On The Silly Side by Jimmy Del Ponte

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

When you look around your house do you see clutter? Is your home starting to look like an indoor yard sale? I recently purchased a beautiful original watercolor painting of the Rosebud Diner in Davis Square. It cost me just $12 dollars but the point is that it was the last thing I needed to buy. My house is like a museum already.

In my den there is a piano, a framed front page of the Record American declaring the Red Sox as pennant winners from 1967, an old restored arm chair, a coffee table, an overstuffed bookcase, a smaller bookcase packed with small collectibles (junk) and a pot belly stove. There are also various boxes of assorted bric-a-brac, books and old newspapers. That’s just one room. The stove came from an old drawbridge in Gloucester. I had to have it and believe you me, it cost a lot more than 12 bucks. Like The Cars said… “just what I needed.”

The old railroad spittoon I bought in an antique shop in New Hampshire also falls into that category. My son picked up an antique railroad lantern at a yard sale for five bucks. It is worth at least 35-50 bucks. He gave it to me as a birthday gift. He is following in my footsteps as a junk collector.

I got the Rosebud sketch at a train and collectible toy show at the Shriner’s Auditorium in Woburn. I paid seven bucks admission to see tons of old Matchbox cars, Tonka Toys, Lionel and American Flyer train sets and railroad memorabilia. I knew that I far surpassed my limit for purchasing antiques, old things, theme items and “junque” in general. I also simply ran out of space to house it all. Plus, I don’t have the luxury of a disposable income that allows me to blow cash on every old and interesting piece I come across.

My son and I are seriously considering starting an antique business because we accumulated so many pieces. It may be time to sell off some of it. (Then we can afford to buy more!) It’s somewhat of a sickness, and an obsession but we are hooked on old stuff. My vintage Somerville collection has been displayed in the window of Wedgewood Crane and Connolly on College Ave. The collection includes old postcards, embossed milk bottles from Somerville dairy farms, and even a coat check tag from the old Jumbo Lounge in Teele Square.

Those hoarding shows on TV are scary, especially if you’re someone who has trouble throwing things away. I have lived in the same house in Somerville since 1961. That’s a long time to be collecting and housing things. Let’s look down the cellar. As you come down the stairs we see the kitchen table that my parents bought when they got married in 1951. Right next to it is part of their bed frame. My parents are long gone but not their relics. In a corner is part of my sisters’ wooden doll crib. Close by is a New Kid’s on the Block footlocker packed with my daughter’s stuff.

My boys are teenagers but there are at least three huge plastic containers filled with their toys. We are filthy with Elmos. I will never throw these things away because of sentimental reasons. I feel like I would be throwing away a memory. But I will consider selling some of the things down there.

I got the antique dealer bug when I made my first profit on one of my old items. Eight years ago I bought a Secret Sam Spy case made by Topper. It was a plastic case with a collapsible rifle, and plastic bullets, a periscope that could see around corners, and a camera that could take pictures from inside the case. It cost $6.88 brand new in 1965, and I had one when I was a kid. I bought another one on eBay for $250 in 2006. In 2010 I sold it for $821. I was blown away and also hooked on selling old stuff. Now I want to sell off more of the antiques that have been piling up. In the kid’s old playroom I had a shelf with a groove installed that runs the length of the walls and ceiling. That’s where my collectible plates of the Beatles, Elvis, the Three Stooges, Sinatra, and the Honeymooners are gathering dust. Here are some of my other prized “collectibles.” Two original Beatles 45’s of I Want To Hold Your Hand, an old Tonka truck, a Mattel Fanner Fifty cowboy pistol, an iron Squirrel nutcracker that my parents got as a wedding gift, an old Nintendo game, a Honeymooners lunchbox, autographed pictures of Paul McCartney, Jackie Gleason, Bruno Sammartino, and Jimmy Piersall.

Maybe it’s time to launch DelPonte and Sons, Antique Dealers. We are running out of space! We are what is known as “pickers.“ Just this morning I picked up an old heavy wrought iron floor lamp that someone had put on the curb.

I enjoy doing silly shows on Somerville Cable, but I do not want to end up on an episode of Hoarders. On Sunday I took the gang to the Flea market at the armory. I was proud of myself because I only spend two dollars on a pair of sunglasses for my son.