Kitsch


		Robin Hardy Online

Readers of His Strange Ways deserve to know that Paul's visit to the Old Book Shoppe was something of a wish fulfillment for Robin: she loves kitsch, has collected too much of it, and is proud that most of it was acquired second-hand. Although none of it is valuable, it all means something to Robin. She explains below.

(5-4-08) See more kitsch below.




		"Much of my kitsch is kitchen-related, because it evokes memories of my mother. This is my papier-mâché cat tray. I would never put anything on it, of course."




		"Here is one set of antlers. I have only five displays of animal bones on my walls, and my daughter said, 'No more.' I don't understand the problem; we live in Texas."




	"Here my Texas obsession merges seamlessly with my Christmas obsession. Yes, that is barbed wire decorated with a Santa, a cow, and a horseshoe. Yes, it stays on the wall year-round." Right: "More Christmas kitsch: a heavy metal and glass candleholder with cherub."




	"Blog readers are acquainted with my frames addiction. Above are Frodo and Ginger." Right: "Man-in-the-moon mirror watches over the little sleeper."



		"No kitsch collection is complete without a toilet-paper holder. The graceful ivy holder above is genuine metal of some kind, not plastic!"






		"This little guy by Katherine's Collection was a happy find. I was so taken with his face that I made him a character in an upcoming Lystra book."


	5-4-08 update: Since moving to a home in the country a few months ago, Robin has deployed more kitsch from storage. Actually, some of the items below are not technically kitsch, being modestly valuable or significant. But we include it all here for entertainment and tax-deduction purposes.

Above: "At last, all the books that had been languishing in boxes in the garage come out to the light of day and occasional use. (Yes, that is the painting for the original cover of Chataine's Guardian at top left waiting to be hung on the wall.) At right on my second-childhood bookcase are the books that are too old and fragile for the common shelves. I scanned the cover of one of these, a 1796 edition of William Dodd's Reflections on Death, for the cover of an upcoming Sammy book. On the bottom shelf are the Westford Press books."

Right: "My son Glenn's corner with his gold and silver medals won at a high school state swim meet. Navy memorabilia will be displayed whenever he sends it."

Above: "More horns I was able to hang unobtrusively over a doorway. When I bought these at Goodwill, an antiques dealer actually tried to take them out of my basket."

posted March 12, 2007; updated May 4, 2008






			Left: "The painting my crazy artist aunt gave me when I contracted measles as a young child. I don't know if it's any good artistically; no one else likes it besides me. But it's so much a part of my personal history--even adorned with my own childish doodles--that it seemed to require its own place of honor."