The Collector
Do you have a handringer torch? It works manually.
Do you have a handringer torch?
Let's see if this store has one.
Do you have a handringer torch? Where is the owner?
-Do you mean a rechargeable torch?
- No, a handringer torch, you squeeze it like this.
The good thing about handringer torches is that they work without batteries.
It would be great if I could buy two so that I could put one in the collection.
My interest in the collectible objects goes back to my childhood.
Whenever I saw something small or interesting, I would keep it.
For example, when my father bought lots of tomatoes to make tomato paste,
I would choose the nice and small ones and hide them in a drawer.
Soon they would rot and my mom would get very angry at me.
As I grew older, this interest got wider and wider.
I still keep some of the items from my childhood. For example, in those days
there used to be pencils from Japan, and fountain pens from Europe,
such as Waterman, Mont Blanc. I still keep them.
- These pen can make trigonometric calculations.
-How?
- Is it OK if I pay one million for three of these?
- No, those good old days are over, that was before the crisis.
- You use the crisis as an excuse for everything.
- Don't complain to us, complain to the ones who caused the crisis.
Here I am mostly interested in electrical items,
Both for my own use and for collecting purposes.
Let's see if he has a hook.
-How can I help you?
-Do you have a hook? No?
- Do you have a voltmeter? - For measuring? No, we don't.
Here is a chess clock.
When you play chess, you stop the time by pushing this button.
I don't have one, either for my personal use, or for the collection.
I would like to at least have one.
This guy has interesting things. He has microscopes, for example.
He fits so much stuff in this little store.
I have a passion for collecting almost everything.
When I see something interesting,
I have an irresistible desire to get it and put it in my collection.
My interest in something depends on various criteria.
Extraordinary things or things that I have never seen before interests me.
Two watches in one,
one shows the local time and the other shows the time in England.
I have never seen that before. How much is it?
-7.5 million.
Sometimes I buy two of each item, one I use, the other I keep for my collection.
Actually I needed to buy one today, but I couldn't. Oh well...
I bought this one to use, but maybe I'll put it in the collection.
Before I put electronic watches in the collection, I monitor them..
..for a few months to see how they work.
When I buy a watch I always make a label including its color, model,
..the date of purchase.
Months later, after the control period, I add to this label, information about..
..how many minutes it goes fast or slow, or if it works perfectly,
then I remove the batteries and put the watch in the collection.
You can't keep batteries in the collection because they would leak in time.
This watch works perfectly, that's the kind of watch I want.
I started to study medicine in Istanbul University just to please my father,
but I had always wanted to be an engineer.
So I passed the exams and got scholarship from the Turkish State,
..I went to USA and studied at Stanford University.
I continued my collection there as well.
I came back home with 17 suitcases, all full.
I gather my collection items by chance.
I don't make plans to buy specific items to enrich my collection.
Everyday I leave home around 11:30.
I go and walk around Beyazıt, Mercan, Tahtakale or Yusufpaşa.
The reason I go to these places is to find some interesting objects,
..so mainly for collection reasons.
If I am missing a newspaper or a magazine from a specific day,
I go to the headquarters of this magazine.
Sometimes it is difficult to reach these places, I lose a lot of time.
Unfortunately I couldn't find anymore,
it was very difficult to enrich my tap collection.
I would love to have some of these old taps. They don't exist anymore.
There are a lot of books I'm looking for but you can't find old books anymore.
For example, the first edition of a dictionary,
..from the Ottoman times called Lugat-ı Naci.
- Do you have Lugat-ı Naci? No? Let's ask here.
-Seyfi, do you have Lugat-ı Naci?
My strong will to make collection is not limited in terms of subject.
But of course there are some limitations,
such as physical limitations due to lack of space.
I like big objects very much, but I don't have a place to put them,
so I have to keep them out of the collection.
This is a torch that works without batteries.
I call it a handringer torch. It works like this.
I always keep it there so that when the power goes out,
I can look for some candles around here with it.
I have been collecting newspapers since 1950's. I lost some of them.
I probably have the full collection of sixty different magazines.
I generally try to buy two of each newspaper or magazine,
..if possible more than two.
I read one of the copies and clip the articles that I find important and..
..keep them in files in my news clippings collection.
And I keep the second copy without being cut or damaged.
Most of the time I buy two of each book as well, if they are not very expensive,
because they get dirty when you read them.
I learned something from this newspaper collection:
When you pile up newspapers, you can reach only a certain height.
Just one newspaper exceeding this level will cause the pile to collapse.
