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Boulder man holds onto six decades of collectibles found at yard sales

Joel Haertling just wrapped up his exhibit "To Have and To Hoard" at the Boulder Public Library
To Have and To Hoard
Posted at 3:15 PM, Apr 19, 2023
and last updated 2023-04-19 17:15:01-04

Boulder, Colo. — Many people need a storage unit or two, but Joel Haertling fills one of those in his sleep.

The Boulder man estimates he has five garages and three semis, all brimming with collectibles that he has secured from yard sales over the years.

The "nostalgiast," as he calls himself, actually just wrapped up an exhibit at the Boulder Public Library called "To Have and to Hoard." Even though that is now closed, he was able to give us a tour of some of his favorite relics.

"What the [psychologists] say is that I 'bring people together through things,'" said Heartling, before showing us his collection of pipes from Italy and France. "That's exactly it - the best thing you can do is bring people together."

There's currently a documentary being made about Joel's life, so clearly, he is succeeding in his mission to unite people through admiring the past.

In the above story, you can take a tour of just a fraction of his collections, and for more information, you can head here.