My Dad was a rock hound, especially in his later years. After retirement, he went to the local (Norwalk CT) Community College and earned a 2 year degree in Geology and Archeology, which made us all proud. The basement in CT was his workshop and he tinkered down there endlessly, studying and setting up displays with cast off jewelry and watch cases from the discount store where he worked.
When Mom and Dad moved here in 1993, only part of his collection came with them. Imagine the moving company's surprise when box after box was filled with rocks! The rest of them were dumped under the side porch where the grape vines and the trash cans were. Never did trash cans have such a lofty and lovely perch!
Before Dad died in 2007, he was adamant that his collection go to someone who appreciated them, and not to a museum where they would just be boxed and stored in some dusty basement. Since then, we have been gifting specimens to friends and acquaintances alike, spreading his love of crystals far and wide. There are still a lot in Mom's basement, which we need to deal with, many more than he moved to Colorado with, since his collecting continued here with new places to go and minerals to be found. He loved nothing more than getting down in a hole and getting dirt under his fingernails!
With Mom moving to the apartment, I culled some of my favorites, since a sizeable collection should remain with the family. I purchased 3 shelves and put them up this weekend.
The perspective is off... all the shelves are the same length! Here are closeups of some of my favorites:
We have all Dad's original documentation as to the scientific description and location where each specimen was found. Priceless. We made many inquiries about selling the collection, but the consensus was that the value was mostly nostalgic, so what to do with rest? Mom's house will go on the market soon, and we are looking for a school or hobby organization who might enjoy and appreciate one man's collection and love of these minerals.
Ideas?
6 comments:
What about the college he went to? Would they be interested?
Crazy cool collection. I love that sort of things (I wanted to be a duel archeologist/paleintologist when I was little. The look on my first grade teacher's face when I told her that was priceless.)
I was going to suggest the same thing as Nalamienea there. My alma mater had a big crystal/rock collection donated by an alum, and it was a kind of awesome thing to have access to for us.
My other thought is maybe high schools, or a small town's museum instead of a bigger one, so they'd be guarenteed to get a display instead of be shoved away in a box.
Amazing collection. It's nice that you can have some on display. I'm sure you must think of him when you look at them. I really miss my dad.
Beautiful specimens. I love that photo of your dad studying his find. I hope you find a good home for his beloved collection.
What a great collection! It looks like such a nice tribute to your father.
You were blessed to have such a great Dad and to have such an amzing collection.
So much can be learned from the study of rocks.
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