Connecting with the Past: Businesspeople build collections

They all connect with the past through collecting memorabilia.

The National Association of Collectors estimates that 200 million people are collectors in some form, though most may not realize it.

The Association of Collecting Clubs lists some 4,000 clubs in its directory, and countless other groups are not listed.

Buying gifts for active collectors may be as simple as finding just the right pieces to add to their collections.

Nothing runs like a Deere

For Bill Kristek, senior vice president at Village Bank, John Deere is a reminder of childhood – Kristek grew up on a 120-acre farm in Barry County.

After military service, Kristek went into insurance and later into banking, but his interest in John Deere never waned.

“I had invested throughout the years,” Kristek said of his collection, which numbers more than 100 items. “I have alarm clocks, a gold pocket watch, playing cards, dominoes, placemats, A- and B-model John Deere collectors items.”

Kristek said he’s spent about $1,000 on his collection, as many items have been gifts. His collection also includes lamps, a lunchbox, wall clocks, wool socks, leather gloves and an unopened can of original John Deere paint.

Kristek said the items remind him of a simpler time.

“Until I was 16, I didn’t know there was anything except milking the cows twice a day and riding the John Deere tractor,” he said. “That’s life in Barry County – the land of milk and honey.”

Earth-moving memorabilia

John Griesemer, vice president of Springfield Underground, said his collection of scale-model earth-moving equipment began with his father and grandfather in the early days of the family business.

“It used to be that every time our company purchased a piece of Caterpillar equipment, the salesman would give my father or grandfather a model replica,” Griesemer said. “ … My father would pass them to myself or my brother.”

While the salespeople eventually stopped giving out the scale models due to the expense, Griesemer decided to continue the collection during a job interview with Caterpillar at the company’s Peoria, Ill., headquarters while he was in college.

“In Peoria, I visited the Cat store and bought a few more pieces,” he said. “I’ve kept it up since then. I only have about 50 – it’s not an extensive collection, and it’s not complete by any stretch.”

While his collection has since expanded to models of equipment from other companies, Griesemer said Caterpillar still holds personal value.

“It’s a little bit sentimental for me – some of the original pieces I have came from my father, who passed away 15 years ago,” he said. “It’s probably just a lifelong fascination with heavy equipment, and since I can’t have the real thing in my office, this is the next best thing.”

A collection of Coke

Susie Wolfe, proprietor of Sweet Susie’s Sweets and Merle’s Hot Dog Emporium in downtown Springfield, has been collecting Coca-Cola memorabilia for 30 years. Her collection now includes more than 1,000 pieces, including numerous wall signs and a billiard-parlor-style lamp.

“I honestly don’t know how I got started,” she said. “I just grew up drinking Coca-Cola, and now I have a lot of neat items that you’d have seen then.”

Her friends and family have caught on to her collection. She said that Coca-Cola bric-a-brac is now standard gift fare for birthdays and holidays. Gifts aside, Wolfe estimates that she’s probably spent between $15,000 and $20,000 on her Coca-Cola items.

“We have a Christmas tree that’s entirely Coke, and our whole house is decorated that way,” Wolfe said, though she noted that most of the items are currently packed away during remodeling. “We decided not to grow old, to stay young at heart.”

The collecting bug has spilled into other areas as well – her restaurant is decorated entirely with items from her other collection: St. Louis Cardinals memorabilia.

Surveying the situation

Ryan Zweerink’s company, Ozark Laser Systems, began collecting antique surveying equipment as part of the business when customers would bring in outdated equipment to exchange for newer technology.

“Most of those pieces are from the 1950s,” he said. “Once in a while we get something from the early 20th century.”

Now, the collection, which includes measuring chains, levels, compasses and other equipment, reaches as far back as the late 1600s. Because most of the pieces were trade-ins, Zweerink said it’s hard to put a dollar amount on the collection, but he said the historical value is significant.

“We have some early colonial pieces that perhaps would have surveyed the original 13 colonies, and they move on through into the rectangular survey system that went into place after the Louisiana Purchase,” Zweerink said. “These are the instruments that laid out Missouri and America, all the way back to colonial days.”[[In-content Ad]]