I’m not writing about the Olympics tonight. Well, maybe just a little, later. Tonight my heart is full of thoughts of Mom and her many wonderful collections.
If you have read some of my earlier posts, you may already know that my mother was a child of the Great Depression and didn’t believe in wasting anything that could possibly be used by someone somewhere down the line. She loved “rescuing” broken or mis-used things nearly as much as she loved life. If given a choice between a pristine, originally-dressed antique bisque doll and a pathetic little “dump baby” covered with soot and broken, she would probably have chosen the dump baby because it needed a home. Over the past nearly five years (has it really been that long?) I have been slowly sorting through and sharing/selling many of her collections, and my current target is her dollhouse miniatures.
Eclectic in every way, Mom’s collection of dollhouse things and miniatures ranges from the sublime (a turn-of-the-century furniture set by R. Bliss) to the ridiculous (a little glass grouping of gnomes with their pet frog, marked Made in Japan), and everywhere in between. Tonight I watched the prime-time Olympic broadcast and went through boxes of randomly packed minis, pricing and inventorying them in preparation for the Morro Bay Dollhouse and Miniatures Show and Sale, Presidents’ Day weekend. I have barely made a dent in the boxes, but I had a lovely evening sharing the pieces with Mom, and remembering how much fun we had with them.
There was a time (not too long ago) when all these pieces would have gone into my own personal collection, but somewhere along the way I realized that when I am no longer here, my daughter will not want to sort and deal with all my “stuff”. So I’m being brave and passing these fun things along to others right now so she won’t have to. Never fear, though, I still have plenty already!
So I shall go continue my stroll down memory lane as I watch the late night broadcast of (wait for it…) more Olympics. Sweet dreams.
triggershorse 
ah, reminds me fondly of my great-aunt. she drives her husband crazy with all her knick knacks.
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The nice thing about miniatures is that LOTS of them fit in a small space. The awful thing about miniatures is that you can have LOTS of them in a small space! – Fawn
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Sounds like the perfect type of collections to photograph–that way they are all still enjoyed in one little photo album. I’ve just posted about collecting, too, and from there stumbled onto your fun blog. Good luck with sorting!
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I’m so glad you found my blog…I’ve been away all weekend at the Morro Bay Dollhouse and Miniature Show — had a very successful sale and came home with considerably fewer things. I like your idea of photographing them, too. – Fawn
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