I always blame the depression babies for being hoarders. In my life, the only ones I’ve known were mostly the folks who were born in and around 1929, and experienced the depression and have been unable to let go of things. Newspapers, magazines, old clothing, china, glassware, etc., sits around in various piles or on shelving and litters the internal landscape. It is not understandable to the rest of us who have dealt with these items as they were used up.
I will admit that these people kept many of our repair people going for years, and that today we have gone over to the other side, and our repair industry has dried up. Few people repair shoes or clothing and our shoe repair shops and tailors have gone away. Technology has improved to the point that we no longer have the TV repair guy on the corner. Things are replaced, not repaired, and there seems to be a direct correlation between hoarders and repair needs. As we lose depression babies over time, we have lost industries.
In the sixties, I had next door neighbors who were not a depression babies, but who were hoarders, and in a good way.
They had an unnatural fear of supermarket strikes. There was once, I guess, a strike at a local supermarket and it inconvenienced them for a week or two. In order to overcompensate for any possible labor action, they chose to develop a larder, a very large shelved room full of supermarket items, so there would be no concern if a strike occurred.
We lived in Baltimore, Maryland, not a small town. There were hundreds of food buying locations and many opportunities to purchase food, but they solved their particular phobia by stocking up. Rather than complain about it, or call them to task over such an unusual action, we savored their unique qualities.
We never had to go out and get anything! If we forgot anything at the store, or if we needed an ingredient, we just called over and picked it up.
We restocked the shelves as soon as possible, but it was kind of like living next door to a 7-11, without the traffic.
I will admit that these people kept many of our repair people going for years, and that today we have gone over to the other side, and our repair industry has dried up. Few people repair shoes or clothing and our shoe repair shops and tailors have gone away. Technology has improved to the point that we no longer have the TV repair guy on the corner. Things are replaced, not repaired, and there seems to be a direct correlation between hoarders and repair needs. As we lose depression babies over time, we have lost industries.
In the sixties, I had next door neighbors who were not a depression babies, but who were hoarders, and in a good way.
They had an unnatural fear of supermarket strikes. There was once, I guess, a strike at a local supermarket and it inconvenienced them for a week or two. In order to overcompensate for any possible labor action, they chose to develop a larder, a very large shelved room full of supermarket items, so there would be no concern if a strike occurred.
We lived in Baltimore, Maryland, not a small town. There were hundreds of food buying locations and many opportunities to purchase food, but they solved their particular phobia by stocking up. Rather than complain about it, or call them to task over such an unusual action, we savored their unique qualities.
We never had to go out and get anything! If we forgot anything at the store, or if we needed an ingredient, we just called over and picked it up.
We restocked the shelves as soon as possible, but it was kind of like living next door to a 7-11, without the traffic.
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