RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1422

Copyright © Harry Rinker, LLC 2014

You Are Old, I Am Not

The February/March 2014 edition of “AARP: The Magazine” featured an article entitled “You’re Old, I’m Not.”  The introduction read: “If you’re like most people over 50, you think you’re not like most people over 50.  That’s only one key finding of a new AARP [American Association of Retired Persons] survey on how aging stacks up to the stereotypes….”

Old is a relative term.  It depends on a person’s viewpoint.  Old plays a critical role in how individuals define whether an object is an antique, collectible, or desirable and how the objects in a collecting category are valued.

The AARP survey provides a number of insights that are applicable to the antiques and collectibles trade. One survey question asked: “At what age is a person old”?  Those in their 40s said 63, those in their 50s 68, those in their 60s said 73, and those in their 70s said 75.  More simply stated, old is defined by most individuals as “older than I am.”  A 90-year-old participant indicated she would not be old until she turned 95.

Defining old as a time older than you is based on denial.  Few admit to being comfortable when identified as old.  Old is not a celebration, it is precursor of restrictions, restraints, and death.  The issue is further complicated if the person is in good health.  Good health equates to “does not feel old.”  The AARP survey notes 64 percent of those over 70 had more energy than they expected and 64 percent who agreed that growing older was easier than expected.

Individuals, especially of the female persuasion, spend enormous amounts of money on restorative cosmetics and medical procedures to reduce evidence of aging.  When survey participants were asked how others would describe them based on their age, 45.1 percent answered “younger.”

I complete my 73rd year on October 1, 2014.  When asked my age, I tell people “I am in my ____ year.’  This approach makes me a year older than I am based on my calendar birthday but is a more accurate reflection of my age than stating ___ years, ___ months, and ___days.  I willingly admit my age.

As each day passes, I become more aware of how old I am.  Today (April 30, 2014), I read about the death of British actor Bob Hoskins at age 71.  As the years pass, I am paying more attention to deaths, especially those who die younger than me.  I also have a bad habit of subtracting my current age from that of the deceased, unhappy when the result is in single digits.  Old people die, and I am not old.

If I am not old, then the things associated with my life are not old either.  William Boyd, the actor who portrayed Hopalong Cassidy in film and television, died on September 12, 1972, more than 41 years ago.  Although in his 50s and 60s when he achieved television stardom in the late 1940s and 1950s, Hoppy is alive, vibrant, and young in my mind.  Hoppy was my childhood cowboy hero.  I was in heaven when attending the Popular Cultural Association -- American Culture Association 44th Annual Conference on April 16, 2014, in Chicago and heard Derham Groves of the University of Melbourne (Australia’s) presentation entitled “Hopalong Cassidy: Cabinet of Curiosities.”  It focused on William Boyd’s November 1954 visit to four cities in Australia including Darwin, Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney.  60,000 adults and children flooded Albert Park in Melbourne just to see Hoppy ride around the park in an open truck.  [See: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/how-hopalong-rode-in-and-lassoed-melbourne-20130706-2piyj.html.]

[Author’s Aside #1:  I presented an academic paper entitled “What’s Going To Happen To All My Stuff When I Die?: A Collector’s View.”  The paper focused on what happens to a collection when the collector dies with his/her collection(s) intact, the subject of a future “Rinker on Collectibles” column.]

Following Groves’ presentation, Nancy Semin of Austin (TX) Community College presented a paper entitled “Remember the Fake Alamo!: A Revisionist Approach for Saving Film Architecture, including John Wayne’s Alamo Village.”  The paper focused on preserving film sets used for major and minor motion pictures, arguing that film architecture (false front buildings) is a unique architectural style.  John Wayne’s Alamo Village, the first film set built in Texas, is located north of Bracketville, Texas.  Although known primarily for his “A” westerns, Wayne began his career as a “B” movie cowboy, often a member of The Three Mesquiteers.  Wayne starred in 8 of the 51 Republic Pictures Mesquiteers movies.

[Author’s Aside #2:  I spent most of the week of Monday, April 21 through Saturday, April 26, 2014 watching the non-stop John Wayne film festival on TCM [Turner Classic Movies].  I have lost count of the number of times I have seen “The Quiet Man,” one of my favorite Wayne films.  I will watch it again when the chance arises.]

I had trouble concentrating on Semin’s topic and left before she finished.  At the time, I made no effort to ask why.  Writing this column provided the answer.  John Wayne is dead.  The same is true of Gene Autry, Hoot Gibson, Lash LaRue, Clayton Moore, Roy Rogers, Bob Steele, and the other riders of the B movie westerns range.  I accept their deaths and see their films and memorabilia as historical objects.  This is not true for William Boyd.  Hoppy is as alive in my mind today as he was in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Is it possible that some things never age?  The answer appears to be yes.  When a collector falls in love with a collecting category, the objects associated with it become ageless.  While the objects may be old chronologically, they do not age mentally.  If a collector is unwilling to accept the premise that he is old, the same argument applies to the objects he/she loves.

Until now, I accepted the concept that objects get old just as humans do.  The patina they develop from exposure to impurities and chemicals in the air is part of the aging process.  The wear and tear from handling and use adds to objects’ aging mystique.  Those that love the objects see none of this.

This explains why individuals want to restore objects so that they appear factory new – to remove all signs of aging.  Is object restoration equivalent to a Botox injection or liposuction?  Restoration creates an object that is forever young in its appearance.  The ideal is youth, not the mellowness resulting from the aging process.

The enemy is change.  Collectors do not want their objects or the collecting market of which they are a part to change.  The only change collectors are willing to accept is positive.  The objects in their collections must never lose their luster or importance.  Collectors’ perspectives are clouded because their eyeglasses are rose colored.

One finding of the AARP study runs counter to my trade experiences.  The study found that “the older you get, the less likely you are to believe that age commands deference…”  I grew up in a “respect your elders” era.  My aunts and uncles were granted a commanding presence and deference based solely on the fact they were older than me.   I had trouble with the fact that my aunts, uncles, and older people in general did not treat me as an equal when I became an adult.  It was not until the “don’t trust anyone over the age of 30” generation that the “respect your elders” discriminatory barrier was breeched.

In terms of collecting, the old/age respect barrier remains.  Collectors value the knowledge gained over decades in the field.  As they become older, they see themselves as the experts, possessors of a knowledge base that neophytes might someday obtain if they spend enough time at the feet of the masters.  They demand respect and are miffed when it is denied. The same applies to the objects that they collect.  Objects deserve veneration.  Those who do not hold them in the same esteem as collectors are fools.

The antiques and collectibles trade sells dreams and stories.  It is caught up in and enamored with those dreams and stories.  Collecting is an anti-aging device.  It keeps the collector forever young.  Ultimately, the collector’s immortality matches that of the objects that he/she owns.

Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet.  Check out www.harryrinker.com.

You can listen and participate in WHATCHA GOT?, Harry’s antiques and collectibles radio call-in show, on Sunday mornings between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM Eastern Time.  If you cannot find it on a station in your area, WHATCHA GOT? streams live and is archived on the Internet at www.gcnlive.com.

SELL, KEEP OR TOSS?  HOW TO DOWNSIZE A HOME, SETTLE AN ESTATE, AND APPRAISE PERSONAL PROPERTY (House of Collectibles, an imprint of the Random House Information Group, $17.99), Harry’s latest book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via www.harryrinker.com.