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Posted 7 months ago
TGBWC
(185 items)
This morning, our local newspaper had an article called: "Kids see no wealth in boomers' hand-me-downs," about the next generation (our kids) who have little or no interest in keep or collecting family heirlooms or our collections that we cherish for their value, history and sentimental relationships to us.
Since Collectors Weekly doesn't seem to have a forum for this type of discussion, I wanted to hear from you, the collector community, with your opinions on this. It is a concern of mine and probably a concern of anyone who has children or not.
What will become of your collections and heirlooms once you go to that big auction in the sky? I have two boys/young men, ages 30 and 28, who express very little interest in any of my Coca-Cola items. My dad died in 2006 and my mom died in 2010. After my mom died, my brothers and I decided to sell our childhood home in upstate New York. Our parents kept and saved everything. Childhood toys and games still in the attic, our baby clothes...and since my mom collected antiques back in the 1960s, she had old china cabinets filled with Carnival glass, Depression glass, Milk glass plus early American furniture, Tiffany-style glass lamps and even her childhood porcelain dolls. My dad was in Scouting and had uniforms and a lot of Boy Scout memorabilia. I "inherited" most of it because my older brothers really didn't see the value on most of the stuff. So now I have a lot of it, and I worry that when I die, our kids won't want the burden of keeping all of it.
I use photos from my Coca-Cola collection as examples only, but every collector I'm sure, has thought about the fate of his/hers collection once they pass away.
I'm thinking....I'll probably end up selling my entire Coca-Cola collection in the next 10 years or so (I'm 58 now) and enjoy the extra money. Because when I die, my kids will most likely just have a garage sale and sell it all. Even though I've tried to educate them on the value and have most everything photographed, cataloged and priced at current value, it'll probably be too much of a task for them to sell items piece by piece.
Your thoughts on this?
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Your sons may just be to young yet to appreciate the value.
I am the keeper of many family treasures & not sure what will become of it all.
This conversation has probably been discussed with concern by previous generations.
I've had thoughts and dicussions on this very subject with my family Ray.They are convinced I'm off my rocker to have gotten into "collecting" in the first place.
My plan is to enjoy the thrill of the hunt, the pleasure of a good find, and the art of making a good buy and great friends along the way! I actually don't give a &^*^#$ what they do with the stuff when I check-out, as it won't be my problem. Maybe once a dispersal of a good collection starts to happen, there will be an appreciation on their part of the love and effort it takes to build something unique.Or they'll just dig the $$ they just inherited!
I'm also 58, when my Mom passed away a few years ago and we had to empty the homestead, we all sat around (7 of us) and took turns picking what we each wanted to take home and that triggered me to start collecting all kinds of stuff. I had collected some car stuff and fishing and hunting stuff previously. So when your kids reach our age they might start to care about old stuff, maybe not. I and my wife where not blessed with kids so my plan is to sell everything before my time is up, Lord willing. We see this on American Pickers show also, old collectors selling off there stuff cause the kids don't care but I do think as people get older they collect and hang on to stuff more. I've seen alot of people start collecting later in life, especially after retirement and I think that will never change, there will allways be collectors out there, just maybe not your kids. Take care all.
I'm a member of The Coca-Cola Collectors Club. When I joined in 1995, there were over 8,000 members worldwide. Today, that number is around 2,500. Ebay/online auctions is one reason for the decline. So is older members (literally) dying off. But there isn't a lot of younger members joining. And that's across the board, with many organized collector clubs. Membership is declining dramatically because there are fewer younger collectors interested in the old stuff. They grew up in a disposable world and honestly, I think many collector clubs will cease to exist in 10-15 years from now.
Yeah, kids are so, - so, immature! Never had any because I don't want competition.
I'm trying to dump stuff with people who would appreciate the things. I can't really market things because where I live. Some will recognize my attitude from past posts. Down here this "stuff" would probably end out on the curb when my birth certificate expires.
Anything you want to leave to me I'd happily retrieve blunderbuss, you live in a slice of paradise down there, it would be nice to see again! Same goes for you Ray!(And I'm young enough to enjoy it for many more years hopefully, and old enough to appreciate it!)
