I’ve been asked multiple times:
So how did a Kansas girl ever get started with a lobster collection/devotion/obsession/fixation?
Well, it started in 1978 with my first vacation to the state of Maine…
And, this may not be the real truth because I’m not sure I actually began a true lobster collection from that visit… But, I do know that I ATE my first lobster on that trip!
So, it truly must have started with my very first j-o-b. 
I was the very first employee for the Wichita Kansas Red Lobster. I was hired to help open the place. I even interviewed servers and bellboys and hosts and cashiers! Which amazed even me, being a 15 year old high school student. I didn’t really conduct the interviews, but the managers did ask me and seemed to value my opinions. I helped setup and organize, filled out paperwork, and assisted with whatever the startup crew and managers needed me to do.
Once the place opened, I was a HOSTESS. I was a very good hostess, too. I worked there throughout the remaining high school years and every summer during college. I thought it important to demonstrate my loyalty and consistency; thought it would LOOK GOOD on the resume… (HA!)
So, I would start picking up lobster things. I probably don’t have many of those first lobster things left – I don’t have any attachment to any as ‘firsts’. Gradually, it became a lobster DISH and kitchen items obsession.
Part of the fun is that when you live in an area of the country NOT associated with lobster ‘crap’ – let’s call a spade a spade, here. You know, knick knacks and souvenir kind of crap. Part of the fun when you FIND anything lobster is because they are difficult to find!
Which is why I love to go into antique stores and right off the bat, ask the proprietor,
“Do you have any lobster dishes?”
If they do, they KNOW it and know WHERE it is in whatever pile of junk. But now, with the ebay ease of shopping and finding, the thrill has diminished greatly. (I have never been obsessed enough to keep up with bidding on ebay - I have once; I didn’t ’win’…) OH, and now that I love in a lobster area of the country – they seem to be everywhere…
I’ve classed up my collection and almost exclusively purchase only cool-to-me dish towels. No more platters and plates, no more butter warmers and jello molds…
I still accept Christmas Ornaments.
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