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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to spend £160 on a 'curiosity?'

109 replies

FrogInTheFog · 12/09/2023 21:30

I collect little antique bits and pieces - mainly jewellery, ring boxes and dolls house furniture, letters and postcards - interested in anything Georgian period through to about 1910

I've seen a diary that I'd love. It's from 1822 and contains hand written poems, newspaper clippings and personal drawings.

But it's £160 and more than I usually spend on this sort of thing. I can afford it I suppose but it just seems like a frivolous purchase tbh and I can't make my mind up if it's just a colossal waste of money or if I'd like to own it

It's hardly a practical or useful purchase

WWYD?

OP posts:
SatsumaNightmare · 13/09/2023 09:02

Wrong about what? Coming to the conclusion you want it? Er, okay. I was just trying to suggest you may want to grab it fast if you really do love it, that’s all. So much for trying to be helpful!

Original poster
FrogInTheFog · 13/09/2023 09:07

Wrong about this .... from your first post .... 'Cynical me would say you’re the seller and that was your plan'

You're wrong about that so of course I was just putting you straight Smile

OP posts:
BrawnWild · 13/09/2023 09:27

Depends on how long it will satisfy you. Are you the sort of person who will buy it, love it and perhaps not buy something for a few months or are you likely to buy it, obsess about it for a week and then find another must have piece

notlucreziaborgia · 13/09/2023 09:34

I think you’ll regret passing on it. I would definitely buy it, you know you’ll treasure it.

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 13/09/2023 09:53

I'd buy it. That's just 3 tanks of petrol!

You must have a very little car!!

I'd definitely buy it, OP. You've fallen in love with it, can afford it and will treasure it. It's not like you can wait a few months and then buy one if you still want to, as it's truly unique.

For Christmas last year, I got a needlework sampler from 1859 that I'd seen on eBay and asked for I may have bought it for myself. I find it fascinating, thinking about the little girl who made it and what kind of life she may have lived.

That, we can only hope, she grew up, had a lovely, full life - maybe had daughters and granddaughters who made their own samplers - and then, when her days came to an end and she quite probably expected her name to be forgotten before long, somebody living in 2023 can still know her name and treasure something precious that she made as a young child, all of those years ago.

I love old furniture, and imagining the service that it's seen over the generations in so many peoples' lives; but when you can actually see the proof of one of those people - their writings, their thoughts, their handiwork - that takes it to a whole new level of precious and of 're-living' history.

Buy it!!!

viques · 13/09/2023 09:55

Buy it because you will always regret it if you don’t. If you change your mind you can sell it on.

RhannionKPSS · 13/09/2023 10:02

Buy it! Enjoy it. You sound like just the person to give it its new home & please share with us what you find.

faban · 13/09/2023 10:06

I'm panicking that you'll dither too long and itl be sold. Would you be really upset? If so buy it!

ThinWomansBrain · 13/09/2023 10:09

You state that you can afford it, so why seek approval here?

It's not as if you could get it if you and your family go without food for a week.

Original poster
FrogInTheFog · 13/09/2023 10:29

@ThinWomansBrain it's called 'chatting on a forum'

Mumsnet would be pretty damn ghost town - ish if no one ever start a mundane chat!

OP posts:
Original poster
FrogInTheFog · 13/09/2023 10:31

@FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper ha! I filled up my car yesterday from more or less empty and it cost me £61 so three tanks isn't far off. Mind you, I drive a mini

So 3 tanks isn't a million miles away really!

The sampler sounds amazing. I have one from 1792 by 'Elizabeth' who was 9. It's a very religious / pious verse as I think a lot of them were back then

OP posts:
DuploTrain · 13/09/2023 10:31

I’ve definitely spent that much on clothes that I’ve never even worn over the years… so yes, buy it!

Neekoh · 13/09/2023 10:32

Haven't RTFT because it's too lovely and I need to say it right now, so forgove me if it's into Cancel the Cheque territory by now - definitely buy it! 😊😊

Original poster
FrogInTheFog · 13/09/2023 10:34

@BrawnWild ah now that's interesting what you say. It won't 'satisfy' me for long, no. I will love and cherish it and it'll
Have a nice spot in my err 'antiques' room (lol) but it's in my nature to then go onto the next thing.

