The Hidden Treasure In Hobbies

Once upon a time, in a world far, far away, markets ruled the common folk. All sorts of markets, really – stocks, bonds, mutual funds, commodities – everything that sounded sinister and forbidden and adult-like. People would flock to them like lost sheep, wild and restless, searching for a light that would signal them back home. They were all obsessed with what they called “securities”, prices of which rose and fell, and with each high and low, bits of paper at first, and later, zippy electronic blips on computer screens, would be created. Each creative stroke led to more.

But beyond the pale of the ordinary lived a tiny group of people who pursued, collected, lost sleep-over and became wide-eyed about extraordinary things – film posters, wine bottles, sports memorabilia, railway engine models, coins, fountain pens and, in the case of a certain Tom Hanks, ye olde typewriters. Like knights on a quest, these ‘collectors’ longed to extend the scope of their treasures. For most, it was a life-long chase. Cut to this century, to Twenty21, when the Jedi are still coursing through the multiverse – no, universe would not suffice – searching the frontiers for their precious baubles. That micro-community still exists, and unusual things are still being pursued, often without a plausible reason, mostly for sheer love, or, in a few stray cases, for the value that they might generate over a stretch of time.

Read More