February 12, 2025

Hood Ornaments, Coca-Cola Signs, and More

Serious collectors don’t always collect valuable things. These unusual collections from around the world showcase personal obsessions rather than valuable pieces.

Most collectors choose relatively common items like stamps, coins, or trading cards, but not everyone is in it to compete with the rest of the crowd. For some, starting a new collection has little to do with monetary value and everything to do with personal satisfaction.

Now, let’s look at some of the strangest collectible items in today’s world.

1. Unusual Hood Ornaments

The Marvin Tamaroff Mascot Collection contains almost 700 rare hood ornaments. Before you rush off to the Mercedes Benz car lot, recall that the purpose of the collection is to showcase unusual ornaments.

It would be difficult for the average collector to compete with this impressive assemblage housed by the Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) museum. It contains not just ordinary ornaments but also specialty mascots mounted by famous people.

2. McDonald’s Memorabilia

Mike Fountaine has developed a reputation as the world’s most serious McDonald’s lover. He doesn’t restrict himself to just one item, though. He has collected over 75,000 branded hats, toys, containers, and other objects.

Fountaine’s collection, on display in his Pennsylvania home, contains 1,200 cups, 20,000 pins, and nine statues. He’s been working on the collection since he was 15 years old and working at a McDonald’s in Rockville, Maryland.

3. Fortune Cookie Messages

On August 1, 2019, Kris L. Duke entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the person with the most unique fortune cookie messages. All of the 4,350 messages then in his collection were initially intended for him, not derived from other people’s meals.

Duke has been collecting fortunes for over 20 years. While he may not have any better idea of what lies in store than the average person, it’s clear his future contains many more messages.

4. Ingested Objects

Currently held in the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia is a formerly private collection of inedible objects ingested by humans. Some were eaten, while others were inhaled. They were all removed by a laryngologist named Chevalier Quixote Jackson throughout a 75-year career.

Jackson removed most of the objects from people’s throats, esophagi, and lungs. The collection includes buttons, nails, screws, small toys, padlocks, poker chips, crucifixes, and even a miniature trumpet.

5. Bricks

A man in France has collected over 400 different types of bricks in his garage. While he is one of dozens of such collectors in France, and it’s unclear whether he has the largest collection in the world, Christian Marsaud stands out for a second reason: his knowledge of the collection.

The 400 bricks cover an entire wall, and he knows the origin of every one of the small clay blocks. With the help of the wall, Marsaud can reconstruct a good deal of the history of recent building techniques, making him one of the most interesting and prolific brick collectors.