I’m supposed to write about Tiny but I’m much better off showing you how Tiny figures into my life!
I am an addicted collector and I think I figured out very young that if I collected tiny things, I would have room for MORE of them than if I collected, oh, say CARS! I am also a Psychotherapist and I know a hobby like this, that originates in childhood and borders on obsession, has a lot more backstory to it than I can possibly fit into one Post. But think about words like scarcity, control, abuse and isolation.
AND, my collections were the one thing I never had to share, give up or pass on to my younger sisters.
It started with Cobalt glass. I wrote about that here:
Then I got hooked on glass animals and saved babysitting money to buy a new one every few months. My best finds were at the Hobby Shop or at the San Diego Zoo, where you could actually watch the glass artist make tiny lions, tigers or bears…oh my.
This is a truly tiny sample of my animals collection. Most of the other hundreds have been recently wrapped up and packed away due to our huge household downsizing project. My animals are mostly blown glass, bone china or carved marble.
Somewhere in my adolescence, I discovered little wooden trains. They are also packed away but I did find this one photo.
I think I have more trains than anything else but when we got our youngest cats, the trains had to be put away also…not that I minded them playing with the trains, but Lucy, the miracle kitten, had a little bit of the disease called Pica and would eat bits off the trains..wheels, smokestacks, etc. She has also eaten my camera strap, three times. Almost all the trains are wooden and very small but for my birthday one year my best friend found (and hand-painted for me) the world’s SMALLEST TRAIN!! It is metal. Here’s a photo.
I am going to stop pretty soon now, even though I could go on and on. See, I also collect shells, socks, fans, concert ticket stubs, photographs, vintage Christmas Cards, and some might even say BUGS, but if you have seen them here before, you know they are anything but TINY! I do have one more thing to show you though, mainly because it is my favorite Tiny Ensemble.
Your not so crazy……I’m not suggesting I win the title. Just suggesting you have long way to go to be ‘crazy’? Love the tiny train. You are not kidding. I collect novels, CD’s and DVD’s but that’s not really collecting…….
I really enjoyed seeing the photos of your collections. They reminded me of how much I enjoyed playing with a big train set we had when I was young. I wonder if anything like that even exists now.