I suppose everyone has collected something at some point in their life. For instance, when I was in my younger days, I used to collect tickets stubs from concerts, and sporting events, especially if they were still fully intact and not torn by the ticket taker. At some point, I think I lost interest in collecting these things because a girl I liked raised an eyebrow at my collection, as if to suggest that it was weird. I didn’t think it was weird but I eventually abandoned it anyway.
I found a list of world records that somehow just makes me feel so normal all of a sudden…they are some pretty weird collections. Want to know how your collections measure up? Check these out…
1. Navel Fluff – Australian, Graham Barker has been collecting his own belly button lint since 1984, categorizing it by years in 4 jars. It all started when he wanted to find out how much fluff a person produces and how much it would take to fill a cushion. Barker plans to continue growing his collection, the largest in the world, until he’s no longer physically able to collect his own fluff.
2. Beer Steins – In Germany, farmer, Heinrich Kath, has the world’s largest collection of beer steins. Even though he doesn’t drink beer, Kath has over 20,000 steins since he started collecting in 1997.
3. Rubber Ducks – Valli Hammer has a collection of over 2,400 rubber ducks and no two look alike. She started collecting when she stumbled upon a few rubber ducks that belonged to her son, and from there her collection grew quickly.
4. Joker Playing Cards – The world’s largest collection of Joker playing cards belongs to Italian, Donato De Santis. After inheriting 2,000 cards from magician Fernando Riccardi, his collection has grown to over 8,500 jokers.
5. Airplane Sick Bags – Strange as it may seem, unique airsickness bags printed by different airlines have become highly sought-after collectors’ items in the age of the Internet and eBay. Holland’s Niek Vermeulen holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection, consisting of 5,468 different ones representing over a thousand different airlines. He uses photograph albums for storage.
6. Toothpaste – Dentist, Val Kolpakov, toothpaste is not something to be overlooked lightly. The American first learned about another toothpaste collector online in 2002 and was intrigued. Kalpakov started asking friends abroad to send him tubes of toothpaste from their respective countries and then scoured eBay. To date, Kolpakov has around 1,800 tubes of toothpaste and tooth powder, some donated by visitors to his website. He achieved his ultimate goal in 2010, being named Guinness Book of World Records holder for the largest toothpaste collection.
7. Celebrity Hair – If celebrity signatures and pictures aren’t good enough for you, what are you to do? John Reznikoff decided to start collecting celebrity hair instead. His collection includes celebrities who’ve been dead for many years already with Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe, as well as Edgar Allan Poe, and Abraham Lincoln. His collection is a part of Guinness Book World Records for being the largest and also the most valuable hair collection to date.
8. Banana Labels – To some banana labels are nothing but garbage, but to America Becky Martz, they’re special. Her collection of banana labels boasts over 10,000 labels She first became interested in banana stickers when she noticed an amusing one that read, “The Perfect Stocking Stuffer,” on a Chiquita banana. Since that incident around 1991, Martz has avidly been collecting banana labels from brands around the world.
So there you have it. Some strange collections from around the world.
Do you have a strange collection? If you do, please tell us about it. And if you have reached the point where your collection, strange or not, is encroaching on your personal space, then come visit Planet Storage!
We can help you store your collectibles and clear up that space around your home for you to enjoy!
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