We'll never agree on this subject,but he doesn't live here I do, & as long as I'm happy that's what matters.

 

[nycwriter]

All this being said ...

... just remember this: it's a very narrow line between being a collection enthusiast and a hoarder.

My list of questions above assumes that the collection itself is not an issue, but rather how it may impact YOUR daily life.

It is entirely possible, however, for the collection to get out of hand and take over your life.

I'm sure we've all seen "Hoarders" on HGTV (or one of those cable channels). If you haven't, watch an episode or two. If you see yourself in the screen -- or even glimmers of yourself, sharing the same psychological traits -- now is the time to take a serious self-examination.

I was just having a conversation with a new guy I'm dating (***smile***). We discussed our mutual love of old things, and he accurately put a name to something that I know I've had for quite a long time: "separation anxiety".

It's when we cannot bear to part with anything because it feels too much of an extension of ourselves.

Now, I don't have collections per se, but I was starting to see myself going down a bad path. I'm a huge audio aficionado. Ebay has given me the opportunity to own the very esoteric stereo equipment of my youth that I was never able to afford when it was new. I never got too far, but at one point in my smallish 2-bedroom Brooklyn Heights apartment, I had two receivers, two amplifiers, a tuner, 2 tape decks, 6 speakers, and four turntables.

One receiver I bought back when I was only 14 years old -- brand new -- and it took me an entire summer's worth of grass cutting to save up for it. That I will never part with.

I settled on a Kenwood amp, tuner, and tape deck ... kept my circa-'90s Yamaha CD player ... and selected ONE turntable to keep (a 1967 Garrard) ... and gave everything else away to good homes.

One of the turntables was hard to part with; it had been a birthday present from my parents. It was a top-of-the-line BSR (as top of the line as BSR ever could get -- sort of like a top-of-the-line Chevrolet) that was rebadged as a "Zenith". I accidentally broke the dust cover in the back by hyper-extending the hinges (it was actually quite well-built with high-quality metal hinges, but a critical design flaw was that the metal was screwed into a weak area of the plastic). Anyway, my dad, the consummate woodworker, fixed it up by installing a thin piece of wood along the entire back end, staining it to match the rest of the cabinet, and re-installing the hinge.

To this day, I feel a slight pang of guilt for giving it away. It was a gift from my parents -- and my dad even put his own work into it. But I had no room or use for it. Should I have given it away? Probably not. But what's done is done. That was 10 years ago, and it still bothers me.

Maybe I have more of a problem in my head than I'm letting on, if such a small thing is still bothering me after a decade. But I do know this: I have a tendency to attach too much importance to things people give me; it's really a misplaced channelling of my affection for them. I feel like discarding something I've been given by someone who loves me is like throwing away a piece of THEM. It's not healthy. But the fact that I recognize it, I think, means I've got it in check.

Living in an apartment in New York precludes me from getting too far along in accumulating stuff; I have a small-ish "walk-in" closet in my back hallway (I call it more of a "step-in" than a "walk-in") that is crammed to the gills (but exceedingly organized, in those nice colored boxes from The Container Store). I don't have a basement, attic, spare room, or 3-car garage to keep stuff. Hell, I can barely keep Christmas decorations from year to year; this is why New Yorkers are so big on REAL Christmas trees (and wreaths and garland); we have nowhere to store artificial ones.

Anyway, back to "separation anxiety". I believe it's more common among single gay men than in everyone else, for obvious reasons. We all, to some degree, like to hang on to something from our past, if not as a security blanket, but for continuity's sake. Straight married people have their spouses and children to take them through their life's journey. Single guys like me ... not so much. It's just me and my kitty, alone in the world. And if that swing-arm lamp from my childhood bedroom that I'm now using in my kitchen brings me comfort and keeps me grounded, so be it.

Just a few thoughts ...

 

[watsonw]

Have I got a real problem........

Although I have a purpose built space in part of our garage fitted with cupboards and a work area I found I had to 're-org/shunt' a lot around to accommodate my luton made lux z25 box which only last week I repaired /stained/varnished (I stripped it down last May!!!)

Before the 'shunt-round' I looked at all that I had in the cupboards and I just thougth OMG!!

I started to feel light headed. Very quickly after I decided that the only vacuum cleaner goods to be acquired would be those that would improve/repair existing ones.

I to regret parting with machines in the past, but I was a younger and much different person then?

This thread has been for me: valuable, feeling, logical and reassuring!


Good luck to us all!!!


Kindest Regards,

Walter, MID SHROPSHIRE, UK.

 

[midcenturyfan]

I find that having more than one hobby helps. I collect classic cars as well as vacuum cleaners. If I get sick of one hobby for a while, then I can think about the other.

I have twelve classic cars and approximately eighty five vacuums. I think that is a good start, but there are plenty more that I would like.

One thing about being a collector is that it is not what you have that is the most interesting, it is the thing that you hope to find.

At least vacuum cleaners are not like animals. You can leave them unattended until you want to look at them again and they don't come to any harm.

 

[classicfan1]

Another possibility

You may be like me. In that I mean you want to change things up. I've collected many things over the years from pedal cars and Power Wheels, to action figures and Hot Wheels cars. Vintage coke bottles and cans, old vacuums and other appliances, etc. Every couple of years I grow tired of hunting the same stuff...I sell off most or all of it and move onto my next affair. I still like to hunt vintage items in general but I have been having a strong passion for classic bicycles and classic car parts lately.

I'm a very unfaithful collector, I cheat all the time. LOL!

Oh did I mention I had a vintage video game fetish for a very short time? Oh and tube radios?

 

[ultraperformer]

Chris, first off I'm glad you say you're feeling better, personally when the weather is nice I can't be bothered with any of my vacuums I'd rather be outside. I still like to come on here and look what's new. My vacuums are all in the loft apart from one that I'm using daily, I think this helps as I don't have to look at them at all unless I want to, could you move yours to the loft? Come winter (shudders at the thought) I get more into it again. At least you know the money is invested in them and not blown on alcohol/drugs etc that you'll never get back maybe you could sell your least favourite vacuum and see how you feel that's what I do when I get a new one and feel that I'm amassing too many,

 

[vacuumman206]

I have never quite been in that kind of quarry with myself, but that is mainly due to the fact that I have been lucky enough to have free storage for just over 1/2 of my 300+/- collection. Anytime I have wanted to pull my hair out over the vastness and waste of space my machines at home take up, I move a couple to storage. That said I understand your frustration. Getting rid of some/most/all will most definitely be something you regret. But even though I don't live with a similar problem, I have still had bouts with myself over the overflow of vacs in storage.
What I sometimes do when I get flustered over the mess is make it messier: spread them all out and reorganize. If you had a system of organization before, make up a new one. Who knows, it may make more space and look cleaner than the last time! You may not feel productive if everything returns to nearly the same spot it was before, but chances are you probably spent over half an hour at least doing something with them!!!