CURIOUS COLLECTIONS ON VIEW

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 6, 6 July 1935, Page 25

CURIOUS COLLECTIONS ON VIEW

Persons who have been accumulating inhibitions as a result of leisure time arising from the depression found opportunities for expression when the second annual Hobby Collectors Show opened in New York, says the "New York Times." More than 175 exhibits were on view throughout the week. There were hobbies to stimulate the most extreme individualists; rare and antique collections to interest the connoisseur, and not a few items to catch the' eye of itinerant dealers. A feature of the show was an exhibit that Charles de -Zemler, Rockefeller Centre barber, assembled from his extensive and costly collection of pictures, curios, and implements of the barber's trade that he has been gathering for more than twenty-five years. - The collection includes instruments and equipment dating from the twelfth century in Europe and from still more remote periods in Asia Minor. At an advance showing Mr. de Zemler donned a belt in which Persian barbers used to carry their entire "shop," and showed an old French mirror, a fifteenth century Italian slaving dish, a "mug" presented to George Washington, an Oriental razor, and a Persian hone. His collection is not confined to instruments. He displayed an assortment of books on the trade, including biographies of noted barbers and professional handbooks. The walls of his booth were lined with x paintings,

water-colours, engravings, and rare prints depicting various phases of the tonsorial routine. Other exhibits in the show, which was in the grand ballroom of the Hotel Pennsylvania, covered a wide variety of hobbies. An early inspection showed that glassware led the field in the actualt quantity of collectors 'items. At least six of the exhibits were devoted exclusively to rare and antique glass, and there were an equal number of displays of pottery and chinaware. An unusual exhibit was on.c devoted to "ant anatomy." Attendants at the booth were ready to answer virtually any question about the private and public life of the ant. There were pamphlets, statistics, diagrams, and ants themselves to support the authorities. And one was able to buy them, by the gross, in little glass boxes portraying their various habitats. The Seamen's Institute offered a display of ship models, including one donated by President Roosevelt for exhibition, together with miniature stage sets of waterfront scenes and examples of sailorcraft. Among other items on exhibit were butterfly wings, Sheffield plate, stone implements, poisoned arrows, Indian headdresses, dolls, dishes, and dessertspoons. O. C. Lightner, publisher- of the magazine, "Hobbies," managed the i show.