This article is dedicated to all collectors, most of whom will recognize these steps in their hobby. First, the unique wooden wall plaque you have created will not, in fact, hold all the items you desire. Second, the wall in your den will not hold or support all of the items you have designated for that space. And third, you begin hearing complaints that the garage shelves are sagging. This final step designates you as a serious collector.
With the den walls overloaded, the garage shelves filled and the back patio covered with who knows what, dreams of an outside building begin to form. Whoa up! Seems the kitchen and bathroom need to be remodeled before the dream can be pursued.
Some time later, the idea of an old remodeled building — or, gasp! — a new building might be considered. Then the old furnace goes out. A new heating system and air conditioning unit comes first. Although the dream is deferred, the collecting keeps on keeping on.
Though all of us are totally dedicated to family and wellbeing, way back in the back of your mind, your collection of “historically significant” items (translation: junk) just begs for some recognition. Some have the means; others do not. That said, I offer a solution – perhaps a “pack rat solution.”
After some 30 years of collecting, as soon as I could afford the disease, listening to the complaints and arguments and completing the requirements necessary, I devised a solution.
I chose a place in the “back 40” pasture. It was covered in grass, almost level and there were several shade trees close by. There were no public roads in view. The solution would not take up much grass and there was sufficient space to display my collection. Any who were interested could view and study it at their leisure. It was also the site of an old homestead owned by the Babb family. My additions were only the latest to the historical site.
The benefits are endless. It was almost cost-free, just a labor of love, really. The rows of rack were made of scrap iron. There was no master plan, just additions of rack space as needed. There is no order, nothing is arranged. Everything is hung on wires. No effort was expended to make things look good or artfully arranged. And no one has any legitimate complaints.
When my day is bad and I pray for solitude, I mix my sody-pop, drive to a shade tree near my collections, sit, stare, remember and recall. I try to picture the purchase as I listen to the beautiful sounds of my historical cast iron four-skillet wind chimes. My cows come to lay and chew their cuds, and seem to enjoy the sound as well. Take it from me, the greatest historical collections are only the ones you enjoy the most. FC
Delbert Trew is a freelance writer, retired rancher and supervisor of the Devil’s Rope Museum in McLean, Texas. Contact him at Trew Ranch, Box A, Alanreed, TX 79002; (806) 779-3164; email: delrutrew72@gmail.com.
Originally published in the April 2023 issue of Farm Collector.
