SOME HINTS TO THE COLLECTOR

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 132, 5 June 1937, Page 27

SOME HINTS TO THE COLLECTOR

The collectors of stamps who arranged to have letters sent to them on the first trans-Pacific air mail knew beforehand that those letters would be valuable. They could not tell how valuable, but, knowing the fundamentals underlying such matters, they could make a shrewd guess, writes John U. Marey in the "Christian Science Monitor." •'•

If we were able to guess half as accurately in regard to the future value of other everyday things, that would be a useful bit of knowledge. And we can do just that, for the same rules that underlie stamp values also apply to all collectors' items. The only remarkable thing about it is that they are so seldom applied.

What makes any object a collector's item? First, scarcity. If we had the commonest belongings of our ancestors of two or three hundred years ago, they would all be collector's items, for it is the common, everyday things that are not preserved, and for the simple reason that they are common.

However, there is little present satisfaction knowing that in two or three hundred years a collection will-become rare. We must be able to select objects that will become rare quickly. That is not difficult to do, but there is also something else. Most common things without great age are of no interest to the collector. We must then, try to foresee what, will be. In a general way, this is the guide: Anything that throws light on the political, historical, artistic, or scientific aspects of an era probably will be of value in the future.

Anything that throws light on historical events has potential value. Letters written from the scene of a battle, a historic gathering, posters, or pamphlets, concerning such events, such things are worth saving. War posters were displayed everywhere during the World War, but so far as I know only one man today has a complete collection.

Perhaps there is more rapid development today in the mechanical and scientific fields than in any other. Appliances and machines that are in use today are obsolete tomorrow. New inventions create a whole new industry. It has been only a few years since there were no such things as automobiles, electric lights, radio, phqhographs, but already it is impossible to

tell the complete story of the development of these things with the things themselves. Mr. Ranspme Matthews, curator of the Mechanical Department of the Los Angeles Museum, informs me that certain types of old auto headlights cannot be obtained, and that specimens of photographic, electric, and mechanical developments of many kinds, as well as technical magazines and books on them, are very hard to find. To complete his collection illustrating the development of the incandescent lamp, for example, he had to fill in ■ with models, because no actu ' specimens were obtainable.

The Pony Express Museum near Pasadena is filled with relics of that brief epic of' transportation, and Henry Ford has spent thousands on his collection showing the development of transportation. A map of the old Overland Trail brought £150. Modern road maps immediately suggest themselves. A map of today resembles one of fifteen years ago about as much as one of seventy-five years ago. Air routes, time-tables, brochures, posters, and the same for other methods of travel, will be of great interest in the future.

Mr. Norman Wilcox, of the Los Angeles Museum, who is authority for the above statement, also gives as his opinion that certain decorative glass and tableware, of old and modern design, will very likely be desired by future collectors.

A friend of mine recently disposed of several old magazines containing pictures of early automobiles. They brought £1 each from a designer of automobile bodies. Early fashion magazines are also at a premium. Movie studios use them in designing costumes of an earlier day, but what is more difficult to get is authentic pictures of everyday dresses. What lady ever posed for her photograph in anything but her Sunday best?

This suggests the camera. Indeed, your camera has great possibilities if used with an eye to the future. Pictures of your changing city, of memorable public occasions, will tell an interesting tale. A photographic record of all the amusements, or all the sports that have intrigued the public from time to time and then vanished into oblivion—some future wealthy sportsman would give a lot for the latter.