Recently it was a Georgian rhodolite garnet cross which I managed to get for about 40 quid - so this is mainly where I like to have my price point!

OP posts:
Neekoh · 13/09/2023 10:35

Justifications: It isn't just another coat, where there will be a thousand other coats. It isn't something frivolous, it's a piece of history and you will be keeping it alive by owning it and loving it. People spend more than that on a night out or a mediocre meal.

willWillSmithsmith · 13/09/2023 10:37

How would you feel if someone else bought it before you? If you’d feel gutted then buy it. It sounds amazing.

willWillSmithsmith · 13/09/2023 10:43

I recently bought a beautiful cut glass half pint tankard in a charity shop. I pondered and pondered buying it as I don’t use beer tankards but it was so pretty. I did buy it as I hated the thought someone else would buy it and I’m so glad as I love it. It only cost £2 but I still dithered 😁 god knows what I’d be like with £160 but the idea of someone else buying the diary would be enough for me to get it.

Theraffarian · 13/09/2023 11:13

This has got me thinking about my own “curiosity” purchases and non purchases .

A set of 6 glorious sherry glasses which have iridescent like colours grace my home , but they were one of those things you pick up and hold tight to your chest as soon as you see them in the antique store , even though they had probably been there a year and no one else had fallen in love with them .

An antique poster that I fell for , but wasn’t convinced by its province, so it didn’t come back with me , however I did find one reproduction company that had the same picture and honestly I adore it for it’s weird quirkyness , the “original “ had some damage and I feel it was the image I fell for , not the oldness.

An item of furniture that I found on marketplace , and fulfilled my needs perfectly, it’s not classically beautiful, but so very functional with hidden compartments.

Obviously there’s more , I have a feeling if you have a quirky eye for oddments you are unlikely to stop at one thing ! I think my long drawn out point is , you definitely know if it’s supposed to come home with you .

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 13/09/2023 11:28

I wonder what precious possessions we all have now, which may be the beloved curiosities of history that are eagerly sought after by people who live in 2223?

I rather fear that the golden age of beautiful hand-written and hand-made records of individuals' lives is mainly passed, now that we use technology to communicate and store up our own personal life archives. Then again, I suppose that, if it's all online in the cloud, the actual words that we write can be safely preserved forever (as long as nobody loses the passwords!).

Rewis · 13/09/2023 12:13

Every purchase doesn't have to be a necessity. If you want it and can afford it, go for it!

ohdamnitjanet · 13/09/2023 12:17

Buy it, it’s lovely!
( Film script 😊)

PetiteNasturtium · 13/09/2023 12:56

I have a tiny little Victorian bottle that fits in the palm of my hand that I dug up at a bottle dump when I was really young. DH has his family bible that’s about 250 years old it has the name of every child born in the family added, it’s huge the sort you would have on a church lectern. They were not expensive but I have a set of apostle spoons, my Aunt used to have a set used only for high tea, I love them and they remind me of tiny cakes, silver tea sets and dust dancing in sunbeams in her rather grand dining room when I was a little girl.

I would buy something like that.

Beeinalily · 13/09/2023 14:30

Exactly as @Neekoh said. Sooner or later you'll have £160 again, but this purchase is a one off.

ChristmasFluff · 13/09/2023 15:21

I would 100 per cent get it, because I learned my lesson in 1993.

I was on a weekend break and saw a 5ft suit of armour for £50 in an antique. shop. It would have been perfect next to my fireplace. I ummed and ahhed about it for ages, but decided against it because it owuld have hurt a bit to pay that much.

I still think about that suit of armour about once every 6 months or so when something will remind me. Initially I thought about it at least once a week and so I vowed that next time I would buy 'the thing'!

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 13/09/2023 16:47

I remember once on Dickinson's Real Deal, a man had taken along an absolutely huge suit of armour - although iirc, he wanted several hundreds for it (maybe more).

He didn't strike a deal with the dealer and it didn't sell at auction, so it must have gone on quite a few van journeys before it went back to his home, presumably all paid for by ITV - I wonder if he/his wife just wanted to paint the room where it's stored and he deliberately did it to allow somebody to be able to get in and do the job whilst he was out with it Grin