Girl Clown Dancing
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Watching Me

8/6/2016

21 Comments

 
Picture
​(A note: free floating anxiety, fear mongering and violence.  In other words, it’s a  Presidential election year, also known as a scary rewind of the 1968 playbook.  So I’ve written this post, because I think we can all use a smile right about now.)
 
Once upon a time, when I lived in Brooklyn (way before it was hip) and worked in Manhattan (as a low caste secretary), a boss dispensed some advice. 
 
She was standing beside my desk, and in-between this girl clown’s IBM Selectric assignments, we were talking about collectibles.  Specifically, we were talking about her pig collection. This included ceramic, wood and glass figurines; all sorts of mugs, and of course, more than a few piggy banks.
 
She paused.  “So,” she asked, “what do you collect?”
 
I thought for a moment. 
 
“Nothing,” I replied.  
 
She was aghast. “You have to collect something!” she said.  “Everyone needs to collect something.”
 
She was absolutely right.   But it wasn’t until a few years later, when I was flusher (and not so coincidentally, no longer typing letters for a living), that I took her advice to heart.   Because really, it’s great for whatever reason to feel connected to a particular assemblage of stuff—whether an homage to a person, place or thing; an animal or mineral, or any mash-up of this combination—that can also make you smile.
 
My first big collage, no surprise here, was clown dolls.
 
Mostly bought at thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales, many were made out of wood or plastic; a handful were sewn almost entirely out of colorful fabric yo-yos, those little gathered circles of leftover material so popular among quilters. Later there were lavishly illustrated children’s books; rubber ducks, and those flowery old timey tablecloths favored by country magazines.  I’ve also amassed cookbook and Pyrex assortments, both of which I use on a regular basis.
 
To view any of these—I’ve culled over the years but most are displayed in some fashion—you’d have to visit my house.
 
But if you see me out and about, it’s easy to spot the one collection I always carry with me.
 
Welcome to my assemblage of wrist watches. 
 
Naturally, I wear just one at a time (pun intended), but if you hang out where I do for a month or so, you’re likely to see most of them.
 
Befitting a circus girl, the majority are supposed to be worn by kids, and to that end, have colorful easy-to-read faces. Two sport baby pink fabric bands (ballerinas and flowers), and there’s another band in the same color, but made of plastic, with raised yellow and pink flowers.  I also wear a sky blue timepiece featuring red airplanes and puffy clouds, and can’t forget the Swatch watch with bunny rabbits.  Of course, there’s also my cherry red Minnie Mouse watch. 
 
I’m capable of being an adult about all of this, too. 
 
To that end, there’s a proper black leather band watch with a classic rectangular face, as well as a 1980s Fossil model with a kind-of-sort-of mesh chain design.  And for those very special occasions, I’ll slip on the delicate vintage Bulova that The Hubster gave me when we had more wiggle room in the gift department.
 
I love every single one of them. 
 
As it turns out, wristwatches haven’t been around as long as one might think.
 
Patek Philippe and Company debuted the first one, in 1868, but it wasn’t until World War I that their popularity surged—mainly because soldiers quickly discovered that they couldn’t easily pull out a pocket watch while their hands were full.  The children’s watch was introduced by Ingersoll in 1933, and no big shocker here, featured Mickey Mouse. These days,
Timex and Flik Flak seem to have that market pretty well cornered (www.timex.com/node/6801 and
http://www.flikflak.com/en/watches/), but adults can have their fun, too, buying a Sprout
watch (http://www.sproutwatches.com/), or going for a major splurge like a super-luxe watch with diamonds (check out
Patek Philippe and Tag Heurer).  
 
Still, despite all of the innovative and beautiful choices and designs, and despite fitting every budget, it’s pretty obvious that wristwatches are fast becoming dinosaurs.
 
Indeed, even though it seems so much easier to glance at one’s arm for the time, The Teenage Daughter and the rest of her crew depend on their mobile phones for this information.  Maybe it’s because wearing a watch looks incredibly dorky to them, or maybe it’s because they can simultaneously get the weather, silly videos, and just about everything else with their cells.
 
Accordingly, if wearing a timepiece make me an old stick in the mud, so be it.  I use my cell phone a lot, but here’s to the wristwatch—and my growing collection of them.    
 
So, what do you collect?  I’d also love to hear about your first watch, and the story
behind it.
 
