It's just a mug/The psychology of collecting

As I have been (anticipating) for my Gecko mug to arrive, (actually it has been to my door twice now but no one has been here to sign), I have been thinking, "Why do we collect anything?" Why is it so important to have a collection?" "Why am I angry that I don't have mine?" "What are my priorities?" My work & my family are high priorities as it is for many of you, as I could have waited for it to arrive but I didn't want to miss a sports event my son was participating in.
What is the psychology of collecting? Is it that we are insecure, so we need to surround ourselves with objects that other people will admire? Do we really admire our collections or are we entrapped by them? or both? When we die will our collections go to our kids? What if they don't want them? It's only a mug, a container for a liquid substance.....or not. It could be art, so if it's art then we're talkin' a different ballgame. Making something from nothing, creating. I've been asking myself these questions but I still think deep down we are all a little insecure as human beings and collecting something makes us feel important.... but of course I could be wrong.

Let it run.

Now back to my sandwich.

[ Edited by: Jungle Trader on 2004-05-07 08:38 ]

[ Edited by: Jungle Trader on 2004-05-08 08:25 ]

Jungle Trader,

I've often wondered the same thing. We get caught up in the intensity of acquiring be it eBay, thrifting, checking the websites of Tiki Central, Tiki Farm, Munktiki, or Shag daily for new items and then purchasing with ferocity any Tiki item we don't posses. After the item arrives we covet it for 5 minutes then place it on the shelf with countless others only to occasionally admire them, show them off to friends, or use them if an occasion permits or even leave them in boxes until the day we build our home Tiki space. It's pretty sick....oh crap, I forgot to check Shagmart this morning!!!

Kanaka

Send your mugs to me....send your mugs to me...You're obviously having a mid mug crisis.

I guess the old adige is true..one man's junk is another man's treasure (or something like that).

Maybe it all goes back to the hunter/gatherer in us?

I guess as long as you don't cross the line between collecting and obsessing you're OK.
I never understood people who collected cars and didn't drive them or records and never played them. Personally, use it and enjoy.

it's just a microcosm of the macrocosm :)

for my wahine and i thrifting and flea markets are pretty much our hobby. although sometimes we drop some cash, it's alot cheaper than playing a round of golf or spending all weekend shopping at the mall.

anything done to mega-excess is messed up.

now grab the pebble from my hand, grasshopper... :)

Yeah you are right. "It's only a mug".
BUT I GOT Mine Today, Hooooo Ray

If a man collects mugs that no one sees, does he still collect? Of course! My collections are for me. If others like them, good. If they admire them, great! It's good to have like minded people around. If they think it's odd, fine. Who cares!?

I collect around me, as everyone does, those things I like. Mugs are no different than the doillies and ceramic owls in other homes.

I know what you mean, Jungle Trader -- I've been going through the same thing myself.

I've even been thinking about selling my complete first edition Shag mugs to buy an iPod or something that I'll use more often.

But I do enjoy my collection and I have everything on display between my home and office. I don't have the compulsion to own every tiki mug, despite what my wife thinks!

it seems to me that collections of things for many people are their ranking within that subculture or their dedication to that subculture. It's a way to find common ground with people who share some of the same interests.

Though I'm not an avid collector of things tiki, I have been caught up in the collecting ferver on many different occasions, because of where I was and the "limited" amount of objects being sold. Why did I end up purchasing these things? When I look back it appears to be only to say that I have them. (And they look pretty cool in my kitchen).
The more items I aquire, the more stories I have about aquiring said items, the higher my social ranking would become within the subculture. (I think of this as more of a generilized view of collecting, not that everyone here is doing this. I think obtaining these stories and items can also act as a self confidence booster for people who want to be accpeted into a particular subculture as well. If I went to a Barbi convention I wouldn't know what to look for, but at a record shop I'm on familiar soil so I know what types of questions to ask and I have the confidence in my knowledge of the subject to give me strength, and this is defferent for everyone)

not sure if I explained that one right...
hey JT - the psycology of collecting would be an interesting thesis for a PHD - you gonna go for it?

According to Freud, it's all down to anal retention.

"A child may opt to retain feces, thereby spiting his parents while enjoying the pleasurable pressure of the built-up feces on his intestine. If this tactic succeeds and the child is overindulged, he will develop into an anal retentive character. This character is neat, precise, orderly, careful, stingy, withholding, obstinate, meticulous, and passive-aggressive."
Supposedly, avid collectors fit into such a catagory!

I'm not sure if I agree with this........