You cannot reach the ceiling, it is not possible.
I calculated this height once, it is a bit more than one, but less than two meters.
If I had to make a choice among my collections, I would choose the books.
I have about 30 to 40 thousand books in my living room.
But now I can't use them, I can't enter the living room. It's such a pity!
This is my main problem, I can't make use of my collections,
..because they are all hidden behind other things.
I have to reach them. I don't have many years left.
I have to see them before I die.
I need to take these away.
The institution where I donate them to should preserve them as newspapers.
I refuse to give them away if they will be used for recycling purposes.
This would be very disturbing for me.
I bought two of each. I used one, but these have not been used.
One day, a very good friend of mine asked for a piece from my collection.
He had a little son. I asked him "Would you give your son to me?"
He was very surprised at my question.
Then I told him that my collection is like my child, I can't be apart from it.
My newspaper collection occupies my house totally,
..so, I need to give them away.
It will be very difficult for me to do that, but it is necessary.
Because it's getting impossible to live there.
I have very strange interests such as collections.
My newspaper collection occupies the whole house.
I can't give up this interest, but it has become impossible to live there.
I don't have a storehouse either.
My nephews insisted that I give it somewhere where it will be useful.
I have been considering donating the newspapers to your university,
for a long time, if you are interested.
For now, I can give you my newspapers but not the books,
because I am using them myself. I have a lot of books.
We should find a place to categorize the newspapers in two groups,
the ones I can give away and the ones I cannot.
I cannot give all of them away at once.
Later on I may need something in them and I would regret it.
I don't use anything from my collection in my daily life,
except the lighters since I need to empty their gas.
Collection items go automatically to the collection.
But if I need something to use, then I buy two of that.
For example let's say I liked a shirt.
Then I buy one to use and one for the collection.
- We ate this famous kebab in Antakya, they prepare it with big knives.
-They don't use machines but knives.
- Have a good day. - Thank you.
A watch collection for example, whatever you can think of.
But of course small items.
- If you started your collection years ago..
..you would need a big place to keep them.
The newspapers and magazines have made the house impossible to live in.
I talked to the university rector and I will donate them to university.
- I hope they will appreciate their value. - Later on I will give my books as well.
There are so many articles that interest me in these newspapers.
If I send them away, these articles will be away from me.
For a while I collected old gold coins.
It's a very difficult and expensive interest.
I kept couple of Tsar and Austrian gold coins.
- It must be worth a fortune! - Yes, I suppose so.
I'm looking for a coin, maybe you would know where I can find it.
It is an old Venetian coin with an almond shape on it.
-I don't know exactly.
-I don't have that one in my collection.
- Is that the only thing you are missing in your collection?
- No, there is a lot that's missing, but this is especially important for me,
..it reminds me of my childhood.
-Nice to meet you.
No matter how much I need money, I'd never think of selling my collections.
Maybe if I desperately needed money for health reasons,
then I might think of selling them.
But it would be very difficult for me,
since I have an emotional attachment to some of them.
Years ago I bought some $20 American gold coins.
They weighed about 20 grams each, big coins.
The date printed on them was the same as my birth date.
They are worth much more than their face value.
I never thought about the monetary value of my collections.
I never bothered to calculate that.
Because I didn't make my collections in order to sell them.
-American, printed in 1862, $100.
- Your prices are very high, we cannot buy anymore.
-It's all because of devaluation.
- What does this have to do with devaluation!
- We used to sell it for 15 dollars, now it's still $15.
- What do antiques have to do with devaluation!
I have a silver coin in my collection. It's actually a Byzantine coin.
The Seljuks had found a great number of Byzantine coins somewhere.
They had printed their own stamp on the reverse side of the coins.
So one side stayed Byzantine, the other Seljuk.
I like this coin, it's a small one.
But where is it now?
I suppose it should be around here, under these piles somewhere.
Before the earthquake, this hall was not full like it is today.
I didn't know how I would change this bulb if it went out.
I couldn't put a ladder or anything.
But after the earthquake these newspapers filled this area and now..
..I can easily reach and change it. So the earthquake helped me in that sense.
What would I do if someone threw a stone at my window and broke it?
How could I have it repaired? I couldn't fix it from inside or outside.
Rain and everything would get inside.
What would I do if one of the radiators broke and started leaking water?
These are all possible dangers I have to live with unless I empty the house.
But, what can I do?
The lottery was drawn today. I wonder if I won anything. If I win,
..I'll buy another house and turn this one to a place where it is possible to live.