P.S.  If you’re of A Certain Age Younger Than Me, you may not know about the IBM Selectric, and its extraordinary impact on technology.  If this is you, here you go:  http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/selectric/. 
 
21 Comments
Susan Jordan
8/6/2016 03:47:23 pm

I was in second or third grade when I got my first watch. I had asked for it (and got it) for Christmas. I still have it, in fact! It was a Snoopy watch with a thick band made of shiny red patent-leather-like material. I saw it in the Sears catalog, and knew I wanted it (since I was a big Snoopy fan). As far as collecting...I've been collecting Sears catalogs since the mid-1970s, a hobby started simply by NOT getting rid of the ones that came to our house back then, lol. I found one in the late 1970s in the underground parking garage at my grandmother's apartment building (from Spring-Summer 1970) (it was being tossed), and felt I'd hit the jackpot. My mom and grandma later bought me a couple of vintage reprints from the early 1900s, but it wasn't until e-Bay came along that I was able to purchase old originals. I think my oldest is from 1943. I love old Sears catalogs because they're a kind of history book and tribute to American material culture. You can learn a lot about how Americans lived day to day by leafing through an old one. I have a lot, but not as many as I would like. One day, when I have a bit more room... :)

Reply
Hilary
8/6/2016 08:49:38 pm

I have a handful of old Ladies' Home Journals from the 1940s and '50s... I wear them out, throw them away and get "new" ones from Ebay... from these magazines, you can also learn a lot about how America lived. Being a housewife post WWII was definitely worshiped, with "career girls" being a rarity. I especially love looking at all of the ads... many for soap, shampoo, deodorant, all to "get your man." Wouldn't it be great to somehow be able to display your Sears catalogs? Oh, and I'm sure you already know, but Mr. Sears got his start with pocket watches! : )

Reply
Larry Grant
8/6/2016 04:45:03 pm

From the time I was a little boy I've collected a lot of different things. Rocks, postage stamps, arrow heads, snakes, butterflies. Like I said, a lot of different things. My longest running hobby is my U.S. stamp collection. My grandfather introduced me to stamp collecting when I was around 8 years old. There have been times in my life when that hobby has been great therapy.

Reply
Hilary
8/6/2016 08:50:12 pm

The best collections, I think, provide some of the best therapy. xo

Reply
Beverly Praver link
8/6/2016 05:52:42 pm

The closest thing to a collection for me are my cookbooks. My mother gave me a copy of "The Complete American Jewish Cookbook" when I got married and I've added so many more over the years. These days, however, I get a lot of new recipes from the internet. But, my books remain on the shelves and do get consulted often.

Reply
Hilary
8/6/2016 08:54:24 pm

I love all of my cookbooks, and sometimes forget to consult them FIRST, before I go looking on the Internet. There used to be a bookstore in Burbank that ONLY carried cookbooks. I think I paid $30 for a 4-book set of America's Favorite Recipes... a separate book of salads/appetizers, one for casseroles, one for desserts and one for meat. One of my favorite go-to items when it comes to cooking! With the recipe is the name of the person who submitted (most often something like Mrs. John Smith, instead of, say, Mrs. Mary Smith) and the town they live in.. almost all little towns that I've never heard of before. Great fun! : )

Reply
Cynthia link
8/7/2016 12:12:33 am

I a guess I would have to say I collect essential oils and teas. When I travel, as I am now, I always travel with a backpack, so collecting anything is impossible, especially if it's heavy. In Europe they have these fabulous tea stores where you could purchase 100 different kinds of teas, infusions, and tisanes. Because they are light, and I love tea, I always have two going in my backpack that I use with my portable tea brewing mug (it's fairly light, but essential). But really I want to tell you about hiking thru a small town in Switzerland and meeting a woman out taking photographs of a water fountain where we were stopping to refill our water bottles. We struck up a conversation and it turned out she was an American married to a Swiss guy and now living there. Her husband works for a very famous Swiss watch company that has been around for 200 years, I'm sorry I forgot the name, but the watches retail for about 5 grand! Anyway, these watches were historically made in a small village way up in the mountains that had nothing to do in the winter because it was so cold that the people were mostly housebound. And by the way, extremely religious. One of the young men from the village was good at fixing anything and everything and someone brought him a watch that no one else could fix. He figured it out and thus changed the course of history for this little village. Long story short, they began manufacturing watches, and because they had so much time in the winter months, they became very meticulous and because of their deep love for the Divine and the Divine in all things, they believed that each part of the watch was infused with God. These watches became coveted and famous in this region because of that, not only could you tell time but you wore a piece that had holiness in it! Because we had met her, and at that time not knowing the price, we kept looking for the watch, thinking it would be fun to own one. Never finding it in Swiss stores we looked them up on the Internet and that's where we learned the price! Oh my God, it is expensive to have a holy watch! No collectibles there! Now, as always, I am thankful that my yoga practice reminds me that we are each like that watch, each little tiny piece of us intricately made to have Divinity within each cell of our being. It is great to know that they have kept the tradition alive and that these watches are still made in the tiny village and that they are deeply valued. Minus the price tag, I love these traditions! Sadly, I can't remember the name of the watch, but if I do I will let you know! Big hugs, see you soon, the trip is winding down (no watch pun intended!)