Trader Woody

Very zen Swank! My zen quote for the day: What is the sound of one hand drinking?
My wife is the Psych major not me. But, I can say for me, collecting makes me feel good. Scoring a cool mug, or art print makes me happy. You're right though, it is just a mug in the grand scheme of things. But in the closer sphere of my interest in that particular subject, my collected items are more than that. They represent and extension of my interests. They are also physical menifestations of a non-physical thing: an interest. Its like going to a museum and wanting to touch a piece of the Titanic's metal hull or coal. It takes something that is only in your mind and makes it physically real for you. However,
harm springs from excess. At some point, it can turn from personal interest to and ego-driven thing ("I've got to have the biggest collection than anyone else") Or it can feed and obessive-compulsive personality in us.

Or, I'm just full of it.....I need a drink.

On 2004-05-07 11:08, mriddle wrote:

Or, I'm just full of it.....

i guess freud's anal retentiveness would make one full of it :)

In issue 184 of "Fortean Times" there's a round-up of news stories about "collectors". You know, cat ladies, and people who fill their apartment to the roof with old newspapers.

Anyhow, one of the write-ups mentions some researcher that claims they've located the part of the brain that moderates the natural urge to gather things. That if this is damaged or unbalanced, you get these people with the overwhelming urge to hoard things. (S)He claims that she's observed the same damage & behavior correlation in animals.

So it's mental derangement. Or brain damage. (Well, at least the pathological cases...)

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader (or their spouse) to infer any resemblance to any members of TC. :P

(heh, I just looked at the smilies supported on the board... :tiki:, :drink:, :sheckymug:)

[ Edited by: Philot on 2004-05-07 11:29 ]

[Sound of chair scraping] Hi, my name is Fred, & I'm a Tikiholic...

Does this me we have to start a TA (tikiholics anonymous)?

Thought #1 - We are the sum of what we think, what we feel, what we know, what we do, and what we have. Probably some more, but I'm not really all that deep . All this mixes up and finds it's own balance in different ways at different times and that's us.

Thought #2 - Man is on a constant quest to influence and control his environment. The more the unimaginative majority forces society to the depths of mediocrity, the more the true individuals rebel...the more SUV's, cell phones, reality shows,and presidents who think jesus tells him to invade other countries, the more mugs you need to cope. A little rum doesn't hurt either.

Thought #3 how many people being individuals the same way negates said individuality?

As near as I can remember I started collecting them approx 1985. At that time I felt I was saving them from the landfill as I never imagined anyone else would ever collect them.

I thought they were cute and funny and couldn't bear the thought of them disappearing forever.

Ahhh, I got my mug today, it's staring at me. So everything I said before is off. I am content now......no reason to think so deep. okay what next.
Funny....we won't here anything from anybody at Tiki Oasis IV till Sunday night or Monday.
I like my shot glass collection better then my mug collection. Uses less space.

Its! for the rush! Yeah...HeHe!!! Thats it!!! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhh the sweeet
Rush!!!

Actually, I can enjoy the art, or artisanship, without the thought of breaking that bank I don't have.

Be it the unkown ( or do we know? )artists of the "Lowly" Leilani, the Hawaiian Inn Moai, the sardonic smile of the Shag mug,the overwhelming intoxication of The Gecko Exotica, or the mind blowing gaze of Munktikis "Bones", its all awesome!!!

I think we're quite lucky to be able to know who the people are that are creating some amazing things ala Polynesian Pop.

I'll turn off geek mode now....

Wheres my Pabst Blue Ribbon?!?

TG

[ Edited by: tikigardener on 2004-05-08 02:02 ]

Wow, all these different theories of why we collect... interesting to say the least. For me, my collection got started through CocoJoe's souvenirs. Every time I went to Hawaii I made it a point to take another CocoJoe's tiki home with me as a representation of my trip. Over time their collective presence on my shelf represented the number of visits and the meaning of each of those respective vists.

Over the years my collection has grown beyond the realm of CocoJoes tikis but their meaning hasn't changed but rather grown --

My collection is now comprised of work done by my friends - a Ku from my bro Danny (Tiki Diablo) made for the Big 'Ol Tiki Bash in 2002 acquired the day he taught me to carve, a Maori from bruddah Gecko made the day we carved together at the Lagoon Room, a Bastard carved by JungleTrader specifically for me because of a comment I made about his work (and traded our creativity a month later), etc... etc...

So for me the answer is no, they're not just tikis (or mugs)... I don't just collect tikis or mugs for the sake of collecting - there's a memory attached to every piece in my collection which makes it that much more meaningful to me.

