MONTHLY LETTER

The Urge to Collect

From children’s marbles to worksof art, collecting is one of mankind’smost popular pastimes. We collectmany different things for many

different reasons, but there mustbe rules to make it worthwhile...

[] Why do people collect things? The handiestexplanation is that it is a matter of instinct.Collecting evidently is not exclusive to humanbeings. Pack rats and magpies are notorious forstashing away every object that strikes their fancy.Chimpanzees and whisky jacks share the habit ofassembling jumbles of trash.

That monumental spoil-sport Sigmund Freudput down the urge to collect as a sublimation ofsexual desire. This hardly seems to accord withthe ways of pack rats and the rest, unless thesecreatures are a lot more complicated than wethink. Other psychologists have tied collecting toan unsatisfied lust for power. This begs the ques-tion of why some of the most powerful people inhistory have been among history’s greatest collec-tors as well.

But why quibble? Suffice to say that a greatmany different people collect a great many differ-ent things for a great many different reasons. Itmight even be said that we are all collectorswhether we know it or not. For who among us doesnot collect something, be it rubber bands, paperbags, derelict wallets or handbags, desiccated ballpoint pens, single cuff links or earrings? Whathusband does not notice a tendency in his wife tocollect certain foodstuffs such as cans of applesauce or pound upon pound of tea? What wife hasnot detected a similar tendency in her husband,

dwelling on broken fishing tackle, ill-assorted nutsand bolts, and obsolete neckties? What is a homewithout keys for which there are no locks, unstrungtennis rackets and unsmoked pipes, sweaters thatwill never again be worn, and musical instrumentsthat will never again be played?

Bits of string, buttons, expired driver’s licenses,old golf balls- the list of our litter is almostendless. It takes a superhuman effort of will tothrow out everything in a household that shouldbe thrown out, and most of us prove to be onlytoo human when the moment of decision arrives.Sophisticated collectors would dismiss this as mere"accumulation", as opposed to the active practiseof collecting, which entails buying, selling, trad-ing, labelling, cataloguing, and maintainingcontact with fellow enthusiasts. Still, it takes nospecial powers of analysis to see that our reluc-tance to part with useless items goes beyond thedelusion that they "might come in handy someday".They may be rubbish, but it is our own rubbish --part of our uniqueness as human beings.

Collecting in any form is an assertion of identity.Clinging to personal junk is only a step awayfrom the more orderly process of saving photo-graphs and souvenirs to keep a sentimental recordof our life and times. The impulse to gather souv-enirs can be overpowering. Soldiers have beenknown to risk death or injury to pluck a memento

from a battlefield; so, for that matter, have teenage fans scrambling for some pop idol’s autograph.Why? Probably because keepsakes are essential askeys to the memory. Photograph and souvenircollections are to the individual what museumsand archives are to the society- a way of pre-serving history, in this case a history that is allone’s own.

Collecting reveals a great deal about a personal-ity. Among any group of children collectingmarbles, you might find three or four differentgeneral types. Some will gamble to add to theirtreasures, while others will take no chances. Somewill recklessly squander their stakes; others willspecialize in shrewd trades. Some will concentrateon quantity at the expense of quality. Some,regrettably, will steal or cheat to add to what theyhave.

Childhood collections go some way towardsproving that the child is father of the man. Asa boy, Winston Churchill had an impressivecollection of toy soldiers which he would ma-noeuvre in large formations; many years later hewould be doing the same in real life, albeit atsecond hand. Churchill has been described as aromantic whose dreams came true. It is safe tosay that there are many like him -- racing driverswho once collected Dinky Toys, sports heroes whocollected baseball and hockey cards with picturesand biographies of their own boyhood heroes,actresses who as girls clipped pin-ups out ofmovie magazines. The great majority of us, how-ever, will never achieve our most romantic amb-itions. For us, then, collecting may offer an outletto indulge our fancies in a harmless and com-fortable way.

Thus, for a few fleeting moments, the recordcollector may vicariously become an internation-ally renowned soloist performing in front of aglittering symphony orchestra. Distance and timemean nothing as the collector of model ships sailsan imaginary vessel into the teeth of a hurricaneas he rounds the Horn. The art collector fallsinto a reverie of dashing the last masterful brushstrokes on his latest masterpiece. Immune from thediscomforts of travel, the philatelist journeys farand wide to exotic climes.

Saying to the world thatit’s nobody else but you

In this respect collecting is food and drink forthat larger-than-life image of ourselves that dwellsin the alter ego. But it can also be richly nourishingto the ego as such. There can be few owners ofcollections who do not delight in showing them off.Any collection, from sea shells to old masters, isa reflection of the owner’s taste, and taste is thepride of a personality. Whether good, bad orindifferent in the eyes of others, taste is a way ofproclaiming to the world: "This is nobody elsebut me."

The need to display one’s taste as an expressionof the ego partly explains the propensity of collect-ors to keep in touch with each other and to gathertogether on occasion. The recognition of one’s peersis a heady tonic to self-esteem. A convention of,say, chess set collectors may be a hotbed of rivalryand envy, but it is all in the family, among peoplewhose particular knowledge and acumen makesthem an elite group of equals. Collecting is agreat social leveller. An insignificant man inordinary affairs may be the king of collectors ofa certain class of object, commanding the respect ofall who dabble in it. One of the joys of collectingin an organized fashion is in associating withlike-minded people. Life-long friendships canspring from a common interest in things likematchbooks or dolls.

