"When Harold Carr's nephews and nieces inherited a dusty old lock-up garage from their eccentric uncle their expectations were low. But when they opened the doors of the car collector's Tyneside [England] garage they discovered what may prove to be a life-changing inheritance."^* Inside they found a rare 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante. Having sat hidden, gathering dust for over 50 years, the classic car -- of which only 17 were built -- goes up for auction by Bonhams at the Retromobile auto show in Paris on February 7, 2009. [more inside]
posted by ericb on Jan 2, 2009 - 44 comments

From the dryly professional US National Fire Protection Agency (who write the US national electrical code among other things), to the 1998-ish web stylings of The 911 Site portal page, there's a lot of fire/firefighter related content on the web. [more inside]
posted by rmd1023 on Jun 27, 2008 - 8 comments

POSSESSED is a short documentary film that 'enters the complicated worlds of four hoarders; people whose lives are dominated by their relationship to possessions'.
posted by jack_mo on Mar 7, 2008 - 44 comments

Children of Hoarders: unpacking family secrets.
posted by Falconetti on Sep 1, 2006 - 43 comments

Death (?) of a Small-Press Legend The link points to a page dedicated to Bill-Dale Marcinko, one-time gonzo Rutgers University newspaper editor, small press publisher and a character it seems no one who knew could ever stop thinking about. Marcinko, who had been supporting himself selling CDs on eBay, apparently died in a house fire when firemen were held back by cardboard boxes full of his collections. Still, he did fake his death several times before. His friends, most of whom haven't spoken to him in years, are hoping this is just a more elaborate prank. Clifford Meth's tribute page celebrates Bill-Dale and his work, including AFTA zine, described as perhaps "the first comics 'zine distributed to book and comic shops that combined comedy, politics and reviews on books, films, and comics. It was very much an underground version of Crawdaddy, though with vastly personal content." (via Mike Appelstein, a contributor to the Rutgers Livingston Medium)
posted by Scram on Dec 9, 2005 - 1 comment

These are a few of my favorite things: We've spoken previously of Disposophobia, crazy eBay moms, and all things Collyer--to that end, here's a support group and an enterprising company specializing in Clutter Management and Disposophobia, with lots and lots of before, during, and after pictures, some of which may not be safe for viewing while eating.
posted by fandango_matt on Dec 2, 2004 - 11 comments

"My mother is insane. Like, one of those ladies-you-see-on-the-local-news insane. Since it's inevitably going to come up I'll get out of the way that I am too, but at least I take a full dose of my medication... Anyway, let's take a tour of our house."
posted by tranquileye on Feb 8, 2004 - 75 comments

Squalor Survivors Is your house messy?
posted by konolia on Jan 22, 2004 - 29 comments

Examining the Roots of Hoarding - A "mini-collyer" is saved from his junk hoard. As for the real Collyers, "The bizarre collection of objects included 14 grand pianos, two organs, and a clavichord; human medical specimens preserved in a glass jars; the chassis of a Model-T Ford; a library of thousands of medical and engineering books; an armory of weapons; the top of a carriage; 6 U.S. flags and one Union Jack; a primitive X-Ray machine" - Langley was crushed to death by his own garbage boobytrap, leaving blind, helpless Hiram to die trapped in their junk packed labyrinth of a mansion. Accused of living like the Collyer Brothers? - Here's a photo (NYT, reg. req.).
posted by troutfishing on Dec 31, 2003 - 19 comments