Sappy I know -- but my collection is a representation of the friendships I've acquired, the events I've attended and the memories I've forged... Good Times, Good Times..

**Poly-Pop ***

He who dies with the most broken mugs WINS!

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2004-05-10 09:05 ]

And it's not just material items per se. I've often (maybe even fixated) thought about Hugh Hefner and all the gals he's been with.

I mean jeez, he's a guy that's had some of the most commercially beautiful women of the last 50 years. He gets some temporary girlfriend that any normal mortal man would only 'get' in a magazine, and then quickly tires of her and is off to a new conquest.

Shit, every other guy would be praying to her every step; but to Hugh, it's "yer outta here!".

(yeah, I know, this is a bit base)

Hey Bong, and Heffy baby's gotta be in his 70's. The schmuck collects women. Not too much psychology there. Just straight up, bring it on sugar muffin.

Is simply avarice under another name?

On 2004-05-12 19:24, Atomic Cocktail wrote:
Is simply avarice under another name?

You mean greed? Greed could definitely be a factor in the reason for collecting.

On 2004-05-10 09:04, PolynesianPop wrote:
Sappy I know -- but my collection is a representation of the friendships I've acquired, the events I've attended and the memories I've forged... Good Times, Good Times..

PP, If your mugs represent the friendships you've made, what do all the broken ones represent? :wink:

On 2004-05-12 19:44, Jungle Trader wrote:

On 2004-05-12 19:24, Atomic Cocktail wrote:
Is simply avarice under another name?

You mean greed? Greed could definitely be a factor in the reason for collecting.

Yup! Unfortunately, I've come across many a folk where greed seems to be the motivating factor in their collecting mentality. I used to be an antiquities and historical collectibles dealer and collector and I've had folks who I thought where friends:

steal from my home, fight one another for an old pieces junk (in the process destroying their friendship), call me 3:00am in the morning to "get a jump" on a new item, declare themselves "experts" and drone on for hours about everything I had for sale at a show while blocking the table preventing folks who want to actually buy something from getting a look, etc.

The worst was when I nearly sued two of my best friends to get $10,000 they owed me for my items they sold. They thought it was their right to use my money for speculation (without my permission.) When their scheme failed and I came to collect my money well, I was "taking food out of their kids mouths!" End of friendship and out of the collecting world.

To top it off I later came to learn they actually sold one of my items for a lot more than they divulged and kept the difference (on top of their 20% commission). What's funny is that all the while they would pontificate how my NYC home was the Sodom of the world and I should move to the Mid-West. I guess I didn't understand down-home, neighborly treatment.

Had another thought. I just like this stuff.

Ya, like Pop said, These are all great theories. I really haven't thought about it a lot. Just a fun hobby I guess.
Well hell, it's a lot better than Beanie Babies. (No offence to fellow TCers who collect Beanie Babies) 8)

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-12 14:31 ]

On 2004-05-07 13:56, spy-tiki wrote:
Thought #2 - Man is on a constant quest to influence and control his environment. The more the unimaginative majority forces society to the depths of mediocrity, the more the true individuals rebel...the more SUV's, cell phones, reality shows,and presidents who think jesus tells him to invade other countries, the more mugs you need to cope. A little rum doesn't hurt either.

On 2004-05-10 09:04, PolynesianPop wrote:
So for me the answer is no, they're not just tikis (or mugs)... I don't just collect tikis or mugs for the sake of collecting - there's a memory attached to every piece in my collection which makes it that much more meaningful to me.

**Poly-Pop ***

These two points of view pretty much sum it up for me. I sit in front of a computer all day, and when I get home I want to do anything BUT think about technology. Polynesian Pop is heaven to me. The music, the atmosphere, the drinks, the dust on the coco joes...it's all bliss.

I try to make sure I can see each and every one of my mugs and other items, which is becoming quite impossible with my growing collection, and only one set of shelves to put them on.

I also, however, love the hunt. It gives me 30 minutes to get away from my job, and seeing a little barrel amongst the vases and owls gives me great pleasure. LOOK what I found! Isn't he beautiful? I'm going to fill him up with a drink tonight, then look at him every day until my relatives think I've lost my marbles! Sometimes it's like a rescue. No one else around here seems to know what these mugs are, and I'm so afraid that they'll become gag gifts or planters for forgotten weeds. To me, they are more precious than all the gold in the world. They each have their own personalities and history that I may never know.

I think I've mentioned it before, but I have two primary reasons for the mugs I collect:

1. I'm matching mugs to people for a tiki bar menu (still not done)

2. I have two display cases in my Tiki Room and when those are maxxed, I'm pretty much done collecting them. With the arrival of Gecko's Exotica, the Hale Tiki Mug, and U Bastard all in one week, I found myself realizing that I'm almost at my limit. sigh.

