The (other) things we collect

I collect any thing vintage military since I collect vintage military watches of any kind. Like military compasses from WW1 to now, a few pilot wings, vintage issued weapon like issued knifes and a few military issued guns and rifles and web gear that went with a 1911 Remington Rand pistol I have, Vintage clocks civilian and military, and a few military badges, and a few vintage pieces of furniture that I use there not to just look at, and a few vintage coins I would find at flea markets and some antique stores and some funny money I collected in foreign countries I went to years ago when in the Navy, and some vintage watch fobs for pocket watches use to find them for cheap don't find any deals for them any more. I collect less these days since I moved out of Calif that had some great antique fairs and NAWCC shows and vintage military collector shows Montana takes a lot of work to find stuff in the wild instead of on line. I would post some but don't want to offend any one some forums are funny.

Here is one thing I collected not watch related a working vintage candle stick phone I feel like Eliot Ness of the untouchables when I use it and I am back in the 1920's it's made out of Bakelite the dial numbers are porcelain I have to use a wall double jack were the phone wire and bell wire plug in the same jack so the bell goes off and it's loud like a fire house bell. New phones are not made like this any more there just cheap the only reason I got a land line is for this baby. And that's a working vintage alarm clock the bell on that almost as loud as the phone bell.

No photos offered here out of respect for Chris' request. The collecting sickness has a fatal hold on me and I fear that I am multi-afflicted with it in several collecting fields.

My greatest interest is the collection of firearms and in the shooting sports, a respectable collecting endeavor in a civilized society. The preponderance of the firearms menagerie here is centered in vintage or historically significant arms and their supporting accouterments rather than in the "tacti-cool" models currently found in firearms makers catalogs. Black "plastic" firearms equate to quartz watches in my mind. No "safe queens" here, all see regular use at my whim, sometimes to the horror of other collectors. Growing up around firearms in rural Texas, I have enjoyed the hunting pursuits afield all my life to this day as well as competitive events. I tend to admire the more formal, precision "accuracy" events rather than those geared to "combat" or where "speed" is a key feature.

I greatly enjoy numismatics and collect American and British coinage. The collection primarily concentrates on type rather than an accumulation of all dates and mint marks, the exception being the U. S. Morgan dollar series, Peace dollars as well, Indian Head cents, and the various denominations of United States 20th century issues. British coins are collected by type, extending back into the times of hammered coinage. British coinage is a bottomless pit of endless varieties.

My wife and I share a couple of hobbies as well. We both love to read and enjoy maintaining a home library of some 1500 volumes, mostly centered in history and "the Western Canon" much as Harold Bloom describes it here.http://www.openculture.com/2014/01/...ssive-list-of-works-in-the-western-canon.html We love antiquarian books so prefer to add old volumes of these works to the library as we can. Many volumes are over 150 years old, the very oldest dating to the early 17th century. American, British, European, Classical, and Biblical histories are the favored topics for reading. The English novelists of the 18th and 19th centuries are loved here.

Music is collected here in the form of both CDs and vinyl from bygone times. Classical and classic rock are preferred. We may be Texan, born and bred, but neither of us much cares for country/western outside a few artists.

A complete collection of Gillette double-edge razors has been collected, from 1904 forward with examples of all major models and styles on hand. These are used in rotation for daily shaving.

The most whimsical items I collect are vintage pea whistles. This silliness began years ago when, for a few pence, I purchased a large, nickel-plated brass Acme "Thunderer" whistle, found in the bottom of a tea cup in a junk shop in Sheffield South Yorkshire.

I could have some "real" watches if I would "re-focus."

Very impressive. Thanks for the pointer.

@Fritz, since you have an antique German barometer too, any hints on how I can fix mine? It hasn't budged since I got it a few years ago. It was part of my great-grandfather's bespoke office set and I'd like to get it working again, but I haven't the faintest idea of where to start. Klutz that I am, I don't want to start taking it apart willy-nilly.

Anyone else with ideas, I'm all ears.