Cuddly Collectibles

Scouring flea markets, classifieds, and the Web for companion animals that don’t need feedin’

By Greg Presto


Pet lovers do a pretty good job accumulating stuff: a new collar here, a new litterbox there, a couple scratching posts, a squeaky toy shaped like Elmo, an admittedly regrettable pair of plush antlers with dangling bells, and on and on. But for some devotees—namely those who still have space after storing legions of leashes—their fancy for all things furry has spurred a collecting bug, one that celebrates their love of animals in a unique and shelf-filling way.

Stumbling into starting

Barbara Hays just wanted a nice figurine.

“My husband and I were looking through a newspaper in 1967 and saw a photo of a Greyhound figurine by Albany Company of England,” the Texan says. “I thought it was a real Greyhound standing there. We went crazy over the quality and bought it. It kind of took off from there.”

That purchase has turned into a 40-year obsession for Hays and husband David. The antique-dealing pair has gone from acquiring one realistic-looking pooch to now owning a nine-estate collection of memorabilia housed in “the world’s largest dog museum,” Antiquibles, their shop just north of Waco, Texas.

Lots of collectors have a similar eureka moment as the Hayses, realizing they like a certain something and just want more of it. Others like Claire McLean, the founder and director of the Presidential Pet Museum, find that particular items spur a bug for sharing something more meaningful, like animal history.

“The collection started back in 1985, when I groomed President Reagan’s dog, Lucky,” McLean says. “I kept the hair, and my mom made a portrait of the dog from the hair.”

Her ability to acquire rare presidential pet memorabilia—even something as offbeat as hair—struck McLean as an opportunity to share the history of presidents and their pets with others. It led her to launch the Presidential Pet Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. The museum will move to Williamsburg, Virginia, in late 2007, where its various offbeat findings like a cowbell worn by Pauline Wayne Taft, the last cow to graze on the White House lawn and another hair statue—of George W. Bush’s Springer Spaniel, Spot—will be displayed in a new space.

Sniffing out new stuff

After you’ve figured out what kind of collection you’d like, there’s always, of course, eBay. But surfing on the Internet can take you away from finding new items through odd trades, off-the-wall publications, and on trips, as the Hayses have gone on to find various dog-related ephemera. But Barbara says that cool stuff is available everywhere. It’s not about where you’re looking, she says, but how hard.

“It was in a cubbyhole booth in a flea market in England,” she says of finding what she considers Antiquibles’ most interesting piece—a space heater shaped like a black Scottie. Her husband looked right past it. “That was like a triumphant thing. My husband always pretends he’s the one that finds everything.”

Once you’ve established a collection, things may start to come to you when you’re not looking. That’s been the case for Elaine Bloom, a Maplewood, New Jersey resident who’s got piles of all things penguins. Once word got around about her arctic obsession, it wasn’t long before her friends pitched in.

“Thank God I only got one DVD,” she jokes of the recent smash March of the Penguins. Bloom’s friends have blessed her with penguin socks, hats, calendars, and even a fondue set.

Picking the perfect piece

Of course, just because you can find something doesn’t mean it’s a no-brainer purchase. Most collectors say that not just any item will do in building a worthy and formidable collection.

“It’s got to be a really unusual item—something you wouldn’t normally think of a dog being,” Hays says. As the name Antiquibles suggests, the museum is mostly made of older items, but it’s got to be more than just aged. “It’s like being on a treasure find,” she says.

For Kasey Grier, a collector of paper pet memorabilia and professor of public history at the University of South Carolina, her favorite pieces are more than just trinkets. They tell a story about pet guardianship in the U.S.

“I think that my personal favorite piece is a Christmas stocking that was given to a black Lab puppy named Sinbad in 1948,” Grier says. “I struck up a conversation with the seller, who turned out to have been Sinbad’s [guardian], and she sent me a snapshot of her as a little girl with Sinbad the puppy on Christmas Eve before Santa came. I’m glad to be able to preserve the story as well as the object—that’s the most important thing of all to me.”

Even if it’s not a particularly rare or valuable item, it’s that quality—how special it is to the collector—that makes a good or favorite piece, Bloom says. “I love the fondue set, and can’t wait to use it,” she says of the item, which allows users to dip into cheese, chocolate, or other melty stuff inside the penguin’s open head. “I love the idea of eating out of a penguin’s brain.”

A collection of collectors

Whether it’s fellow antique dealers or obsessive pet lovers, many people share a love of collecting things, and it can be a great way to meet new people. Websites and web rings, for example, allow communities of collectors accruing everything from puppy salt and pepper shakers to novelty cow figurines, to come together to share photos trade tips on finding items, swap stories of great finds, and sometimes, exchange the items themselves. Non-online groups like the Veterinary Collectibles Community offer similar support.

“There is a community of collectors, though we are not part of any organization,” Grier says of other collectors of historical pet memorabilia. “I know they are out there because they have been outbidding me on eBay for years!”

The price is right

So exactly how much does a porcelain figurine of a Scottish Terrier fetch (so to speak)? Well, it depends on the buyer and how much she is willing to pay for it. But Barb Jedda McNab, executive director of the AKC Museum of the Dog in St. Louis says people will pay plenty. Animal shapes and motifs can be found on thimbles, ashtrays, lamps, ceramic planters, and even inkwells. According to Jedda McNab, these items are worth anywhere from $20 to $2,000 depending on their age, condition, where they were manufactured and the type of breed featured. Porcelain figurines, especially ones made in Germany, are particularly valuable. One of these items in mint condition from a company like Royal Dalton, Rosenthal, Boehm, or Nymphenburg can be worth anywhere from $200 to $7,000. Just make sure you keep it out of reach of your real pets! —JAH