Two is not a collection, three of any unneeded item is a collection, four is an obsession. By my definition, I have obsessions of obsessions.

Adult collecting started when one old, useless camera was piled on top of two other old cameras and some how the pile turned into several hundred. First came anything with a lens and shutter, later the shutter had to work and lately it really has to be rare and/or beautiful.

The progression in any of my own or our household collections always starts modestly and accelerates to more, bigger and better.

Here in lies the lessons for anyone collecting, for personal pleasure or possible profit.

1. Buy Low, Sell High. As a wise old barkeep in Annapolis Md. once said, “It's not what you sell an item for, but the price you paid for it, that matters.” (Thanks Sam Lorea.)

2. Learn what an item is worth before you buy or only buy what's real cheap. (My Rule)

3. Be sure anything you purchase for profit is the best example, or so rare its condition can be overlooked.

4. Learn what real items look and feel like before you buy into a fake.

5. If you see an item you have never seen before and deem it rare, old and inexpensive to purchase and you do not buy the piece, you will never ever see that item again. BUT if you buy the item, you will see the same thing over and over, always in better condition and cheaper then your purchase. (Paraphrased from a camera collectors book.)

6. Is the item complete, undamaged, old and in a condition appropriate for its age?

If your passion is collecting, your learning will last a lifetime, as ours has. We spend many hours each year viewing, researching and touching high end antiques, getting to know what really is a bargain, a fake, or an overpriced mass produced item. We want to know what price an items sell for, on Internet sites, at auctions and at high end antique stores.

"Book Price", or a price tag in an antique mall does not tell you its selling price, only its asking price.

You do not want to pass up on a $30.00 waffle iron that two people will bid up till it sells for $360.00.

The Dean