Urinals

Isn't that the oddest thing to collect? We have a dear client who collects hospital urninals. She has porcelain, glass( her favorite), and stainless steele. They are all shapes and sizes. She has quite a few. I would imagine displaying them is not easy.

She buys them when they come up for auction, but it is not the most common item. Most of my estate families dispose of them before they reach the floor. I am not sure if she has moved to bedpans yet!

A Collection of Spittoons

Another unusual collection that has been sold through our auction was that of 100 spittoons. Just thinking of all that spit is quite unnerving. It is amazing to see the different varieties of those containers. The most common are metals like brass, but they come in bronze, silver plate, tin and cast iron.

Some of the fanciers spittons are in delft porcelain, limoge decorated, carnival glass, cut glass and more. They are also in many sizes but most are the traditional shape. The most difficult part of this collection is finding buyers of so many. One of our discoveries is if you have one of an item, it is not likely to draw many different buyers of that item. Add a bunch and advertise. They will come....

So Many Collections So Little Time

I will begin this blog with some of the collections I have come across in my experience as an auctioneer in Illinois. Most are normal-ordinary-unexciting. Some are laughable-scary-a little on the stomach turning variety.

The first collection is very common. It is the collection of Goebel Hummels. The first Berta Hummel creation was made in the 30's. This creative nun invented the army of little figurines dressed in Liederhsoen and country dresses. The little boys were happy playing musical intruments or hiking etc. The little girls were playing with ducks, geese, swinging on swings and happily passing their days.

These little statuettes survived WWII and moved into the US as collectibles. In the 50s, 60,s 70,s and 80s , their enormous popularity increased their value tremendously. As they moved into the 90s and 2000, they began a slide in the collection popularity. Was it the selling of the business to Goebel who began to resurrect retired molds and recreate the originals. They were cranked out in hundreds of thousands. Rarity is one of the attributes of value in a collection. They were no longer rare.

The Ebay resale market has tanked. Our auctions in turn suffered. We are wholesalers to the Ebayers. But, the generations that have collected are passing. Their children are looking for a way to cash out "Mom's" little figurines. They are expecting the money "Mom" paid for the little devils. Unless they find others who are still collecting, it won't happen.

My next post will deal with another collection. Until then............