Featured Antiques of the future

geeze Davey....i've still got most of my old cards too !
why do we do things like that ????

I also have a bunch of my old war amps key tags....the metal ones.......or maybe that's just a Canadian thing...?

 

I also have all the credit cards, same theory. A few days ago I found a collection of QSL cards in the shed. Not really very old though. And phone cards keep appearing, another 'collectable' that seems to be an uncollectable now.

 

I made a ton of money - slight exaggeration, but a LOT - on junk from the 40s-60s that my mother kept. Lots of paper ephemera that most people would discard. She kept every give-away with a business name on it - calendars, rulers, pins, fans, pens and pencils, whatever. All that advertising is gone and the stuff sells like hotcakes. I made more money selling things I could ship in small padded envelopes than I ever made on big, bulky stuff that I had to put in boxes.

 

Don't you just envy stamp and coin sellers......one shelf unit is all they ever need !

 

You don't know some of the coin & stamp collectors I know...they need LOTS of shelves. LOL

 

Lots of paper ephemera that most people would discard.

Which is the key. of course. It's the very thing that makes the concept of commercial 'collectables' that are intended to kept, not discarded, that makes them such a flawed investment.

Disposability at the time must be coupled with significant design typical of the period for something to take off.

It is tricky spotting the recent items that typify early 21st century style, because at the moment it all seems so much of a mish mash.

 

LOL Davey, I just grabbed these from 3 different junk drawers, I know I have more somewhere. Are we all daft? LOL
These are all expired aand thank goodness I only have one debit card and my PP card. No moree credit cards.

 

OH, and I have S&H green stamps and Blue Chip stamps somewhere in the hoard.

 

Hi,
Don't feel bad I still have ration coupons from the war.
greg

 

Well maybe....but I've got a 7 3/4 foot totem pole in the next room.......& shelves....just don't cut the mustard !! LOL....

 

I'm sure that paper ephemera from circa 1900-1930 is collectible by virtue of the fact that hardly anyone saved it and fewer items were made. Consumables from the 50s to now are less valuable or have no value because of the quantity made. I tried to explain that to a nephew once - why the early Star Wars figures are more valuable than the new ones because 60 gazillion of each are made now. It's the same with china, glassware. Anything, really.

 

The older stuff gets the more TV presenters on archeology programs gush over it. If I never hear another run of the mill Beaker People pot described as absolutely beautiful it'll be too soon. Most stuff survived or gets found by accident, and statistically it is going to be the commonest material from the time that gets unearthed.

If the human race dies out, the most indestructable artifacts to be discovered by some future race will be ceramic bathroom fittings, especially toilet bowls. Wonder over their beauty now while you have the chance.

 

I've inspected more than one bowl at close proximity in my time.

 

I don't think so....wait, there's one shaped like Justin Bieber.....
(responding to Terry's photo)

 

Bumping this thread too!

I think there will be a lot of demand for early video games, action figures, and nerd stuff that is increasing in popularity today. Just imagine the competition for early Star Wars and Star Trek items in the 2060's and 2070's when they become 100 years old.

Real NASA/Space artifacts should be really cool antiques by that time too! Perhaps by then we will have colonies on other planets and perhaps a population of 100 billion collectors that will want some nostalgia from the home world (earth).

 

You are very good at finding old discussion threads! This one was started back when the group had only a fraction of the members that it currently does. Maybe it can get going again!

 

Trying to get these old threads the attention that they deserve! Hopefully we can continue to grow the community and recruit new members as more perspectives, knowledge bases are always welcome.

 

If you ever had an outhouse, they are a thing of beauty!

 

My grandparent's farm was apparently locally famous or perhaps infamous for their 3 stall outhouse. My father vividly remembers it up until the 1970's when they remodeled their farmhouse, demolished an old dilapidated log cabin that was the predecessor to the farmhouse, and got rid of the cisterns and outhouse. It was a big shift to indoor facilities.

Perhaps if it still existed the outhouse would have been an unique and priceless collectable!! Perhaps it is still out in the back forty near Grandpa's landfill of all the junk he couldn't sell as a flea market dealer. He grew up in the depression and kept everything.

 

Agreed “early“ tech and nerd stuff is going to be huge. By that I mean stuff associated with video games and computers.