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I'm looking for theories or just-so story on humans' desire to collect knick-knacks.
A house down the street was having an estate sale. I could tell it belonged to an elderly middle-class couple. The house was a monument to mediocrity. Granted, I got there on the second day, so the family and public had already taken the good stuff, but there wasn't exactly empty space anywhere. It wasn't hoarded, but there were thousands of figurines and collectibles. Some over-studious daughter or granddaughter had put a price tag on every single item. I was actually surprised that I wasn't tempted by a single thing.
Not an uncommon refrain, but this couple had spent a lifetime amassing stuff that no one really wanted. So my question is: why? Is there some misaligned wealth signaling going on? I have my own temptations. I like to buy tools, I want a library someday so I'll probably start amassing books, and I'll probably keep buying guns and end up with more of those three than I need, but I can think of use cases. Am I just rationalizing while I sneer at baseball cards, stamps, Funko Pops, and porcelain figurines?
What are the modern-day Precious Moments collections? Funko Pops?
Haven't thought about this at all, but here's some off-the-top theorizing:
In having a collection of nearly anything, you demonstrate a commitment to something in the past, present, and future and the ability to commit to and maintain the collection itself over time. I think it could be a sort of signalling mechanism for the ability to collection and manage resources without being as crass as "I gotta lotta money!" This would also explain why wealthier people tend to collect more expensive things (watches, cars, etc.). So it's a kind of wealth display sewn together with plausible deniability ("I just really like xyz thing!") ... so this would also explain, perhaps, why women collect more (do they? idk) and why they collect less ostentatious things - knick knacks, figurines.
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