The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-11-28
BY WILLIAM c. UTlEY

WILL SEND genuine ancient Ro-
man coin before 400 A. ID. for any
commemorative half dollar before
1900.-John T.. Prescott. Ariz.
WILL TRADE Franz Swaty hone,
Hudson Bay trade beads (blue). two
Sir Alfred East small oil paintings,
for what have you? Equal value
Marion L., Sequim, Wash.
THESE are ads the like of which
you have seen for many years
in the pulp magazines. Per-
haps you have answered them
or even placed them yourself. They
are the stamp of the lobbyist, the col
lectOr-the man or woman who is
bugs" about bugs or butterflies or
dOOrknobs Of first editions or old
automobile horns.
All Of us are familiar with the hob
byiSt. Even those of US who are wont
to describe a neighbor with "Oh, she's
a nut on antiques" will ask the corner
druggist if he can give us Indian
pennies in our change.
We find such nuts" in every walk
of life. Nuts? Well, look at who
Museums Are lobbyists.
To begin with there are the his
torical museums. Yes, they are hob
byists. They collect everything from
arrowheads to locomotives. And a
great many of the most priceless eX-
hibits in such museums-the Field
museum, the Metropolitan and others
were made possible by the acquisi-
ton Of collections by amateur hob
byists.
Among the amateurs whose collect
ing has become famous are-might as
well begin at the top-Franklin d.
Roosevelt, who is a nut" on stamps,
historical prints, ship models and auto
graphs; Henry Ford, who collects al
most anything historical for his mu-
scum in Dearborn, Mich; Mrs. ALT
Landon, wife Of the governor of Kan
sas, who collects luster pitchers; and
Gov. Henry Horner of Illinois, who
loves to browse through dusty old files
in search of gems for his Lincoln col
lection. Some of the collections could
not be bought at any price; others,
like the 100000 Jade collection of
former Governor Stevens of Michigan,
have mounted to tremendous values.
"Nuts?" Well, hardly.
Among the collectors is spirit of
cooperation that makes them all
brothers and sisters under the skin.
Many Of them will acquire no end of
curious things which will not fit into
their own collections in the hope that
they may trade them to other hobby
lists for articles they really want. For
such as these, the hobby shows that
are held in four of the principal cities
at this time of every year are truly
Meccas.
These annual FANATIC fairs" take
place in New York, Cleveland Los An
geles and Chicago. At the one recent
ly closed in Chicago, the average daily
attendance was about 10000 persons
almost every one of them a collector
of something.
Covering an entire floor of the Hotel
Sherman were more than 300 exhibits
Most of them were the displays of
curio shops and professional collec-
tors. showing their wares in the hope
that some eager amateurs would pounce
in wild-eyed delight upon a Chippen-
dale chair or garter worn by the
secret sweetheart of some far-removed
emperor.
What's in Name?
A most interesting booth was that of
the Chicago Flee Market" which
prided itself particularly upon a vase
made in the factory of Louis XIV.
1t seems the factory wasn't paying, so
Louis took the thing over himself. He
broke so many vases in his eagerness
TO unwrap them TO show them 10
friends that few of them are left; this
was one the royal fingers had evident
ly dealt with more tenderly. The
French-American lady who presided
over the exhibit explained that her
shop was named after one in her ma