A Collector's Tale

By

Roy Shadbolt

Introduction

As a life-long collector I have found that one is drawn to like-kind, and it is often an enjoyable part of our passion to share stories of our adventures in this life of collecting we share. 

As I am in my fifth decade it is hard to imagine that for over half a century the two constants in my life have been the love of arms and the desire to collect, neither being mutually exclusive.  For many of us, this ‘desire’ is more often a need, compulsion, obsession or perhaps even an addiction?  I think for many who are reading this we can all agree on one thing and that is that we are driven by some innate force to accumulate the things that inspire our passions and often to create some semblance of order with those things - in other words, ‘a collection’.

On occasion I have reflected on the many experiences I have had in this lifelong pursuit of collecting.  For the most part, I must say they have been overwhelmingly very positive and even those that were not were still valuable lessons, not just for collecting but often for life itself.  That in itself is a good reason for reflection.  There has been many an experience that now brings a smile to my face, often not for any specific reason other than it was one of many insignificant moments that in one way or another helped to define and shape a collection and occasionally one’s life.

Over the years I have shared some of my experiences and lessons with friends and fellow collectors and this has seeded many an interesting conversation in regards to our shared history as well as a sense that if I am a little crazy, then at least I am not alone!  So for no other reason than the desire to share, I have proverbially put pen to paper and written here some of my experiences, ideas and anecdotes related to my life thus far in regards my passion for collecting in general and knives specifically.

My First Collection

As I recall I got my first knife at around age five but I was a long way off from collecting knives.  I started to collect - or to be more correct - ‘accumulate’ knives in my early teens.  But my first ‘collection’ as I recall was around the age of six or seven.  I remember being fascinated (like most small boys) by all the ‘creepy-crawlies’ in our back garden in my home town of Shrewsbury in England.  The trouble was these bugs wouldn’t sit still, so the seed of an idea took hold and a plan was hatched.  I could collect specimens for my very own miniature zoo!  I very carefully cut out the front of a cereal box (likely Rice Krispies) and by cannibalizing a second, divided the first into separate compartments; perhaps about a dozen in all.  Armed with my ‘collector’s case’, some plastic wrap and sticky tape I hit the garden for my grand adventure.  Sure enough it wasn’t long before I had a different bug in each section and the clear plastic was quickly stretched and taped over the front so that I could see and enjoy all my efforts.  Voila!  My first collection..! 

Of course you don’t have to be an award-winning naturalist to realize that the mortality and/or escape rate was so severe my collection had all but withered or vanished within a day.  Fortunately for the wildlife in my area that was both the beginning and end of my zoological career.

Nevertheless, the thrill of the search, the excitement of finding specimens and the sense of achievement at creating a ‘collection’ was palpable and is a memory that has stayed with me to this day.  Throughout this life’s journey as I have created (thankfully, more meaningful) collections, those early feelings are as strong as ever and continue to bring me joy with each new treasure discovered.  That first memory of collecting is still vivid and perhaps a testament (albeit at those bugs expense) to the joys and rewards of collecting as a hobby, pastime and passion.

Political Correctness

Bugs aside, it wasn’t long before numbers of knives started to find their way into my life.  I suspect it was much less of an issue here in the ‘land of the free’ but in the green and pleasant land I called home (England), anyone with an interest in ‘weapons’ of any kind - even back in the 1970’s - was viewed with suspicion and often disdain.  Many years later as a respectable and responsible adult I recall having to constantly defend my interest in collecting knives.  I never shied away from my responsibility (as I saw it) to defend what I knew was an honorable pursuit.

I recall an interesting situation back in 1979 when I was just 15 years old.  It was the ‘International Year of the Child’ and our school was creating an event to celebrate this theme.  Pupils were invited to create a display of their hobby and all would be featured in the main school-hall for a public event.  Our local mayor was going to attend to open the event and as is the norm in such cases (politicians not wishing to miss a photo-op) the press were to be there too.  Needless to say I was quite excited by this prospect as by now I had quite a large assemblage of knives, bayonets and swords and couldn’t wait to bring all my treasures into school to proudly display my collection. 

Well, you know what’s coming next.  Despite my arguments to the contrary, it was deemed ‘inappropriate’ for a child to have such a collection let alone have them displayed in a public school.  As a result, I was denied from displaying my collection and told in no uncertain terms not to bring any such thing onto school property.

As annoyed as I was this did not preclude me from taking part in the event.  Time to pull out my backup collection.  As a dyed-in-the-wool collector, I had also found my way into collecting matchboxes.  Friends and family would bring them back for me from their travels, which had resulted in a respectable collection numbering a few hundred as I recall.  So I resolved to display my matchbox collection instead. 

