I guess I'm just a born collector. As a child I started collecting coins. Eventually I got to where I could longer afford to buy what I wanted so I started collecting stamps. Then I had children of my own so I quickly got to where I could not buy the stamps I wanted. However, I figured if you live in Havre de Grace you better have some decoys. What started as, "I think I'll get a pair of mallards" has turned into a small collection of about 40 assorted decoys and a dozen shore birds. I need to stay away from the Decoy Festival!  Somewhere along the line started collecting covered dishes. Mostly the covers are chickens and many are Westmoreland. I think the thing that caught my eye was the number of colors, sizes, and different animals on the covers. Most recently I have been collecting items marked "Occupied Japan." This got started by going to a yard sale. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but happened to notice a small vase. My wife likes miniature items (one of her multiple collections) so I decided to spend the fifty cents and get it for her. As I paid the lady she mentioned that on the bottom of the vase it said Occupied Japan. That meant nothing to me so when I got home I looked it up on the Internet. To my surprise I had stumbled onto a whole new area of collecting. Well, my wife didn't get the vase and I now have over 100 widely assorted Occupied Japan items. Depending on who you ask, that was the best or the worst fifty cents I ever spent.

 
Thanks for sharing Jim!!