There are three basic things that people need to survive food, shelter, and, clothing. How we choose to fulfill those needs gives others in our communities clues about who we are. But contributor Gianofer Fields says it's the stuff we don't need, the non essentials, that tell the bigger story. She paid a visit to the home of Madisonian and avid toy collector David Pouncey.
"Once I had two or three of them, then you can't just have two or three. So then I just start looking around for them, and it just grows and sometimes it gets out of hand," says Pouncey.
Although his collection is formidable in size, Pouncey has no trouble parting with some of his objects if it brings other people joy. And the joy of toys and the remembrance of how they make people feel is what drives his collection.
"I don't think it's a compulsion. It's just something that makes me happy, something that makes me smile when I see them," says Pouncey.
Gianofer Fields studies material culture at UW-Madison and is the curator of "It's a Material World" - a project funded by the Chipstone Foundation, a decorative arts foundation whose mission is preserving and interpreting their collection, as well as stimulating research and education in the decorative arts.
Original air date: 03/01/14