There seems no limit to the interests that maygive rise to collections. The Guinness Book ofWorld Records tells us that Dr. Robert E. Kaufmanof New York has 6,210 packs of different brands ofcigarettes from 157 countries; the world’s largestcollection of empty cigarette packs is owned byNiels Ventegodt of Copenhagen -- 40,065 differentbrands. There are said to be 5,000 collectors inthe United States of the "date nails" which rail-roads once drove into ties to record when a trackwas laid. Among other things, people collect out-board motors, coffee cans, mouth organs, hot waterbottles, telephones, invalid stock certificates, andfunny hats.

A refuge from the vexationsof your everyday existence

They follow these whimsical pursuits at leastpartly as an antidote to the seriousness, tensenessand impersonality of everyday living; a greatRussian bibliophile once put it nicely when he saidthat his collection gave him ’~needed rest fromworldly squabbles". Collecting is capable of soabsorbing our thoughts that we have none to sparefor our usual vexations. It is noteworthy that evenan art or book auction at which collectors havelarge sums at stake is conducted in an atmosphereof dignified tranquillity.

This is not to say that collecting is not a seriouspastime. Some people are very earnest about itindeed. The hunting instinct in the human speciescomes to the fore in all its intensity when a collect-or is on the trail of a special quarry. Collectors canbe ruthless bargainers when they are on to a goodthing. Busy tycoons such as J. Pierpont Morganand J. Paul Getty devoted as much time to theirfine arts collections as they did to their businesses.But, of course, they had managed to collect enor-mous amounts of money first.

The historic appeal of collecting to the very richmay confirm the connection some critics havedrawn between collecting and avarice. The samefaculties needed to amass a great fortune areuseful in amassing a great collection, no doubt.But it may be that they were doing more than justfollowing their natural compulsions or flauntingtheir wealth and power. They may have beenreaching for a kind of piggy-back immortalitybased on the immortality of the artists whoseworks they collected. Indeed, the names of manysuper-rich men and women of the past would nowbe forgotten entirely if it were not for the museumsthey established or their other public benefactionsof art.

Taxation and social changes have now prac-tically ruled out the vast collections once assem-bled by private individuals. Their place has beentaken by collections like that of the NationalGallery of Canada, which is celebrating its centen-nial this year. The officials and selection commit-tees of such institutions do their collecting onbehalf of the public. Over the years, our NationalGallery has added to its original collection ofCanadian art by acquisitions of paintings, sculp-tures and prints by most of the greatest names inthe history of art.

Expansion, specialization,and a collection of fakes

Public institutions have much in common withprivate collectors. The National Gallery, forinstance, has an acute space problem because its28,000-item collection has long since outgrown itspremises- not an uncommon complaint amongcollectors of any kind. Although it runs the largestand oldest travelling exhibition program in theworld, its officials would still like to be able toexhibit more of its treasures. In this they aresimilar to coin and stamp collectors at conventionswho protest that you ought to see what they hadto leave at home.

The Gallery’s collection has followed a familiarpattern in expanding from a fairly narrow special-ity into broader fields such as fine art photography.

This is one of two main routes a collection cantake, the other being to become more and morespecialized. Collections can also run off in odddirections. A. J. B. Kiddell, a director of the famedLondon auction house of Sotheby Parke Bernet& Co., owns an extensive array of paintings -- allof them certifiable fakes.

The danger of a collectionturning you into its slave

Many the person who began collecting antiqueshas ended in being far more interested in thecurious junk that crowds cheap antique shops. Tothe dedicated junk collector, a devastatinglyunsightly old lamp may be more of a find than anauthentic Chippendale piece. This is related tocollecting for the sake of collecting, something thatpresents a hazard to the people who are nowbuying antiques and other works of art for econo-mic reasons. It could well be that those who acquirecollector’s items as a hedge against inflation willwant to keep and expand their collections. Havingbeen bitten by the collecting bug, they may findthemselves spending more inflated money thanbefore.

The most common danger in collecting is thatone can become a slave to it. This phenomenoncan best be observed in one of the most prevalentand yet least recognized forms of collecting, thecollecting of other human beings. Social climbersand groupies do it all the time; and their individ-uality is often abandoned in their supplication tothe figures they admire. ’~Great lovers" of bothsexes collect other people to the exclusion ofrounded Standards of quality and taste.

On the other hand, a person who gathers genuinefriends has a collection that is unique and price-less. For in this as in all other forms of collecting,a couple of basic rules must apply to make itworthwhile. First, never collect just for show, butfor instrinsic value. And second, never collect toimpress others or to meet their standards. Collectaccording to your own standards to satisfy you.

A Change in ScheduleSince its inception almost 60 years ago, the

Royal Bank of Canada Monthly Letter hasbeen distributed with the bank’s complimentsto any individual or organization that caredto receive it. Such has been the immensepopularity of its thought-provoking essaysthat its total circulation in French, Englishand Braille in both languages now stands at736,000 a month in more than 75 countries.

Unfortunately sharp and steady increasesin mailing and other costs over the past fewyears have added enormously to the expenseof providing this public service. In order toreduce these prohibitive costs to manageableproportions, and yet preserve a service that isso obviously in demand, it has been decidedto reduce the frequency of publication to sixeditions a year.

Accordingly, as of the next edition in July,its new name will be The Royal Bank Letter.We hope and trust that its readers will appre-ciate the reasons for the change. We intendto maintain the high literary standard thathas made the Letter one of the world’s mostrespected publications. It will not be pub-lished as frequently as in the past, but other-wise it will be the same as before.