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Why would anyone devote their life to collecting cuckoo clocks?

Stamps, coins and sea shells - the list of things that humans collect is endless. Why do people do it? Mike Williams talks to an eclectic group of collectors to try and find out.

Stamps, coins, sea shells, wine - the list of things that humans collect is endless. But why do people do it? What does a collection of inanimate objects bring to our lives that other things do not? Are people attracted by the thrill of the chase, the pleasure of possession or the control in acting as the custodian of precious things?

Mike Williams talks to an eclectic group of collectors in search of some answers. Roman and Maz Piekarski have spent the last 50 years building up a collection of some of the world's finest cuckoo clocks. When Lisa Courtney was bullied as a child she gained comfort in building her collection of Pokemon toys.Seventeen-year-old Tushar Lakhanpal started his pencil collection at the age of three and when David Fulton sold his business to Microsoft in the 90s his new found wealth allowed him to pursue and acquire one of the finest collections of rare instruments ever assembled.

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12 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Tue 1 Sep 2015 12:04
  • Sat 3 Apr 2021 21:45
  • Mon 7 Jun 2021 14:45