(Second of two parts)
When Debbie Reynolds began collecting costumes worn in films by Hollywood greats more than four decades ago, she had no inkling she would be making a fortune out of those pieces in time ($4.6M on Marilyn Monroe’s subway dress!).
I myself began a collection of stills from local movies. It was never meant to be a financial investment either. When I was with the Film Academy of the Philippines, I had access to those colored stills that were coming in weekly and those were merely gathering dust in some cabinets in the office.
I saw the need to compile these 8 x 10 photos for records purposes and would select two to three stills per week to take home (now that I look back, that was pilferage!). I arranged those stills neatly in a drawer in my room and checked that growing pile from time to time.
When the house was renovated, it was decided that the two balconies would be enclosed since those areas were hardly used anyway. I converted one into my own library and kept my film books there along with my collection of still photos, clippings of my column and some half dozen uncollected trophies from the Gawad Urian (courtesy of the no-shows during the awards presentations).
But as I got busier, I began neglecting the still photos until to my horror one day, I discovered that these got stuck against each other (must have been moisture). There went my collection.
Then in 1994, the late Chat Silayan and husband Mike Bailon visited me at my house and saw the uncollected Urian trophies that I was keeping for posterity. Suddenly, she asked me if she could donate to the collection her Miss Universe third runner-up trophy. She had become a renewed Catholic that time and must have wanted to renounce the beauty queen phase of her life since her religious community considered that to be worldly.
When I told Ali Sotto about Chat’s suggestion, she also volunteered to turn over to me the ring bearer pillow used in the wedding of Sharon Cuneta and Gabby Concepcion. How did it end up with her? Obviously, she was at the wedding and in the melee (that event was a riot — Sharon herself will tell you) somebody must have handed the pillow to her for safekeeping.
While doing spring-cleaning in her former Tahanan Village home one time, she discovered that it was still with her, tucked away in some corner of her house. Ten years had passed since then and Sharon and Gabby had long separated. For sure neither of them wanted that piece of a reminder from a broken marriage.
Did I want it? Ali asked me — actually urging me to keep it since she didn’t even want that item in her house in the first place.
With two showbiz mementoes as starting pieces, I thought — why not begin my own showbiz memorabilia?
In the end, I decided to perish the idea. My US immigration visa had been approved by then and I made plans to relocate to America. At that point, I didn’t even know what to do with my own possessions.
I jokingly told Chat that the only Miss Universe memento I would take from her was her cash prize, which I assume she must have already spent by then. As for the Sharon-Gabby pillow, I never got back to Ali regarding that — although I doubt if it is still with her. She had changed residences many times over after that and everything she owned were shipped abroad at least twice since then.
Neither are the Urian trophies still with me. To save on production cost, I had those recycled (the trophy-maker only had to change the metal plate on the wooden base). The clippings I also lost. Those were what fattened up the termites in the house.
However, I haven’t totally given up on the idea of collecting items. I will start with family memorabilia. I come from the Franciscos of Bulacan. We may not be from illustrious beginnings, but I’m still bent on preserving family possessions.
I recently had a talk with my cousin Cristeta F. Cruz-Raymundo and I asked her if I could have some of the religious artifacts in the original Francisco home in the province. Somebody butted in during the conversation and said that those must already be expensive antiques.
I said no — considering the fact that those are mostly post-war relics. We’re lucky if we’d be able to sell those at P700 apiece. Those are valuable — but only to the family. Those are worth keeping still, however, and I volunteer to help preserve the family mementoes.
This is what we can do as individuals — collect old items from the family. But make a promise in your heart that you are not going to sell these pieces in the future. Not you. Not your descendants. Make sure of that or that would trigger a war of greed within the family.
The trick there is to give it to the family member who will care for the items. And don’t just store these in bodegas. Use the pieces. If those are santos, put those in the altar. If those are pieces of furniture, use those for everyday purposes. Just be careful with fine china.
Let’s preserve our heritage and learn from the past. This will guide us in our voyage to the future.