Why do people collect/keep valuable but meaningless things?

[blueman_fan1]

I have this thing of collecting old lamps. I find old oil lamps and the early hurricane lamps interesting. Take for instance the hurricane lamp shades. You just don't find lamps with style to them. My favorite oil lamps are old P&E oil lamps. They went out back in the early 1900's or so. I have yet to get any of the of oil hurricane lamps with the nice globe.

[High_Plains_Retired]

Years ago as a geology minor, I was told the human tendency to collect things is a curse to modern-day anthropologists because early man also collected "stuff" and it is confusing to find a 10,000 year old paleo-point in a 600 year old dig site.

But to the question as to why people keep meaningless things, I kept a 1924 Dodge coupe because my late father-in-law gave it to me under the same condition his dad (who bought it new) gave it to him; that it should never be sold outside of the family. Also, the old car reminds me of the stories related to me by my FIL of his travels as child from west Texas to Albuquerque. I even went to the extent of purchasing a small farm with a large barn in my retirement so that I could hold on to the car which is complete and still runs. My daughter will undoubtedly have to sell it but I won't.