How To Collect McCoy And Other Stuff And More Stuff

So this post was inspired by a thread on the McCoy page on FB that asked how people got started collecting McCoy. That thread, and indeed many of the threads people in that group post to that page, feature photographs of vast personal collections of McCoy pottery, often specialized on one particular line or feature, like some collect all birds, and some collect a certain color, and some a certain shape of vase. The photographs are gorgeous. Which reminds me of why I love CW, because often threads feature whole collections people here have put together from the things they love, a whole wall, a display case, an entire room, of their passion and obsession, that then becomes eye candy for the rest of us. Even those of you who display items in singles often run in the same vein, Karen's Japanese glass, NevadaBlades' knives, Trey's signs, Marga's micro mosaics, kyratango's bugs. In some cases I might feel a twinge of envy at those incredible pieces and collections, but then I remind myself of my limited space, the inability to display breakables on shelves due to living in the Ring of Fire where earthquakes are common, an extreme allergy to dusting and cleaning in general, and last but probably most importantly, my total lack of discipline when it comes to collecting. Above you see the sum total of my McCoy collection. Four pieces. That's it. The "collection" actually stemmed from reading about McCoy and recognizing the bowl in the photo as a bowl that came from my family's home, that's the bowl in the first picture. Sure enough I turned it over and there was the McCoy mark. I had bought the bowl in the second picture a while back because it seemed to match the first bowl, and when I looked at the base found the McCoy mark. Some time later trying to decide which pieces to sell or donate from my gran's stuff, I turned the blue bowl over in the third picture and surprise, another McCoy mark. Recently while out on a scrounge I found this vase with the McCoy mark, that's the fourth picture. And that's it. When I compare my four random pieces to the extraordinarily beautiful displays I see on the McCoy page, well let's just call it sad, lol. All my collections are like that, just random bits and pieces set around the house here and there. And while I would like to think I fall under what the home decorating pages that show how a variety of beautiful pieces can be pulled together and call eclectic or Bohemian describe me, in truth my collecting style is most accurately described as disorganized teetering piles of stuff. Or as my favorite meme puts it, "you are one sh*tload away from an episode of Hoarders." I try to keep that in mind when I'm out on a buying binge, also the glazed dread on my family's faces when I come in the door and they look around and wonder where I'm going to put this next load of found treasures. To me it is treasure! I just need more room! Yes, that is my brain talking, you've just had a glimpse into how it works. ;P

Thanks for reading and looking.