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PoindexterOglethorpe

(26,730 posts)
1. We could probably figure it out by looking at modern nomadic people.
Sat Feb 20, 2021, 03:18 PM
Feb 2021

Without a permanent residence of some kind,early humans would have been very limited in how much they could collect.

 

Chainfire

(17,757 posts)
4. Exactly, when you move from place to place, on foot, you carry the minimum.
Sat Feb 20, 2021, 03:48 PM
Feb 2021

It was probably with the beginning of agriculture and settling down that folks began to amass "treasures."

Sneederbunk

(15,167 posts)
2. Definitely. We did not become a throwaway society untl the 1960s.
Sat Feb 20, 2021, 03:20 PM
Feb 2021

Although, very few had stamp and coin collections.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(26,730 posts)
7. Throwaway society and collecting are two entirely different things.
Sat Feb 20, 2021, 07:21 PM
Feb 2021

Middle class Victorians amassed huge quantities of decorative things. They would cover every single surface with lots and lots of stuff.

Stamp collecting actually became a thing as soon as the very first stamps were issued, in 1847.

Just Google "photograph of Victorian parlor". Here's one example.

?v=1445219797

Marthe48

(19,114 posts)
8. Looks like my living room!
Tue Feb 23, 2021, 10:09 AM
Feb 2021

Except I have more
I read that the Victorians collected curios from their travels to display and talk about.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(26,730 posts)
10. Some of their things would have been curios from travels,
Tue Feb 23, 2021, 11:27 AM
Feb 2021

but a lot of other things were lace tablecloths, lots and lots of pictures, ceramic objects, and so on.

The picture I posted shows no where near the number of objects I've seen in other photos of Victorian parlors. It helped that they had servants to handle all the dusting.

SWBTATTReg

(24,178 posts)
3. Interesting question. I suspect that there have been studies done already on this,
Sat Feb 20, 2021, 03:29 PM
Feb 2021

e.g., when did humans settle down and start growing crops (have to stay in one spot basically), develop year round residences that would hold up over time, etc. I suspect rugs were one thing, as well as coverings of the tent structures/tee pees/etc., since these required so much overhead (remember, everything was literally done a manual basis). Unfortunately, weapons too, since one had to defend against those who didn't want to do the work themselves, and thus, take it from others.

Again, neat question.

Marthe48

(19,114 posts)
9. I was watching history documentaries all weekend
Tue Feb 23, 2021, 10:13 AM
Feb 2021

Lots of reference to trading and trading routes thousands of year B.C. and how wealthy some of the traders became. I started wondering where getting stuff left off personal adornment and started going to boxes and chests and so on. Or did people just trade and then trade somebody else for something else endlessly?



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