This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Celina Myers. It has been edited for length and clarity.
When I was a little girl, I remember having birthday parties at my house and taking my friends down to our basement to see my mom’s huge collection of tiny figures, neatly organised in typeset trays hanging all over the walls. Our entire 1000-square-foot basement had been turned into a sort of antique warehouse.
It all started when my mom was 14, in the early 70s. Her friend had been given a typeset tray and put little items in it. My mom wanted to do the same, so she went to a garage sale and found a tray like the one her friend had.
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