Reply
Cynthia link
8/7/2016 12:52:40 am

Addendum to my previous post: the name of the watch brand is Audemars Piguet

Reply
Hilary
8/7/2016 10:22:25 am

So much to comment on here... starting with more about the story of Audemars Piguet... still in business! And with watches that retail for more than $1 million. WOW! This link provides a nice mini POV, but doesn't tell the story of the holiness in each watch. Again, wow! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audemars_Piguet
Re: teas...I was doing a college newspaper internship in Germany when I went into my first tea shop... this would have been the early 1970s. I grew up in a household where Lipton tea bags were the norm, so this was a completely new experience to me. There were, indeed, at least 100 teas, and as I recall, they were all loose. I ended up buying some apricot tea, which seemed so exotic. :)

Reply
Susan Stewart
8/7/2016 08:33:57 pm

I collect miniature tea sets, for very much the same reason Hilary got started. I didn't collect anything. My friends did though. They collected moose memorabilia, cows (in and on everything), ladybug stuff, hello kitty items, barbie dolls, antique irons, hair clips, velvet elvis paintings... I've always been drawn to little things, perhaps because I had a childhood devoid of dollhouses and other toys (being raised in a boarding school had a lot to do with that). I spotted my first tea set in the now-closed Kitchen Shop in downtown SLO 25 years ago with my then-fiance, John. I was utterly enchanted with its tiny-ness: the creamer being no bigger than the tip of my little finger. And with its intricate blue and white design so perfectly rendered on each of the 8 pieces. I have since come to know that official tea sets must have those same 8 pieces: the teapot, the creamer, the sugar, 2 cups, 2 saucers, and the plate that holds them all. We walked away from it, but John circled back and bought it for me.Today it's still the smallest tea set of the 30 I own, each one given to me by friends and lovers who noticed the first few and decided to add to my "collection." I have entire sets made from bell peppers, and baskets, and Beatrix Potter characters, and Winnie the Pooh people. With designers like Spode, Lennox, and English Coleport. There are delicate Japanese, and early American, striped ones, plaid ones, gold-trimmed, be-ribboned, and polka-dotted. Each one carries its own story, its own charm, and I love them all, the way a child does I suppose. Thanks for that reminder, Hilary. It's fun being a collector ... even if its just little tea sets.

Reply
Hilary
8/7/2016 09:32:08 pm

Thanks for this! What a sweet memory of how you came to acquire your very first miniature tea set. You are the only person I know who collects them, so in my eyes, that makes you a unique collector, indeed... and much more creative than those who collect cows and Hello Kitty items! :)

Reply
Tammy Dalcin
8/8/2016 02:00:59 pm

When I was a little girl I collected frogs. I had a whole family of stuffed animal frogs. Freddy was the dad, Freeda was the mom and Felix was the kid. Frogs are still my first love, but now I collect cookbooks. I love cooking all kinds of food and trying new recipes is my favorite hobby. I have to say I've never tried frog legs and I refuse to eat them for obvious reasons.
As for my first watch, I still have it. When I was eleven I was obsessed with WhinnieThe Poo, so for Christmas grandma got me my first watch, and of course it had my favorite bear on it. I had the band changed on it so I can still wear it. It's the old fashioned wind up kind. I cherish my watch. When I wear it it brings back found memories of grandma and my childhood.

