Valuable things, originally uploaded by Thorsten Becker.
Many people collect valuable things, personal treasures that they relate to or things that may increase in monetary value. The desire to collect and preserve is an almost inherent human trait. We can connect to our past through family heirlooms, to historic events through old prints, photos, books, art, recordings. We can even use things from th past like antique furniture or sometimes even ancient crafty things like spoons and bowls. Archaeologists are always busy unearthing long forgotten and buried pieces of all the past civilizations around the world. Antique dealers offer a variety of old things, from trinkets to sometimes priceless treasures. Museums are dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage and treasures of every nation.
I have personally been to archaeological digs, helping unearth ancients dwellings in Germany dating back several thousands of years. It is fascinating to sift through the soil and come upon little bits and pieces of people’s lives long before our time, things that they hand made and used every day. I also enjoy collecting old books. My collection is rather marginal at this point but nevertheless I am fascinated reading through an 1857 edition of Shakespeare’s complete works, a 1927 illustrated Jules Verne novel, a Colliers cyclopedia from 1882. Some of it sounds surprisingly recent when reading it, other things are very typical for that particular time period. It is intriguing to think someone 80, 100 or even 150 years ago was reading this same book. It almost becomes a time machine.
Some people enjoy collecting old letters, reading what distant family members wrote a 100 years ago, or even strangers, maybe former political or religious leaders, artists, scientists. Others collect old records, sometimes dating all the way back to the beginning of the phonograph and other times what is now considered classic recordings of artists 40, 50, 60 years ago.
Going to a museum we can admire fine china and porcelain from the 17th and 18th century, clothing from classical time periods, items of daily use often with intricate hand painted details. We can even tour houses of famous people and get a glimpse of their life.
Whatever it is we collect and admire that is vintage, antique or even ancient we all have our reasons why we collect them, and more often than not it is not just their market value but a deeper emotional value, something that connects us with a point in time beyond our physical reach.
Considering all this I look at our modern age and the question forces itself upon me: what will we leave behind? What is it that we leave those coming after us that they may collect and connect to? Would they even want to connect to us or could they be so absorbed in instant gratification and the newest tech toys that old things no longer matter? What value does an MP3 collection have as compared to a classic record collection? What value do emails have as compared to handwritten letters? How about furniture from your local mass distribution chain compared to vintage and antique handcrafted pieces? How desirable are mass-market paperbacks when compared to an antique leather bound book? One way storage containers compared to porcelain vessels? Made in China/India/Korea etc. mass produced clothing compared to hand tailored pieces (and compared to the beautiful hand made things from said countries of days past)? Would any of this ever be collectible, be of personal or cultural value? What will people see in museums 100 years from now pertaining to the specific culture of your country? What could then be considered typical for our cultures? Will they even still be as diverse? What valuable things do we leave behind?
Tags: ancient, antique, civilisation, collecting, culture, heirlooms, heritage, Musings, Photography by Thorsten Becker, valuable things, vintage, Written by Thorsten Becker
