What Becomes of Your Collection?

[rick]

Was over on The Motown Forum and someone brought up the following topic --

" Does anyone have any instruction on what's to happen with your memorabilia after you're gone? "


Here is my response to the question:

" It's a good question. To be honest, I don't think anyone I know would care about them. One of my best friends died in the early 1990s and he had quite a record collection. Unfortunately I was in the hospital at the time and was in no shape to collect them and someone just gave them to a library. I wish that his records had gone to one of our L.A. local radio stations that plays more rare material. Something I will have to put more thought into now that you bring it up. Any suggestions people have are most welcome. Thank you. "

[RobGNYC]

Mine is going to the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts. I’ve been impressed with how they handled and acknowledged past small donations that I’ve made. They’ll know what to do. Also, I expect that the Library will be around after I’m not.

[PoP80]

Feb 28, 2024 7:54:13 GMT -5 RobGNYC said:

Mine is going to the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts. I’ve been impressed with how they handled and acknowledged past small donations that I’ve made. They’ll know what to do. Also, I expect that the Library will be around after I’m not.

Rob, LPA takes record collections? I never thought about donating my collection there. What other types of items do they take?

[RobGNYC]

Yes, I’ve donated LPs to them, they were very appreciative and the Curator sent a very nice thank-you letter. Probably best to ask them what they accept but as far as I know, they consider all forms of performance-related material (print and audio). My contact was Kevin Parks, Curator, American Music & Recorded Sound. [e-mail]. I’m not sure of the scope of “American Music” here—I donated some Prokofiev albums with a Bulgarian pianist but on a US label. There may be a separate division for strictly non-US material.

[beatle]

Sue and I spent the last year or so setting up the family trust and the will. Other than the house the only things of value are my Beatles and Linda collections. We knew that the kids (in thier 30's) aren't big Linda fans so there was little interest in that collection. It's too bad because it is a good one that I spent decades building...... I wish my Beatles collection was as vast as that one but I can't afford it. I am happy about what I have of theirs so far! The kids like the Beatles a lot but said they could care less about the collection, with one exception. My only concern is that they at least work with one of my dealer friends so it doesn't wind up on our front yard for a buck apiece! It's sad but it's true that when the time comes one finds out what their stuff is worth! So in the end my son only wants our guitars. My daughter only wants the 2 butcher covers framed on the wall...
Rich

[rick]

Over on The Motown Forum, people who have Supremes/Diana Ross and The Supremes/Diana Ross pieces (including wardrobe) just asked the question: "Do you think someday a Supremes Museum will open?"

And that got me to wondering if, perhaps in Tucson, a museum dedicated to Linda Ronstadt might happen someday. Just a thought.

[eddiejinnj]

It seems that younger generations are more and more minimalists re: having stuff around. Decors are very bare compared to our and our parents' generation. It might be a good thing in some respects but us collectors sometimes have a hard time wrapping our heads around it. My step-daughter does love things more than the average younger bear, lol, as she has grown up with the master collectors (her Dad and I).

eddiejinfl

[erik]

I'll probably donate most of my collection of CD's to my local libraries, especially the Classical ones (which number in the hundreds by now). The ones of Linda's I will donate to people who are interested in her career.

[Partridge]

I don't know of anyone who would appreciate my stuff. I had a younger cousin who asked me to leave him my comic book collection and my LPs. I gave him a few items he wanted but he has already left this world.

I have given away most of my LPs to enthusiasts since vinyl has made a comeback. I did have some remorse at getting rid of most of my Kinks albums from the 1960s. I have every Skeeter Davis LP on vinyl (no one cares, not even me), most every Ronstadt title on vinyl, every Ronstadt CD. People do want my Ronstadt LPs but I'm not ready to part with them yet. I did give away to a teenage cousin a promo copy of Greatest Hits II.

I suppose the items I have that might be wanted by an organization would be the gold record for Blue Bayou, the platinum album for TRIO presented to Linda Ronstadt, the NARM award for having the best-selling LP by a female artist. And a few other RIAA platinum albums presented to people in the industry.