To Sort Or Not to Sort: How Junk Collectors Organize Their Stuff

Maintaining Collections

You know you have been accumulating odds and ends way too long when you have so many items in the same category that you have developed "collections" which you "organize" and maintain regularly.

Sorting Your Stuff

I have many friends in the business who have become "experts" at sorting their stuff. Let's face it, it does make life much easier to walk into your shop (or basement) and know that you have a box just for door knobs or a barrel for yardsticks.

Order Versus Chaos in the Collectibles Business

Why is it that some shop owners get buried under their "collectibles" while others seem to convert their shops into Five and Dimes with "aisles" and "departments". If you are an obsessed collector like me, you have been to both the real "junky" shops as well as the great orderly "junk" stores. I frankly enjoy both. Good junk can be found in piles, boxes, porches etc. It really doesn't reflect on the caliber of the junk whether it is alphabetized or thrown in a bucket.

Hunting For Treasures

In fact to be honest with you, I like shops that I can go hunting in. I always have the secret feeling that I just might discover something fabulous when i am poking around in layers of vintage treasures. And let's be totally honest, don't we feel a little paranoid when we see things too orderly. It's as if we say to ourselves.....if the fella took the time to clean and sort this stuff, than we are probably going to get hit with a higher price.

on the other hand when we poke through cob webs and pull out a gem, we say to ourselves....we're not going to pay too much...after all we need to deduct something for cobwebs and dust!

Photos courtesy of Flea Market at The Crossing, Plainville CT. http://home.att.net/~handmedown/fleamarket.html

Also thanks to http://www.etsy.com/shop/christaburton for the top photo.

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.

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