CLICK ABOVE TO PLAY MUSIC
Music – “The Collector” from The Collector by Maurice Jarre. From the 1965 movie “The Collector”
Although the official count of my cookbook collection on July 14th, 2013 was 2,970 for the Guinness World Record for Cookbooks, the collection, as my readers will know, has grown substantially and this past week, I passed the 5,000 mark. Over the past couple of years, I have heard comments about the collection including “Why?”, “Really?”, “OK”, “Whatever”, “That’s weird”, “Strange”, “Huh?”, “Are you kidding?”, etc. So, what do 5,000 books look like? Take a gander:
A fabulous 5,000 book sculpture in Madrid, Spain, by artist Alicia Martin, called “Biografies” (Photo Credit: http://www.pixgrove.blogspot.com)
5,000 Books Pour Out Of A Building (also by Spanish artist Alicia Martin) (Photo Credit: http://www.9bytz.com)
Remember the shows in the 1980’s with the “domino effect”? Well, there’s another idea for what to do with 5,000 books. The most books toppled in a domino fashion is 5,318 and was achieved by United Biscuits (UK) in Old Windsor, Berkshire, UK, on 28 January 2015. The toppling of the books lasted 2 min 27 sec. Have a look at the video by clicking on the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWUPA-xUsFo
Still have 5,000 books? Here’s some more ideas:
Build a house with your 5,000 books! This is in the Gallery of Modern Art, Oxford. (Photo Credit: http://www.4yourmdhomes.wordpress.com)
Here’s another idea of what to do with 5,000 books. This is inside the Prague Municipal Library (Photo Credit: http://www.shutterstock.com)
“The Great Hall” of cookbooks in my residence.
More cookbooks in “The Annex”
Still more cookbooks
Supposedly, the “KOBO” electronic device can hold up to 30,000 e-books! (Photo Credit: http://www.twistthewayiseethings.com)
Mike Stilkey painting on about 5,000 books! (Photo Credit: http://www.demilked.com)
Now, it occurred to me that there are a whole heck of a lot of “strange” collections that abound, other than cookbooks (what’s so strange about cookbooks?) Sure enough, I was right. Everything from ABC gum (for the uninitiated “already been chewed”) to belly button lint to moist towelettes. If you thought collecting cookbooks was strange, look at the likes of these collectors!
This gentleman has 5,000 salt shakers (Photo Credit: http://www.christinacooke.com)
6,000 bottles of hot sauce (Vic Clinco)
6,025 Barbie Dolls (Bettina Dorfman)
What about 5,000 Winnie-the-Pooh and friends collectibles? (Deb Hoffmann) (Photo Credit: http://www.worldrecordacademy.com)
6,290 “barf” bags (Niek Vermeulen)
7,000 unique banana stickers (Becky Martz)
8,650 different water bottle labels (Lorenzo Pescini)
10,000 different milk bottles (Paul Luke, former milkman)
Why not collect ducks? Here’s about 5,000 to get you started (Photo Credit: http://www.nathancheeley.com)
11,111 “Do Not Disturb” signs (Jean-Francois Vernetti)
19,571 erasers (Petra Engels)
55,000 dresses (Paul Brockman) (for his wife!)
Paul Brockman collected 55,000 dresses for his wife! That’s one big closet!
and the topper:
125,866 different napkins (Martina Schellenberg)
So, whether it be cookbooks, Barbie Dolls, or Barf Bags, if its’ out there, someone will collect it. Even belly button lint is fair game (really – someone has already got the title for it!) Go for it! Start a collection and join me in madness.
