For this exercise I’m going to talk about an archive that’s on the wall in Cowhill and that I didn’t notice at all until I was conducting an interview with Jerald, the owner of Cowhill Express. We were talking about how he collects antiques and even has antique shows, and he pointed out a sign on the wall. He collects coffee signs, and the particular one he was pointing to was a small red one, with a cartoon character on it and a place where a thermometer (which I’m pretty sure is broken) tells the room temperature. In an offhand kind of way, Jerald says in his Texas drawl, “That there goes for about $950 dollars. But most people don’t know that.”
I’m completely shocked! First of all, why in the world would an old piece of metal with the word “coffee” on it be so expensive?? Second of all, why would you hang it on the wall? Third of all… why is old stuff so expensive??? It doesn’t make sense to me but I guess I can’t bash other people’s hobbies when it’s actually a big thing for a lot of other people. But this piece of history shows how some people treasure the past and do their best to keep it alive and well. The history of this particular piece isn’t important compared to the meaning it holds for the owner, who takes pride in collecting coffee signs, coffee tins, clocks with coffee logos on them, etc… Each piece of history is important to him but not necessarily to everyone else. I think this relates in a big way to songwriters themselves – each event in someone’s life is important for a different reason, and only he knows it. Have you ever thought about how one event in your life, if it was taken away, could have changed your entire life course? It’s an interesting question.
