Hobby or Mental Illness

[SpiceUmUp]

OK, so I think I have gone around the bend if ya know what I mean.

Ya see it started out with just one Dormeyer Silver Chef. I bought it off ebay because it was exactly like the one my mother used for most of my life to make her wonderful cookies and cakes. So it would be like a keepsake sort of thing right? Well then I bought a second one because, well, it was cheap.

I already had a 5 qt KA and I saw this Kenwood for sale on a closeout. So I bought that too. So now I had 4 stand mixers. I decided I really needed a bigger mixer so I bought a 6 qt KA. That made five, but it doesn't mean I am a bad person, right? I fell in love with the KA 3B and just had to have one so now I have two. I liked the 4C so now I have one of those.

So the tally at this point is:

1 KA Pro 6

1 KA UltraPower

2 KA 3B

1 KA 4C

1 Kenwood Chef 700

2 Dormeyer Silver Chef’s



I started to really like the design of the Sunbeam Mixmaster and decided to get a couple if I could. Well I am the lucky sort and pretty soon I had a few Mixmaster’s:

Well four to be precise:

1 SB Model 4J

1 SB Model 3

1 SB Model 7

1 SB model 10

Also during this period I found a 1950’s Kenwood Chef 701 in GREAT condition so I had to have it and that HB Model G was just calling to me:

So now I am beginning to think this is bordering on obsession but I figure it is harmless right?

SO If I count right, at this point I have 14 in house and I forgot to count the other HB, a brand new Eclectrics (a poor mans KA) so really 15.

I have on their way to me right now:

1 SB Model 3 with juicer, two original bowls, the original warranty letter, and catalog

1 Magic Maid with bowl

1 GE 3 beater 149B 3

If I am counting right, that makes 18 mixers.

SO my question here: is this a Hobby or a Mental Illness?

 

[texasgirl]

your LUCKY not crazy, to have all of that!

 

[pdswife]

sure hope you have a realllllly big kitchen.

 

[Andy M.]

Well, if you acknowledge that you reason for purchasing these mixers is because you want them as part of a stand mixer collection, then it's a hobby - especially if you never use them.

If you are buying all these mixers because you really NEED each one, seek professional help!

 

[Paint]

Hmmmmm, I have the same problem with watercolor paints, sketch books and journals....if I painted/wrote every day for the rest of my life I wouldn't be able to use them all up LOL

...Now I've started collecting cookware & tablecloths....

I class it as an obsessive-compulsive disorder

Paint.

 

[Robo410]

You are either a collector or taking a round-a-bout route to being a professional baker. But fear not, collectors I have known have litterally 100s of teakettles, or salt and pepper shakers, or whiskey bottles, or hubcaps, etc. I personally like saute pans, dutch ovens, antique books, and cds. Anyone for glass telephone pole insulators?

 

[AllenOK]

You are either a collector or taking a round-a-bout route to being a professional baker. But fear not, collectors I have known have litterally 100s of teakettles, or salt and pepper shakers, or whiskey bottles, or hubcaps, etc. I personally like saute pans, dutch ovens, antique books, and cds. Anyone for glass telephone pole insulators?

Do some searching on the internet. Some of those glass insulators, if they're OLD, and possibly marked with the name of the electric company, can be worth $$$.

You all think that's bad? I've invested a couple grand into electronic equipment and accessory gear to go and dig pennies out of parks.

 

[tootstl]

At least your collection doesn't take up too much space...somehow, I have developed a fetish for rocking chairs (fifteen at last count, but who's counting!)

 

[buckytom]

i sure hope you don't have any long tailed cats tootstl.

 

[SpiceUmUp]

I have come to realize that my wife is an enabler. While looking on Ebay this morning, she goaded me in to two more bids. sigh No wonder I love that woman!

 

[Constance]

I'm the same way about cookbooks., and ebay has lots of them! I recently got the new edition of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham. I was so impressed that I ordered another for my daughter, along with duplicates of my new Joy of Cooking and Julia Child's French Cooking for her as well.
I also have a 1940's Joy of Cooking that belonged to my great-grandma, and the 60's edition that I got when I was in high school. That, and the old Fannie Farmer taught me how to cook.
A friend who is moving gave me two of his cookbooks that I have coveted for a long time...Leone's Italian Cookbook, and The New York Times Cookbook.
My aunt worked in the Betty Crocker test kitchens and helped put together their first cookbook...I have her copy. My Grandma White's Amish Brethren Cookbook, with lots of hand-written notes, is wonderful to read. I even found a little homemade Mother's Day card inside that my daddy made for her when he was in the 4th grade.
And lots of others...

 

[Michael in FtW]

I just caught part of a show on the Food Network 2-3 nights ago about a guy like you .... likes to collect old mixers and blenders. Seems he found an old 1930's something Hobart KitchenAid ... and refurbished it. Someone at Hobart found out about it and they bought it from him (for an undisclosed amount) and it is now in their museum - seems they were missing that model.

 

[SpiceUmUp]

Someone at Hobart found out about it and they bought it from him (for an undisclosed amount) and it is now in their museum - seems they were missing that model.

The dream of every collector!

 

[Heat]

Your not mental!! I would class you as a collector!! Like me im a TIMER and SALT SHAKER collector!! I have many and yard sales is a great place to find em too!! Hahahahha So if your mental so am i!!!!

 

[mudbug]

hobby - no
mental illness - no
amiable addiction - yes

 

[Caine]

SO my question here: is this a Hobby or a Mental Illness?

If you had to ask, I think you already know the answer.

 

[Consul]

What is the act of collecting things but a mild form of obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Heck, to hear the new psychiatrists tell it, everyone has a mental illness of some kind. Some people out there even wear their so-called mental illness like a badge of honor.

That being said, I don't think you're crazy at all. Now, soldering together electronics parts to make audio gear for a home studio so I can make progressive rock records of my own? That's crazy.

 

[SpiceUmUp]

I just caught part of a show on the Food Network 2-3 nights ago about a guy like you .... likes to collect old mixers and blenders. Seems he found an old 1930's something Hobart KitchenAid ... and refurbished it. Someone at Hobart found out about it and they bought it from him (for an undisclosed amount) and it is now in their museum - seems they were missing that model.

Follow this link to thie site of the fellow that restored it: http://www.decodan.com/h5.htm

 

[auntdot]

We collect old menus, although they have been getting pretty pricey on Ebay recently.

Have a bil who collects figurines with accordions (I always have to look up whether that word is spelled with an 'a' or an 'o') and a sil (married to bil) who collects ashtrays.

Keeps us active on Ebay but makes birthday and Christmas buying fairly simple.

Why people collect the items they do, I have no idea.

The one advantage of collecting menus is that one can shove a whole lot of them into a drawer.

Good luck all!

 

[SpiceUmUp]

I also collect memoribila from the Selz Shoe Company of Chicago Ill. "Largest Maker of good shoes in the world" (family connection). So if you see anything interesting in that line, let me know!