You can see from the accompanying photograph that it was indeed none other than yours truly who was chosen to be photographed alongside the mayor and featured in the local newspaper.  Not a bad result at all, especially as there was a another pupil who had ten times as many matchboxes in his collection than I.  However as my display was already set up, I got the publicity instead (perhaps a life lesson in there?). 

As a side note, I ended up getting in quite a lot of trouble.  As you can see in the photograph I am wearing my military issue ‘wooly-pully’ (pullover).  This was part of my Army Cadet Forces (ACF) uniform.  My commanding officer, Captain Allan (a wonderful man now long gone,) had seen the newspaper article and I was summoned into his office for a dressing down for wearing part of the uniform , off duty as it were. 

Nevertheless, I was quite thrilled to have my matchbox collection chosen to represent the school and to be featured in the local press.  But I couldn’t help thinking how much better the picture would have looked resplendent with all my knives, bayonets and swords.

Collecting Versus Accumulating

By the time I was in my late teens, I recall my collecting focus was most distinctly on knives.  Over the years I had ‘accumulated’ a shoebox full of knives each one having really spoke to me in one way or another.  There was no rhyme or reason to my box of blades: they included both military and commercial, fixed blades and folders, old and new.  In fact the only commonality they shared  was that I really liked each and every one.

Back then I subscribed to a number of magazines like Airgun World and Guns Review (there being no such thing as a dedicated knife magazine in Britain).  I would avidly read them cover to cover.  I recall in particular one passage in an article - on what subject and by whom I have no recollection - but the passage itself changed significantly how I looked at my knives and collecting in general.  It subsequently steered me on a course of collecting which has profoundly influenced not only my passion for collecting, but also in many regards my life.  This piece of wisdom is one I have repeated often and shared with many collectors: 

“A group of items that have no significant connection to one another cannot be considered a collection but merely an ‘accumulation’ of things.  Whereas items that share something that intrinsically binds them together be it a period, country, conflict, maker, military/civilian unit or organization can create a ‘collection’ of historical significance”.

That last comment ‘historically significant’ set my imagination alight and helped me come to realize that with some thought and care it would be possible for anyone, even me, to create a collection that was indeed historically important.  At that young age, I had believed doing such a think was the exclusive preserve of ‘official’ establishments such as museums.  Of course I know now that it is not only possible but actually quite normal that private collectors are usually at the forefront of research and study of specific areas of history.  Their contributions are often immeasurable, though seldom fully acknowledged if at all.

It is this concept that has shaped my own collecting and which I have been eager to share with new collectors.  I have on occasion been contacted by a knife collector who has ‘accumulated’ a non-specific group of knives and who has come to an in-pass; they are not sure why their ‘collection’ has stalled.  My advice has always been the same.  Find a period, conflict, unit, maker or type of knife that really speaks to you, something that gets you excited and inspired, and focus your energy and collection in that direction.  It may not necessarily be a lifetimes pursuit, in fact like many of us it may lead you eventually to discover other passions or areas of study to follow.  But ultimately, directing your focus, creating a collection that you are knowledgeable about and one that you can enjoy and share will bring untold pleasure. 

Why We Collect

I have found that there are two kinds of people in this world - those who collect and those who do not.  As a youngster I never could quite understand why my friends did not collect.  Most youngsters my age back then were consumed by ‘footy’ (soccer).  Collecting just seemed so natural to me; the fascination of bringing together a group of items that were related in some way and putting them together or displaying them in some sort of orderly fashion was so, well, logical.  I’m sure there is a psychological term or even medical condition for this.  I can practically hear the advertising executives at the pharmaceutical companies wanting to create a new drug to help cure us of this newly diagnosed condition called Compulsive Collector’s Syndrome or CCS.  They do love their acronyms and not to mention tagging ‘syndrome’ onto just about anything that can help them to scare you into parting with your hard earned cash.  But my advice, lads and lasses?  Accept your syndrome with pride and spend your money on what you love and if there is anything left after taking your partner out for a slap-up dinner for two...then go and purchase another knife as one can never have too many!

Final Thoughts

I have always thought that the pursuit of life is about being a better version of yourself today than you were yesterday.  Collections and collectors are no different.  You strive for your collection to be better today than it was yesterday and the same should apply to us as collectors, too.  

As I look back on my first half-century of collecting and look forward to the next fifty years of doing the same, one thing that I know for certain is that the friendships I have made along the way have been priceless.  I count myself fortunate to have dear collector friends throughout the world - many I have known for years and many I have not yet met in person but hope to one day.  A finer group of ladies and gentlemen would be hard to imagine.  We, too, are a 'collection'; grouped together by our shared passion for history and historical items.  This is the common thread that we all share.

What a nice thought that, upon reflection, perhaps our life of collecting is also a path to something even more important - the collection of friends.  In addition to my evolving collection of historical knives and other arms, this is perhaps my most truly valuable 'collection'.

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