COLLECTION

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Collect

Telephones are my most recent collecting interest. I have 6 wired up in the house and garden. That doesn’t include the one in the telephone box. They are mainly the crank type where you turn a magneto handle to alert the operator. I have many more in my studio of both the crank and the dial type. Some of the dial type are connected to an old French switchboard which in turn recieves a dial tone from a C*Net connection which is currently misbehaving.

Collect

Cigarette lighters. I have a small collection but this French guy (link R) must have the most comprehensive collection in the world.  My collection started with a single example I found in one of my grandads shed tins. It may be a trench made example ie made in the First World War. It has the initials GA which happens to be significant for my two sons George and Arthur. The original wrap had disappeared so I fitted a new leather one and made a pretty good job of it.  I suspect it is an amateur build as the striker wheel is so small is almost impossible to turn and generate a spark.

Collect

Cigarette cards. I collected these as a child. I preferred not to put them in albums. My favourites at the time were the American Civil War series that came with a brand of bubble gum. I was never bothered by completing the sets. I just liked them as individual objects

Collect

Corgi Cars. In a way the story of these is quite sad because so many are in more or less mint condition, with the box. In other words they didn’t get played with.

Collect

Cameras.  One of the early pictures of me is with a camera I bought at a jumble sale in the village. I went on to buy several more some of which I still have. Much later I had a short lived enthusiasm for photography but I was always more interested in the equipment.

Collect

Coins. This was a short lived fad. the only decent ones i had were two half sovereigns which I sold  in order to buy an electric guitar from Woolworths for £22. They were donated to me by a kindly next door neighbour in Eynsford. I never told may parents I had done it.