I've said it before: The Coca-Cola collectibles market has never been so hot - total annual spend - with the rise of online auctions and growing availability of high speed internet connections. It's a new age of collecting, that's all. The old model doesn't apply. As the Boomers die off, maybe India and Chinese or Brazil or Young American collectors fill the void. All I know, is I see a lot of mid- to low-level quality pieces selling for good prices on eBay, stuff that 20 years ago probably would not have sold at all. I'm Bullish on old, authentic Coca-Cola signs and ad pieces, TGBWC. But I agree that selling during retirement is a safe play rather than passing on as inheritance, if the intent is to maximize investment. I plan to have my kids pick a couple items each, then go out in a blaze of glory: liveauctioneers.com style.
Yes, it is a new age of collecting, but that age bracket is still in the 40s to 60s, not the 20 and 30 year olds. And once us dinosaurs turn into fossil fuel, our kids won't be replenishing us.
You have some nice stuff, by the way.
I lean toward TGBWC's stance but understand the other angles. Coke stuff was more of a fraternity of collectors in the past but with ebay etc., a lot of the random owned pieces have come "out of the closet", attic or whatever and the influx has brought prices down. Lot of the collectors from the mid 90's are dying off & their kids are dumping a lot of collections, which brings the market down. 10-15 yrs ago, consulting with Coca Cola Inc.'s archives, the bottles I have would be worth $6-800 but now it would probably cost more to mail to the States than most are worth. I only have about 12 that I never paid more than $2. for but with the devaluation in the dollar since the 70's, I figure I would probably break even on today's market assuming the purchasing value of the $ is about 10% of what it was in 1960.
And pickrknows(I like that), I've got a friend coming to pick up stuff to sell. I'm giving away some. You can have the Coke bottle collection if you want it as I figure postage in another year will make me lose on my $1&2 investments but you have to come get them. I have 1 of the tall Greenville bottles that forced Coke to standardize their bottles.
Ray, I've wonder the same thoughts also, I'm sure my children will not want the hassle or spend the time to go through any of my collection, They will most likely argue over who has to set up the tables at the "Garage Sale". I think the selling off the entire collection sounds to be a solid idea, just hate to think of parting with the things I've spent so much time putting the "Rags" back into a serviceable collectable.
Kerry
note: Your collection is top-notch all the way, where as mine has seen a lot of Children's Handling over the years, your's should be easier to liquidate than mine, maybe I'll let them fight over the table setting for that Last Garage Sale. ;-)
TGBWC, I'm glad you threw this in here. I figured there were others wondering the same thing & glad I'm not alone.
Thanks for your comments on this subject, walksoftly, pickrknows, daddy, EJW, Kerry and Blunderbuss
Ray, I look at it this way. When I go, I'm not too concerned what happens to my stuff, if I haven't sold it all before hand.
Right Perry, but before your exit comes up on the Highway to Heaven (if that's your next destination), aren't you a bit concerned with what will become of your prized possessions? I mean, do you have a plan in place, should your exit come up tomorrow...God forbid?
My plan:
• Cataloging, photographing and pricing (current market value)
• Listing/contact info of other Coca-Cola collectors who might be interested in my collection
• Listing websites like CW, The Coke Club for contacts
• Making sure my kids, family know where the above information is located.
Of course, plan A is to sell pretty much everything off before the above plan has to happen. At least that's the plan...
Let us know Ray when we can start calling "Dibs" on stuff!!
I'm in for the coke-cop,V44, junior... so much stuff!
Hopefully it'll be many many years down the road for all of us!
Heck, I'm just still just getting started (again)with collecting.
Family is the only real legacy we leave behind, everything else is just "stuff".
Putting a collection together is a passion,leaving a collection to those left behind keeps a piece of you around for them to appreciate, and you'll be surprised how this can develop into their own passion once the end comes. I'm living proof.
Btw Ray, I just freed up some equity selling a car, so let me know when the sale is going to start!
You can start calling dibs right now...if the price is right.
Love the collection TGBWC