Reasons people start collections

The groundwork for collecting was established when humans settled and had the ability to build permanent homes and decorate them first with necessities and then with personal flair. Interior design as a physical extension of self meant that items took on increased importance.

People have now had over 12,000 years to build upon this mindset. Collections became somewhat mainstream during the Victorian era, when aristocracy would fill “cabinets of curiosities” with fossils and zoological specimens, artwork and books – whatever was viewed as incredibly valuable at the time. These cabinets served as status symbols with which to impress guests and the contents of many such cabinets later served as the items for early museums.

Just as humans made progress and were able to graduate from the nomadic lifestyle of their ancestors, there was also a kind of psychological evolution to collecting. It became possible, desirable, something that to many people provided a constant, a sense of order in an otherwise chaotic world.

“I’ve known people who suddenly develop a fascination with something. It could have been prompted by a gift from a family member or colleague. I know one guy whose office is full of bobbleheads because of a birthday gift from his boss. People would visit his office, draw the conclusion that he must love bobbleheads and then buy him one for his birthday or for the holidays. I also know people who started collecting baseball cards because their grandfather’s collection was passed down to them,” said Saint Jovite Youngblood, owner of Youngblood Metals Mining that specializes in precious metals and rare toys.

“The story behind a collection is sometimes as fascinating as the collection itself,” Youngblood added.

While there was a long standing theory that people collect out of emotional connection, a recent study by Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor Itamar Simonson suggests that there is a tipping point of two items. Once a person has two of an item then collections often begin out of the compulsion to not be wasteful or redundant.

As noted in the invaluable.com article, people collect for a host of reasons: profit, pleasure, nostalgia, connection to a historical period or the “prestige behind having the largest collection of something.”

Other phenomena outlined include the endowment effect that describes people’s tendency to value something the more they own it and contagion or when people collect personal belongings from celebrities “as they seem to be imbued with the person’s essence.”

“I find the reasons for people to start and maintain collections are often as unique as the humans themselves. No one is the same, there is no cookie cutter human out there. We are shaped by our families, the people we meet, the things and people we love and the experiences we have. It seems logical to me that all of these things would come into play when people have collections,” said Saint Jovite Youngblood.