KL: What’s up with all these knick-knacks?
TL: I don't know. I guess they’re just the things you kind of hang on to. Wherever you move, there they are.
KL: What age did your obsession with knick-knacks begin?
I was very young. I suppose it started with stuffed animals. I had Rambo Teddy Bear -- a stuffed bear and Toby Steeringwheel -- a stuffed rabbit. Before that I had binky -- a binky.
KL: Which are your favorites?
TL: The cast iron train and my little tiny train (The Lionelville Express)
TL: I don't know. I guess they’re just the things you kind of hang on to. Wherever you move, there they are.
KL: What age did your obsession with knick-knacks begin?
I was very young. I suppose it started with stuffed animals. I had Rambo Teddy Bear -- a stuffed bear and Toby Steeringwheel -- a stuffed rabbit. Before that I had binky -- a binky.
KL: Which are your favorites?
TL: The cast iron train and my little tiny train (The Lionelville Express)
KL: Do you know where they came from?
TL: Yeah, I know where all my knick-knacks come from. The Lionelville Express was a gift from my best friend and my girlfriend. They ordered it off of tv. It was attached to a giant alarm clock and [the train] actually went around. The alarm clock is long gone. But I've hung on to the little train.
KL: Why trains?
TL: I’ve always liked trains. Um… trains are great. I don’t know if there’s a real short answer to my train obsession. Omaha, the U.S.A., my family, the Great Plains, taking pictures of trains. They’re cool machines.
KL: Is it important to you that you are the first owner of your knick-knacks?
TL: I’m only the first owner of one of my knick-knacks. My Lionelville Express train.
KL: Let’s talk about some of your other knick-knacks. What are these? (Reaching to touch a piece of paper sticking out of a Alice in Wonderland toothpick holder.)
KL: What are they?
TL: Tweedledee and Tweedledum and Alice. They belonged to my grandmother. She had a lot of knick-knacks. I’ve had these since college but never really looked at them until now. They're kind of scary. I don’t think I want them anymore.
KL: Tell me about the big wooden bird.
TL: It’s really ugly and it was also my grandmother’s.
KL: How about the leprechaun bobblehead?
TL: I got it from a party hosted by Casey Piersma.
TL: Tweedledee and Tweedledum and Alice. They belonged to my grandmother. She had a lot of knick-knacks. I’ve had these since college but never really looked at them until now. They're kind of scary. I don’t think I want them anymore.
KL: Tell me about the big wooden bird.
TL: It’s really ugly and it was also my grandmother’s.
KL: How about the leprechaun bobblehead?
TL: I got it from a party hosted by Casey Piersma.
KL: How do you feel about other bobbleheads?
TL: I hate all of them.
KL: Any other thoughts about your collections?
TL: I’m not planning on doing any more collecting. I never really meant to have this collection. Some things you just don’t get rid of.
Interview by Karine Lewandowski
Photography by Tom Lewandowski
KL: Any other thoughts about your collections?
TL: I’m not planning on doing any more collecting. I never really meant to have this collection. Some things you just don’t get rid of.
Interview by Karine Lewandowski
2 comments:
Hi Tom & Karine, I enjoyed reading your blog on what seems to be your fading interest in knick knacks. I too have had a long interest in collecting tiny things. I used to go to antique stores with my mom in New York State and New England and stare into the glass cabinets. I was never allowed to hold anything being a small child. I guess that created a mystique about all those little things. Well now I am an old Mom of a toddler and boy is he spoiled. He loves trains, of course. I pick up one of those train clocks at a thrift store here in Berkeley, CA because it didn't have the train (I imagine the store lost it) so I was trying to find what it was supposed to look like if I come across it. Thanks so much for posting your great photos. I think I will go look to see if I had previously bought those at the same thrift store at a different time. Wait a minuet while I go look.... well if we do have them I couldn't find them after 20 minutes of looking. At least I have your photos as a reference. Should you ever come to Berkeley CA please come stay with us and bring your trains so we can have one reunion run. Best wishes and take care in Honduras. I hope you have a lot of positive experiences while you are there. I will have to check out the rest of your blog to see why you are there.
Adios
Alice@meta4.us
PS We'd love to send you some photos of my son and his train adventures.
Hi! You have the train for the Lionelville Alarm Clock? Is there any way you would consider parting with it? My grandfather had this clock and it was a special ritual for my son to play with it when we visited "Grandpa Great." When Grandpa passed away, my grandmother wanted my son to have the clock, and I packed it away in a box for him, where it's been since we moved a few years ago. On a trip down memory lane today, I opened the box to get the clock out for my son. The clock is there, but no train. We've searched everywhere for it. It makes me very sad to have misplaced this keepsake.
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