I need a second house.
I wish I had two houses next to each other.
I could use one for my collections to reach and organize them
and have some space to walk around, and use the other house for living.
Our people are the ones who have the least interest in collections.
I collect thematic lottery tickets, the ones which didn't win anything.
I could explain this to only one person. The rest find it strange.
They say "We don't keep them".
"But why, you get these tickets back why can't you keep them for me?
When I come to buy new tickets you can give the old ones to me." I say.
Only one helps me.
- I'll leave the old tickets for you here. - Thank you very much.
-Would you like to buy one from me?
- I've already bought one this week. OK, let me get another one.
- Where do you generally work? - I sell on the ferries.
- Have you ever won anything from the lottery?
-No, unfortunately.
- Have a nice day. - You too.
A good collector concentrates on one, two or three or four subjects.
But me, I make the collection of everything and it gets too disorganized.
For example, the skeleton of a fish.
Who would think of making a collection of fish skeleton?
I would.
I have some at home. I cut the fish open very carefully,
separate its skeleton, dry it and then put it in the collection.
I can't make the collection of very expensive things, even if I'd like to.
I can't afford them.
I have to limit my collection for financial reasons, not because of my own will.
Let's stop by the rosary seller.
Let me ask if he has the rosaries called Shah Maksud.
I buy these rosaries for my collection. I don't use rosaries myself.
I may also give one as a gift to someone I like.
- Let's agree on 6 million for these two. OK?
- Which ones? - These two.
- It makes 6.5 - 6 million is enough.
- Three plus four, it makes 7 actually. - 6 million is enough.
- But isn't it too little for these? - No, I cannot pay more than 6 million.
- OK I'll make 6.5 for you. - No, sorry, I can't give you more than 6.
-OK, OK, as you wish.
- Do you have Shah Maksud rosaries? - No, we don't.
- I see you have Shah Maksud rosaries now.
You told me once that when the beads arrive you would make the rosaries.
Can I see them?
- We have dark green ones as well, but I haven't got them ready yet.
- What is this one there? - The same.
- Its beads seem to be bigger. - Let's see.
- Oh, it's the same, it looks bigger. - They are actually a little bit bigger.
Very nice, but too expensive. 33 million.
Here is the Shah Maksud rosary, with 99 beads.
I bought it from the Grand Bazaar.
It was expensive, but I couldn't resist and finally bought it.
It is very nice. The beads get bigger as they approach the middle.
I wonder who this is.
Hello?
Hi.
Yes, I see, I see.
The hassle in Istanbul never ends.
No, like what?
I bought some stuff, but it's not that interesting.
Monoscope, I'll see if I can find one somewhere.
I used to have one, but not anymore.
Yes, there are surplus stores in USA. You can find everything there.
Why do you prefer a mono?
I see... like a telescope.
Of course I'd want one, but it would probably be too expensive for me.
OK, see you later, bye.
I wish I hadn't been obliged to be a civil servant.
My wish was to do research. Maybe I could have invented something.
I would have liked to invent both material and abstract things,
..not just material.
I would have liked to make theories.
The transistor, for example, I wish I had been the one who invented that.
I married twice.
Both of them, after long years, ended in divorce;
..the first one after 10 years, the second one after 20.
I was a collector in those times too.
During my first marriage, my collection was not at a very disturbing level.
I say "disturbing" because it would disturb anyone who was not a collector.
My second wife was very unhappy about it. It wasn't as much as it is today,
..but by that time it was already quite a large amount.
You might say that I should marry a collector like myself.
Collectors understand each other, that's true,
..but I don't think that their views about the collections would be in line.
There would be a disagreement at some point for sure.
Now, it would be very difficult to choose between marriage and my collections.
If I met someone I really loved and wanted to marry,
..I would probably try to find a way to have both.
I couldn't give up either of them.
I would try to find a small house with a garden..
..where I could keep my collections, and live there with her..
..even though it would be less comfortable than an apartment.
I am tired of these pigeons, they make a mess on the balcony.
I run them off but they come back again.
I use this stick to run them off.
I have a lot of kitchen utensils on the balcony.
-4.5 million.
Next time I come to this store, I will buy a set of each.
For my collection,
..kitchen utensils collection.
In this collection I have everything you can think of, but small things.
For example a pressure cooker, but a small pressure cooker.
Good afternoon, I have a little request from you.
- Yes? - You put labels on the bread, don't you?
-Yes.
- Can you give me a couple of these labels?
