We tend to think of the transformation of "collecting" from niche pastime to obsessive money-centric mania which occasionally makes the news as a recent development, but no -- here's Frederick Opper in 1891 to tell us otherwise.
If you're a collector or know collectors, you can see that Opper has nailed many of the basic types of mania that can take hold:
- Obsessive autograph seeking
- Strange alliances built around hoping to get a chance at buying a particular collectible.
- Amassing a great collection making you famous and esteemed among your peers
- Collecting unusual stuff that you'd think that no one will ever, ever care about
- The joy of finding something good for under fair market value.
And of course, the mask collection is a great visual that has been used in numerous different ways over the decades. I keep meaning to make a large print of this for myself, as I... am familiar with one or two of these concepts.
That's a great page. Except for the clothing, it doesn't seem that much has changed for collector's in 125 years.
This makes me want to re-read a book called A Gentle Madness, about obsessive book collectors throughout history.