I can’t help being a collector. It started with a flat file of paper products and quickly escalated to cupboards brimming with tea cups, plates, and silverware.

The possession of something lost in time has always intrigued me, whether it was an out of print book, a tea cup without a saucer, or some other strange flea market flotsam and jetsam that finds its way onto the shores of my kitchen. One moment it’s lost under a sea of old TV Guides, and the next it’s plucked out and put on my shelf, ready to be admired.

Items like these are usually found by a combination of persistence and luck, but with a bit of research you can make the hunt a lot more effective.