Reply
Hilary
8/8/2016 02:58:43 pm

Your frog collection reminds me of an "adventure" I had a long time ago: a (short-lived) boyfriend (many stories there!) I had made a habit of staying good friends with his ex-girlfriends (he tried it with me but I refused). Anyway, one night we went to visit one of these ex's... she lived in a wonderful old Craftsman house in Pasadena. Well, she collected frog EVERYTHING. From a frog tablecloth to large frog figurines on her front porch to tons of frog items on her fireplace mantel to frog stuff on her coffee table. It was a bit much and actually kind of... scary. I remember that I didn't say ONE word about it! That's cool about your first watch. I think mine was in 7th grade... one of those with alternating watchbands. I believe it was offered by Kotex for a really good price; I might have seen it in an ad in Seventeen magazine. I also remember someone in my home economics class recognizing where the watch came from and teasing me about it. I didn't like it much after that! : )

Reply
leslie spoon
8/8/2016 04:25:33 pm

Hilary I like to collect old brass bowls and candle sticks. I like anything from Asia. My home now looks like an opium den. I have found the most interesting things at the second hand stores in Morro Bay.

Reply
Hilary
8/8/2016 06:12:55 pm

I think it would be especially interesting to find out how all of these Asian artifacts end up in little Morro Bay as well! :) And don't forget your collection of wooden bowls!

Reply
Jim Nolt
8/8/2016 07:16:01 pm

Like Larry, I found and kept some arrow heads that my cousin and I found in the fields. As I think back now and visualize that collection, I'm not at all sure that everyone item in that collection was an arrowhead. I have an intense interest in George Reeves and the Superman series of the 50s and have some things related to that series, but I'd not call what I have a collection. I prefer to think that I collection information, rather than tangible objects.

Reply
Hilary
8/8/2016 07:46:22 pm

I'm going to bet that a lot of boys of your generation (which was also Larry's) went out into fields and collected arrowheads and other cool stuff to put on top of their dressers and keep in their pockets. RE: the George Reeves' stuff, that sort of collection could quickly become an expensive hobby! :)

Reply
george marshall link
8/9/2016 07:24:24 pm

I wear a Timex, very simple, it only tells time and his hands, three of them, hour, minute, second, and numbers not dots where the hours should be. I got so tired of all the fancy stuff and it was such a relief to have the straight forward time with big numbers easily read. The one convenience which I do appreciate is a light so I can read it in the dark. It is not only a convenient but nessesary for me to have one in as much as I am often out in nature all day away from any clocks. It is especially important that I have it to keep track of the tides because if the tide comes in on me and I am not aware, there are some places I could get stranded.

Reply
Hilary
8/9/2016 10:09:07 pm

I bought The Hubster a Timex a few years back. Also very simple watch, with a brown leather watchband, big face to see the time. It's classic and looks great--and it's still running strong. The kids' watches I get are also very simple, and come to think of it, so are my "grown-up" watches. And, my Timex kids' watches also have that light. I love that when I'm in a movie theatre! :)

Reply
Cathy S.
8/10/2016 02:05:02 pm

I guess I'm quite a collector of things. Back in the 60's I started collecting Kennedy articles from the newspaper when he was running for office. The Sunday paper always had full color photos of Jackie and the children. So, then his death came and I have those articles, then other people knew about my collecting and so I received books. I used to look for the 1st print of books, because maybe someday they will be valuable. Recently when the Abundance Shop moved some of the girls working their wanted to throw out old magazines, so guess what? I have a few at the office to put in my collection. I also liked to collect bone china cup and sauces and miniature tea pots because I used to sell AVON. That started that collection. Move forward to now.....I'm a quilter, so I now collect fabric!!!! Lot's of fabric!!! I love to get JOANN'S CRAFT coupons and go to Santa Maria and buy buy buy. Now I just need the time to create!

Reply
Hilary
8/10/2016 05:59:23 pm

I love the diversity of everything you collect! I have JFK campaign buttons from 1960 and am hoping they'll be valuable someday... but maybe not... as well as a form letter from The White House that Jackie Kennedy sent to citizens who sent her condolences... my late partner's mother and stepfather got it after they sent a card. I think as we get older, we find more to collect, too! :)

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Hilary Roberts Grant

    Journalist, editor, filmmaker, foodie--and a clown! 
    ​

    Categories

    All
    Activism
    Blogaversaries
    Doing It Right
    Food
    Holidays
    Living Life
    Miscellany
    My Girl
    People
    Reading
    Remembering
    Taking Care
    Traveling

    Archives

    June 2025
    December 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    June 2023
    December 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.