Exact Days Unknown //
c. Jan., 1951; 1976
History has always intrigued me. Weather it
be the creation/evolution of the universe (more on that later), the
rise and fall of the dinosaurs, ancient humanity, technological advancements,
corporate beginnings and family genealogy just to name a few. I'm an
archivist by nature or what Heidi tends to call "Hector the Collector".
I've got quite an extensive Coca-Cola
collecton including bottles, cans, advertisements, books, glassware,
clocks and last but not least, a vintage, functioning, bottle dispensing
Coke machine. My other major collection features items related to the
sports company, Nike, Inc. I started
collecting running advertisements and used them for motivation. That
branched out to all magazine advertisements, business cards from factory
stores and Niketown stores, hang tags on apparel and shoes, brochures,
pamphlets, stickers, books and a list of over 3000 pieces of Nike footwear
including prices, dates and athletic activity on my very own Nike fan
site.
Where did this passion for collecting originate?
Without much argument, it's a pretty safe bet that all fingers would
point to my dad. His collections range anywhere from photography
paraphernalia to Avon items to baseball cards, stamps and record albums.
Flea markets, auctions, estate sales, you name it and we were there.
He's always been one to find a great bargain on anything and everything.
There are items that I'll use forever like the oak desk I'm sitting
at now. There are also items that will never be used. He's going to
make a lot of people happy on EBAY
someday soon.
And since history and collections seem to run
in the family, look closely at the two photographs at left. That's right,
the same Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, possibly the same shoes and
definitely the same hair and smile. My dad (pictured at the top for
those still trying to guess) seems to have me on arm length but I have
him beat on ear length! If I recall correctly, the outfit has a yellow
top and white bottom and almost certainly is ready to be unpacked and
used in a third-generation photograph. Because that's how history, traditions
and collections are created. III