I don't like them all cluttered in the case either (it's the curse of the anal artist in me) and like to be able to actually see all of them as you sit at the bar.

The top level on display case 2 (first pic) is my fav because all of these mugs seem to suffer from varying degrees of anxiety (which is secretly amusing to me, ha ha).

Here's 3 of my shelves:

As you can see, I'm a big Munktiki fan. Just last night I was working on arranging the Gecko/Hale shelf...I should photograph it too...

p.s. Speaking of Spencers, I got that electric Moai head at Spencers last year at a clearance price of $15...(i think it was in the middle of the Winter...in january of 2003) it was originally $59, so you can find the bargains at Spencers at the end of the season...if you're lucky.

[ Edited by: exoticat on 2004-05-16 00:19 ]

On 2004-05-13 13:59, spy-tiki wrote:
Had another thought. I just like this stuff.

An excellent philosophy!

On 2004-05-13 09:13, freddiefreelance wrote:

On 2004-05-10 09:04, PolynesianPop wrote:
Sappy I know -- but my collection is a representation of the friendships I've acquired, the events I've attended and the memories I've forged... Good Times, Good Times..

PP, If your mugs represent the friendships you've made, what do all the broken ones represent? :wink:

Good times... Good times... :)

Great topic by Poly-Pop, had to bring it back up.

Why? For me I love to collect, and it is not just mugs but stuff that has a polynesian Hawaiian feel, it reminds me of my time in Hawaii, which I miss a lot, but also I love the mugs as a form of art, some of the creativity that shows through is amazing, and besides they are great to drink out of at parties.

When I was a kid, I collected firecracker labels, just because I thought the art was cool. Then fruit crate labels in my teens, same reason. When I started getting around, travelling, I have to have a coffee mug from places I visit. Cheezier being better. Now I look for atomic age stuff, of which tiki is a big part. And, oh, I also collect playing cards and matchbooks, don't know why except that I like them and they're cheap.
I'm certain I got this bent from being with my parents, relatives and their friends. They seemed to know how to have a great time and as a consequence, I had a great childhood. Perhaps, I'm trying to re-create that. I don't know.
What I do know is, I like good art. Low-brow, high-brow, cheezy or chic - doesn't matter. If it can evoke a feeling, pleasure or, just be cool - then it works for me. Tiki is definitely cool and (for me) representative of a lifestyle which I seek to emulate. Guess I'm just as weird as my friends think I am. Oh, well.

yeah, i feel that 'weird' is such a relative term ~ the things that other more 'mainstream' folks persue are just as easy to knock, it's just that they have the protective umbrella pretext of societal norms. but i would venture to say that if we need to make a broad sweeping statement, we (tiki collectors) get a kick out of dabbling in something that is 'under the radar.' that's perhaps why we react strongly when macy's or someone starts selling tiki things nowadays, it's as if the expensive-car-driving, details/cosmo clothes wearing mainstream public will incorporate it into their tastes, thus giving some distate to us.

ok, i'll stop poncing about now (that last term for our uk ohana)...

J$, I agree with that thought entirely. I've been dismayed when something I've liked has gone mainstream.

i believe collecting is a confidence booster. I find that most people who collect things are usually people who enjoy there own company as much, if not more than others. Its that extra bit of personality that outgoing people express in public. To these usually shy, or not so outgoing people its a way to prove to themselves that they have some zest about them, who without this confidence, might otherwise feel boring or nervous around others. These personalities tend to keep private with any opinions or beliefs for fear of judgment, collecting allows only people who they trust (eg people they would invite to their home) to be able to judge.

My lovely bride wants me to read up on obsessive/compulsive behavior. I asked her why I need to read up on it.
After all, I never collected pogs.

I am ashamed when the postman walks up to the house with boxes small enough for a mug.

My fiance doesn't say a word. She just takes them outside and puts them gently on the bar.

Later on at the bar, I am all giddy like 4 yr old in the toy aisle!

The shame obviously doesn't last long.

I have most of the holy grails out there. I am waiting to display those in a secured glass cabinet.

Mahalo

McTiki

As Sven says in BoT, I collect mugs like the native collects heads. It increases my mana. I display my prizes in my hut to show my strength and power. I have mugs of cheifs and warriors and I have boxes in the basement filled with the mugs of your typical person. Each mug adds to the mana of myself, my family and my tribe.

Where's the Haka icon... =P