- OK, but what are you going to do with them?
-My child makes a collection of them.
- Bring some labels for him, they are upstairs.
The man probably didn't really understand why I asked for the labels..
..since he is not the type of man who appreciates collections.
Generally people think that collectors are eccentric people.
This man also probably says to himself,
.."he is an eccentric man collecting bread labels."
When I have lunch in a restaurant, I peel off the labels from the bread.
Labels are very good collection items. Brands are important,
..I wish I could gather all the labels from bananas, oranges, etc.
Since small items can easily be lost, I stick them to a piece of paper.
Uzunmustafa Bread, I wonder where I got this from.
These are the labels from shirts and jackets.
I keep them here to make them flat.
I dry soap out before I put it in the collection.
When they become hard the letters on them don't get destroyed.
I bought these glasses just for their ugliness,
..just as a sample,
they're so ugly.
They are for far-sightedness.
This one has a label here, the label I wrote.
It's for short-sightedness.
It has a gold colored steel frame,
..brown ear rims,
..minus 2 dioptri.
I bought it in June 2000,
..for 1.5 million liras.
It's important to write down some information about each collection item,
such as what it is, when and why it was bought, the price.
Because I would forget otherwise.
The most important information is the date, of course.
This for example, is a silver envelope opener.
Oh! It is not a rosary, it's an envelope opener.
It was bought in '99.
This is a diary, I bought it when I went to USA.
I keep it because there are so many important dates for me in there.
My first marriage with Joyce, February 29th, 1956;
Doris Day's birthday, I was a great fan of hers;
Tolga's circumcision ceremony,
9 pm, Saturday, Erenköy,
Kaşaneler Street, No: 3/4,
August 14th, 1976.
Here there are some personal notes about my health.
I wrote them down not to forget.
I have the notes of all the illnesses I have had since my childhood.
Here I made a list of people who died in 1986,
..since many people I knew died that year.
For example Müfit Imsir,
Muharrem Nuri Birgi, a consul I didn't like..
..who used to be in my boss in Belgium and Paris.
Also my barber in Antakya, Ibrahim Çiftçi, died that year.
One of the aims of a collector is to act as a bridge..
..between yesterday and tomorrow.
He leaves some evidence for the next generations..
..to make connections with the past.
Because people have very poor memories.
Most of the people don't value the past or the future,
..they just care about today.
But a collection carries yesterday and tomorrow within itself.
Let's imagine that I stopped collecting forty years ago.
Then there wouldn't be any continuity or bond.
This bond is not something I am passionately attached to,
..but it is important for me to leave something behind.
To be honest, I cannot claim that this is the aim behind my collections.
Being a bridge between yesterday and tomorrow,
..is not the overriding idea for me.
I see collections as a hobby, not as a mission.
Making collections is a sickness without a cure.
Years ago, I tried to give it up.
I could quit smoking for a while, but I could never quit collecting.
This kind of collection doesn't allow one to lead a good life, of course.
You can't adopt a way of living contrary to it.
So my life is directed by it in a way,
..because I simply can't give it up. I live almost like its slave.
We can call this a "voluntary submission", or even a "mandatory submission".
But the worst thing is, I don't really feel like fighting against it.
I know it is necessary, I need to find a solution.
But, I just let it take its course.
I don't want to keep them, but I haven't been able to decide yet.
I couldn't just throw them away.
These are empty gas containers, I use them in my little stove.
For now I just keep them here, maybe one day I'll throw them away.
Or I may keep one of each color, light blue, dark blue...
Here is a nice opener. Of course it is from the collection.
But now, we need to use it.
Oh well, this much won't hurt.
Especially because I don't have any children,
..of course there won't be any trace of me left after I die.
But maybe, my collections can be a way..
..of leaving something behind for others to remember me.
There are very few collectors in the world.
Of course I'd like to have a child or a grandchild,
..but since I know that it is few, I never let myself be carried away with the dream..
..that he or she would be a collector and continue my collections.
Because I know that real collectors are quite rare.
I can't think of what is going to happen to my collections after I die.
Whatever happens, it's beyond me.
Even though things that I wouldn't like very much may happen,
I can't do anything about it then.
Collections are a way of clinging to life.
Since I love collecting and it is a part of my life,
..the continuity of my collections and the continuity of my life..
..are directly related to each other.
If I were not a collector, I probably wouldn't care much about life.
What would I be attached to if I didn't have my collections?
Now let me try to imagine my house empty...
It would probably be a very dull place.