The Collyer Brothers' Harlem Brownstone in 1947
When does collecting cross the line into hoarding? The New York Times re-examines the story of brothers Homer and Langley Collyer. The brothers' bodies were discovered by police in 1947 — buried under trash and junk in their Harlem brownstone.
The exterior of the Collyer Brothers' Harlem Brownstone in 1947 — the day it was raided by police.
The Collyer's obsessive-compulsive collecting has inspired a previous book and play and the author E. L. Doctorow has a new book Homer & Langley that uses the truth as a stepping-off point for a fictionalized novel.
The New York Times has a story about the book, How Did They End Up That Way? and also features pictures of the author's home At Home With E. L. Doctorow | Writing About the Stuff of Legend.
(Images: The New York Times)
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Hell on Earth!
I have a 'hell room' where I close the door. It's where I keep my extra stuff. Now...I don't feel so bad after seeing this. This makes my room look spare by comparison!
And I used to think my sewing room was a mess...
i am quite intrigued by these guys, i think because my grandma is a hoarder. that's why i force myself to do a yearly purge of my house. it's not hereditary, is it??
technically only one brother was actually buried under the stuff. and that was a booby trap they'd rigged themselves that he sprang. the other was hard to get to, but he died of starvation after his brother was crushed.
Sick and fascinating. The wikipedia article is rather good:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collyer_brothers
"The New York Times on March 26, 1947 wrote:
There is, admittedly, something unattractive about the avidity with which society now pores over every detail the Collyer brothers vigorously withheld from public scrutiny... It is almost as though society were taking revenge upon the brothers for daring to cut the thread that binds man to his fellows."
wow. there goes my mother-in-law!
This saddens me. After watching a couple of shows about people who hoarde , I have nothing but sympathy for them. It is a problem that is becoming more and more common. People are so wrapped up in "stuff" and material things. I had a problem hoarding when I was younger and going through some difficulties in my life so I know how it feels. People need to realize having all this stuff will never make you truly happy. I know when I threw away all the junk, it was like I was liberated. Alas , with some it really is a mental problem and needs to be dealt with proffsionally.
oops professionally
Very scary stuff. Even scarier when I watch A&E's hoarders and recognize a few of my habits (grossly exaggerated, of course). A strange mix of clinging to the past and preparing for the worst.
scary and sad... I have an acquaintance who seems to have 'obsessive-compulsive disorder'.
He collects everything, especially plates and paintings from charity shops, the streets, etc... also he never disposes of dead batteries, hundres of them are displayed on the edge of every section of book cases, and newspapers from 5 years ago already occupy the livingroom and the couch. There were also several broken TVs on the floor... also he collects plastic milk cartons when finished... countless...sigh.
One day I was invited to that house by his wife and at the moment I walked in through the hall way, I got terrified - there was only the narrow way where people can slightly pass and dining chairs were the only place where we could sit and relax.
I thought they would need some help and at the same time, felt sympathy for the wife who seems to already have given up about what her husband has been doing and even doesn't seem to think it would be the problem.
My wife and I once looked at a one bedroom apartment in Manhattan, approx 800 sq ft., the guy living there had a bed and a table. He had fruit boxes stacked floor to ceiling filled with newspaper, with only a narrow passageway to navigate. The table and the bed were all covered with the boxes as well. I saw no other furniture. Only a path between the front door and the kitchen, and paths leading to the bed and bathroom. I could only guess that he moves boxes around to sleep at night. We then found an apartment in Brooklyn. Got married. Have kids. Now their clutter of toys is making me feel as I did before on that day.
See?
Clutter Kills!
I have to laugh. When I was a tween, my Dad would always say, "the Collyer brothers must have been here", when referring to my room!
Hmmm. Wondering if hoarding is a mental health issue confined to post-industrial age, Western culture. If you lived in a yurt, teepee, sod hut or the like would you also be prone to hoarding behavior?
Somalicat, there was a good post here about a MoMA installation by a Chinese artist that had the accumulation of material things as its theme. I don't think the issue is limited to Western culture.
I'm posting here basically because there was nowhere else that allowed me to say that I think that oversized fish on Martha Stewart's wall is laughably terrible ... If I walked into that room, I'm afraid I'd burst out into uncontrollable laughter.
Another misuse of the word "infamous"...it's surprising to see the NY Times make such a dumb mistake.