The fact that I like this guy’s plastic bag collection must mean I have hoarding inclinations.
I’ve always wanted to start a paper napkin collection.
The various embossed patterns, the range of thickness of the paper, the designs of the imprints. Paper napkins hold a range of variations that would make them fun to collect. Over the years napkins would change. Different cultures across the world would have different traditions with their paper napkins. Paris has wonderful paper napkins!
Plastic bags are kinda like paper napkins.
Both can have an imprinted logo, but not always. Both exist for utility value. Both are disposed of after use. Both have variable quality of materials. Some plastic bags are thick, some are incredibly thin.
I dare say collecting plastic bags is more renegade than paper napkins. With paper napkins, they are made of paper. People collect paper. Baseball cards are made of paper. Artwork is made on paper. Paper is collectible.
But plastic bags. Not really collectible.
Plastic bags are rather despised.
They ruin our environment, fill our landfills, clog our oceans. Everyone already has a collection of plastic bags. That every-growing bag filled with other bags. Stuck in your closet or under your sink. Eventually you either just throw them out, or you bring them to the grocery store to recycle them.
People pretty much hate plastic bags.
Here’s a guy who doesn’t hate plastic bags.
Eric G. Salmons of Pittsburgh likes vintage plastic bags so much that he collects them. How rad! Are there others?
A funny thing about googling: “plastic bag collection”, you don’t end up with people who collect plastic bags. Instead, the results are for organizations that collect the bags for recycling. Collect, as in pick up.
Oh my, that’s the exact opposite of what I’m searching. I want to find people who keep their plastic bags into a collection. Not people who recycle them. Granted, I’m all for recycling. But in this case I want to find the obscure people.
Imagine having vintage plastic bags from 1980s.
Having decades-old plastic bags would be a blast to the past. If you end up not wanting to hang onto this ancient bag of plastic, you can still use it! Walk around town with that Venture bag. That would be so sweet. Our man with the plastic bag collection, Eric G. Salmons, has a Venture bag in his collection! Check out this sweetness:
I have a plastic bag from Bonus, the discount grocery store in Iceland. Kind of proud of it. Remember when collecting matchbooks was a thing?
I need to see a pic of this Bónus bag!
I am not a plastic bag fan but have to admit it’s kind of cool to see a bag from Wards and Venture if only for nostalgic reasons.
Indeed! The nostalgia would be the reason why I would consider collecting. But I have enough stuff already. Hmmm, I wonder how one would store the plastic bags in a plastic bag collection. Would you store them in… a plastic bag? Hahaha. Seriously though. Maybe a collector would have 8.5×11 cardboard, and then wrap the plastic bag around the cardboard. Then slide that into a page protector. All the plastic bags could be viewed in a three-ring binder. OH MAN. THIS IS TEMPTING NOW!
I also collect plastic bags. Some of my oldest are from the 70s, and my collection now spans over 6500 different plastic bags from over 75 countries.