The words we choose make a great difference to people’s impressions who hear them. Great wars have ensued to settle subtle differences in religion. There is little evidence of hoarding per se in history until quite recently. But it existed, and to prove it we review four famous hoarders in history.
Fred Penzel writes in his ‘Hoarding in History’ that the confusion is caused by hoarding, meaning different things in different societies at different times. For example, our prehistoric ancestors backed up their food supplies, while in medieval England, soldiers returning from war buried their booty to conceal it from arrest and crime.
Society Used Different Labels at Different Times
By the time the European Renaissance arrived, hoarding was out of the closet so to speak. Hoarders with large collections were described as ‘misers’, while the church preferred to view them as sinners.
Nowadays many television viewers regard hoarding as a quaint aberration to be mocked. However, nothing could be further from the truth. From Freudian times scientists have sought its origins within the psyche. Nowadays, medical science treats hoarding as a mental condition.
Our 4 Famous Hoarders in History
We chose our famous hoarders in history from various sources. They are not the richest, or the most bizarre, or the most famous of all. They are simply a grab-sample to represent a fascinating tapestry of people.
The Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Franz Ferdinand might have inherited the throne to the Austria-Hungary Empire. Except he died in a political assassination, and this led to the First World War. He was not an animal lover because he killed almost to 275,000 animals. And some of those species have almost died out since then.
We classify Ferdinand as a hoarder because we doubt many people would have seen value in the bits and pieces of elephants, tigers, birds, and monkeys that he killed. He was a crack shot with a hunting rifle and killed over 2,000 living creatures in a single day. One unfortunate elephant donated its feet as ashtrays, and waste paper baskets in his collection.
The History of the Famous Collyer Brother Hoarders
Homer and Langley Collyer lived alone in a house in New York City. They collected an extra-ordinary volume of books, furniture, musical instruments, and a myriad other items. They were deeply suspicious of anybody wanting to enter their home.
When the Collyer brothers died in their isolated splendour, their home was a maze of trip wires to repel intruders. Their collection was piled up to the ceiling, with nests dug into it where the brothers lived. They were not poor, and yet Homer preferred to pick food out of garbage cans. They lived completely off the grid, because they ignored utility bills.
Edmund Trebus the Indomitable Junk Collector
The next of our famous hoarders in history was a gentleman named Edmund Trebus. He lived in isolation until a British television program disclosed his hoarding habits. He had been a collector all his life, and was to be seen regularly pushing his hand cart full of new acquisitions.
These steadily filled his simple home until the only living space was part of the ground floor. His collection spilled out into the garden, where he was in constant conflict with neighbours and council workers. Edmund Trebus was a refugee from the Nazi invasion of Poland, and may have had difficulty forming relationships in his new country.
Hoarder Ida Wood’s Famous History
Ida Mayfield Wood was a beautiful New York high-society belle of the ball. She was unhappily married, except her unfaithful husband plied her with gifts. Ida became a widow in 1900, and turned paranoid about losing money during the Great Depression. She withdrew from society to a small suite in New York’s Herald Square Hotel.
Her lifestyle descended into squalor, although by the time she died in 1932, she had more than a million dollars stashed away in teapots and pans in her bedroom. Police investigating her lifeless body found a priceless piece of jewellery hidden in a cracker box, and ten thousand dollars sealed around her waist.
Does Hoarding Travel with Trauma?
Our grab-sample of four famous hoarders in history leaves us with a distinct sense that at least three of them experienced severe trauma in their lives. Even Franz Ferdinand must have suffered anguish after he insisted on marrying a commoner against his family’s wishes.
Avery Associates offers a bespoke house clearing service, including hoarded homes. We go through contents carefully, and sift out anything of value. Then we prepare the rest for recycling and deliver it to the council depot, before giving the home a jolly good clean.
