“Often, the story of an artifact’s journey is more remarkable than the object itself.” ― Mackenzie Finklea, Beyond the Halls: An Insider’s Guide to Loving Museums
While most articles in Garage Style Magazine don’t begin with references from psychology journals, I thought this would serve as an appropriate introduction.
“Although one-third of the American population, roughly 107 million, collect one thing or another, far fewer are hoarders, between 6 and 15 million. Sadly, this latter group can become miserable, as well as their families.
It is important to differentiate hoarding from collecting because the former can become an unpleasant and devastating situation for families. Ashley Keller and her research team at King’s College, London, studied this subject extensively. They found that the biggest distinction between a hoarder and a collector is levels of organization. Collectors engage in “ritualistic behavior around organizing their items,” Keller explains, “whereas with our hoarders we see a much more indiscriminate acquisition process, and this emphasis on organization just isn’t there.” (Psychology Today, Feb 2022)
My brother, Phil, and I have been “collecting” automobilia for over fifty years. Like most GSM readers we started with a passion for interesting cars. In our case it was British sports and racing cars (and have since branched out into a wide and eclectic collection including Auto Red Bug, Midget race cars, Model T Speedster, Nash Metropolitan, American Bantam, Dodge truck and assorted other examples that rattled our cage).
Along the way, like most collectors, we accumulated artifacts that aligned with the cars. How could you pass up original tools, brochures, nameplates, workshop manuals, models, posters, or instruments. They weren’t necessarily acquired as spare parts, but as curiosities, extensions of the appeal of the cars and the times they reflected.
Often, they were scattered on workbenches, in bottom drawers of tool boxes and put on shelves; they were decorative, interesting and novel. Rarely did they wind up in formal displays. Sadly, many were relegated to shoeboxes with little attention paid to them until the box was opened up to deposit additional findings from a swap meet.
Our garage is a mixture of cars being stored, maintained, or restored. It is certainly (by design and intention) not a “garage mahal.” We wrench, grind, paint, sandblast, weld, fabricate and polish. The garage is decorated with posters, steering wheels, signs (a mixture of reproductions and originals, we don’t discriminate, and enjoy the designs, the colors and the message).
Recently, Phil successfully bid on a used display case ($35); good condition that only required replacing the lights and glass shelves. After moving some equipment, we found a place for the display case. One of the positive aspects of deciding to display our stuff was being reintroduced to things we had forgotten we had. Out came the shoe boxes and we got re-excited about finding and acquiring these keepsakes. It’s a collection of badges, tools, models, parts, gauges, mugs, pins and license plates.
There are lots of ways in which GSM readers can display their findings. You can have a theme like oil cans, or models, or badges and confine your display to a specific category, or have a sampling of things that caught your eye. The benefit of a dedicated display is that you get to see it daily (if you are lucky enough to be in the garage daily) as opposed to periodically peeking into your shoeboxes. It’s also a great way to share it with friends and visitors. It literally reignites your passion.
In addition to a showcase there are other creative ways to display your collectibles. There are displays that can be made out of old gas pumps, oil lubsters, tires, radiator grilles, accessory stands, or bookcases.
Garage displays are a great way to revive what we used to know in grade school as, “Show and Tell.” It’s also a great way of convincing your spouse that you are a “collector,” not a “hoarder.”
