The lure of wizards,
Little Women,
snow domes and Keroppi.

American Girl series of books, dolls and
candle in the shape of a
school supplies.
pizza-toting pig may not
And that's just one Steinberg.
rake in the big bucks at
Erin's sister, Jane, also has been bit-
Sotheby's auction house in
ten
by the collecting bug.
New York. But 12-year-old Erin Stein-
"I have a lot of dolls," the 9-year-old
berg — who counts such a candle
says.
"Madame Alexander, Peter Pan ...
among her most prized possessions —
but my favorites are the dolls [of the
doesn't care. She's not in the business
characters from] Little Women Some
of collecting for the money.
of them were my mom's that her mom
"It's a fun thing to collect," says
gave her, and they don't make them
Erin, waxing philosophic. "I have the
anymore."
candles all set out on a table in my
Other favorites from the many
room."
items Jane owns in multiples are her
Although the pig is her favorite, Erin,
five music boxes, which in-
of West Bloomfield, also has
clude " [two] with the Beatles,
candles in the form of flowers,
Far left: Many dolls
[including] a drum set, and
in
9-year-old
Jane
wizards and a peace sign made
Steinberg's
of sand, totaling about 20 differ- collection have [one] plays 'Sgt. Pepper's Lone-
been passed down ly Hearts Club Band." Anoth-
ent figures.
from her mom and
er Beatles box plays
Erin is a collector. So is Jason
grandmother.
Moss of Farmington Hills. And Erin Steinb erg, 12, "Yesterday."
"I like the Beatles a lot,"
is never in the dark.
Eden Litt of West Bloomfield.
Jane says.
And Robert Levine of West
What's
happened, one may ask, to
Bloomfield. Their treasures range from
the days of just collecting coins and
Peter Pan dolls to antique thimbles, but
stamps?
they all concur on one point They
Those days are still here. But chil-
wouldn't trade their collections for a
dren
today are finding they can learn a
million dollars.
great deal about history, and them-
In addition to her candles, Erin also
selves, through books, snow domes
collects original, first-edition Nancy
and dolls, as well. Even if Erin can't
Drewbooks, which her grandmother
quite put her finger on why she loves
fast found at a bookstore, plus minia-
her candles, she knows her collection
ture cars from her grandfather, and the

PHOTOS BY DANIEL LIPPIll

A

Waltham, MA, 02154, (617)
891-8110, collects and displays
material and is home to an ex-
tensive archives tracing the
lives of Jews in the United
States.
* The American Sephardi
Federation, 305 7th Ave.,

New York City, 10001, (212)
366-7263, promotes various
aspects of Sephardi culture
and publishes a regular
newsletter.
* B'nai B'rith Klutznick Na-
tional Jewish Museum,
1640 Rhode Island Ave NW,

Washington, (202) 857-6583,
holds regular exhibits on Jew-
ish art and history.
* The Israel Numismatic
Society of Michigan, PO.Box
942, Royal Oak, MI, 48086, is
dedicated to Israel's coinage
and Judaic numismatics.

* The Jewish Museum,
der the auspices of the Jewish
Theological Society of Ameri-
ca, 1109 Fifth Ave., New York
City 10128, (212) 423-3200,
is home to one of the world's
largest collections of Judaica,
including coins, photos,

* Spertus Museum, 618 S.
Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL
60605, (312) 922-9012, is
home to the largest collection
of Judaica, including art and
history, in the Midwest