Why do we collect? It’s an interesting question which has sparked all manner of answers.

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From the fetish to simple possession, as a status symbol or part of scientific research, the collection and the collector have always been around. In storytelling, you could argue that the first collector was Noah, who collected two of all the known animals in the world. A complete collection!
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The concept of collecting no doubt appeals to something primal in us. A small child on the beach will collect pretty stones and shells, and this instinct follows us into adulthood. You may not think you are a collector but take a look at your film choices, the plants in your garden, your holiday souvenirs. We all have a collection of one sort or another, one which we would like to see completed.
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What people consider a ‘true collector’ however, is one whose collection has taken over their life. From a preference for butterfly souvenirs to every item a butterfly has ever been printed on. From getting all the James Bond films, to owning all the memorabilia from their production. ‘True Collectors’ are those who have become, in a word, obsessed.
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But is this obsession a bad thing? Have you ever wondered where the items on display in the local and national museums come from? Most, if not all, museums are based to begin with on one gentleman’s collection. And when you delve into the records you can see trends, patterns, obsessions. Without these collections, and their collectors, museums would not have had a place to begin.
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And without the collectors today, museums would not be able to show the history of society. Those OXO cube boxes on display? Someone collected them. The fans in that case? Someone thought they were worth keeping. And all those Robertson jam items? They came from a collector who donated them as a record of a moment in history.
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You never know what will become important in ten, fifty, a hundred years’ time. What items that we take for granted today will shed light on the society of the past. So those collectors at the jumble sales and auctions who are collecting things the majority think are tat, may just be preserving our society for the future.
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Maybe that’s all collecting is; a way of retaining the link between the then and the now, a worthy cause if ever there was.

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This article was written by Elizabeth Gambles who previously volunteered with Portland Basin Museum and did wonderful work researching and writing about our collections.

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