Episode #11-Hobbies

In this episode, Greg shares some of the hobbies he enjoys and highlights the importance of finding fulfillment outside of work. Nearly a year ago, he developed a passion for collecting vintage German beer steins dating from the 1880–1940 period, with a particular appreciation for pieces from Villeroy & Boch’s Mettlach line. In addition to steins, Greg has also grown to enjoy collecting other pottery and ceramics, with interests ranging from Rookwood to Van Briggle.

Greg also enjoys reading thriller novels and spending time walking in nature, finding both to be meaningful ways to relax and recharge.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to this episode of Ponderings and Musings of an Ordinary Man. I'm your host, Greg Jacobs. Well, good day, folks. It's been a little while since I have recorded a podcast on the ponderings and musings of an ordinary man uh podcast uh stream. So wanted to go ahead and kind of catch up with everybody, let you know that I have been extremely busy, uh, especially on my other podcast platform, um, dealing with turning grief into growth, the journey of transformation. But I wanted to go ahead and record a podcast. Uh, from time to time, ponderings and musings of an ordinary man come to me, uh, where I'm just uh going along my day, and all of a sudden I think about a topic. Uh, and the topic that came to me today was dealing more with hobbies. Um, you know, there's just such a wide definition of that. I have a lot of people that come to me and they ask me, you know, Greg, what is your hobby? What do you enjoy doing? Um, I'm gonna kind of show you a couple items. So I will mention up front, if you're listening to this on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or a different podcast platform, you're obviously not going to be able to see these pictures. Uh, you can go to my YouTube page, Ponderings and Musings of an Ordinary Man, uh, and see this uh video if you would like. I'm gonna hold some of these up to the camera. Uh, but I'll just start with probably my um passion and hobby that I've had for a long time is reading. Um, I'm holding up my tablet. Uh, you can't see a book on there, obviously, but uh pretty excited. My favorite author is David Baldacci. Um, I love thriller genre. Um, he really just kind of perfected that genre. He's been an author, New York Times, bestselling author for years. And uh he's always my go-to. Um, always looking forward to new books that dropped. Um, and he dropped a new book yesterday, and I just have not had time yet uh to start it, uh, but I'm really looking forward to it because they are just really captivating. So I'd say it's my first love when it comes to hobbies is reading. Um, secondly, I really enjoy uh getting out and about uh and just walking in nature, hiking. Um, it's just kind of my passion. Um, I would much rather be outside getting some vitamin D from the sun uh than in the gym. So you'll see me try to get in the gym three, four days a week uh in the really winter uh time and probably more fall. But once spring and summer come, uh I am really trying to stay outside, do yard work. Uh I like to walk three miles if I can uh a day. I traditionally do that at the cemetery. Yes, my son, who passed away uh over five years ago, is buried there. Uh, not really why I go there. Uh I just really like cemeteries, have ever since I worked next door to a cemetery when I was 15 years old, and we go over and eat lunch. Uh, same cemetery I walk at now, ironically. Um, so it's like a park, and there's just not a lot of people there. Uh well, I guess there are a lot of people there, pun intended, but um, they just don't talk back to you. But anyway, I do uh really enjoy walking, I like switching it up in different environments. Um personally, I like walking every day more on a trail that's paved than I do unpaved. I'm getting old sometimes. Uh twisting your ankle is no fun. All right. So that brings me to uh my next uh area I wanted to kind of talk about. And that is I started, oh gosh, uh Father's Day last year, getting into a new hobby. And actually, it probably started a couple weeks before that. Um, so a really good friend of mine's dad passed away, and they were having an estate sale. And I went over to the estate sale, and I knew that he had served in the army in Germany, and I knew that um they had lived over there for uh many years. My friend Kent uh went to the American school and things over there. So we've talked about that a lot through the years. Uh, the his dad, who passed away, was a clockmaker, and um, I knew he had some pretty cool German items, um, but I went over and there was just a table full of German beer steins. So um, if you can see this on YouTube, I'm gonna hold this up. This is a pewter beer stein that I had picked up uh over there at uh the state sale. Kent being a good friend that I he is to me, he's like, Greg, if you want it, go ahead and take it. It's my gift to you. Um, and it turns out that out of all the steins there, it was probably worth the least, but it's what my eye gravitated towards because I didn't know anything about vintage German beer steins. And this is not vintage, this is probably World War II or newer. So just to kind of give you a little education on this um, a vintage uh German beer stein, the qualification on this is pre-World War II. So pre, you know, pretty much pre-1945. Anything that has West Germany on the bottom of a beer stein is not vintage, it is post-World War II, after the wall came down. It's really a matter of um uh a lot of touristy steins that were produced. You'll see people that come over uh after serving in the military and they'll buy a stein over there and they're like, hey, I got an authentic German beer stein. And it's true, it's not that it's not authentic, and there are some really nice touristy beer steins. Um, but in the collection world, it's all pre-World War II. So I've got a uh a whole collection here. I've I've probably got about 30 or 40 uh beer steins that I uh collect. Uh you can't see them on the camera, it's in the wall next to me. But I have uh my favorite are Villaroy and Bach. Uh, and that is the name of the company that was around in the 1880s, um, in uh more of the Black Forest west side of Germany. Um, and it was just kind of breweryana, is what it's called, the breweryana you know, phase of all the breweries and um all the things that went along with it from beer steins to beer signs that would hang outside of buildings. Um and underneath the Villeroy and Bach title of the company, there was one of their facilities called Metlock that basically produced a lot of vintage beer steins that are very highly collectible, probably one of the more highly collectible uh beer steins to this day. So I'm gonna show you a few. This one, um, this is a small one, uh, it's a half liter. Uh, for those on YouTube, you could see this. This is just a small half liter beer stein um uh with the pewter lid uh on it. And um, they always have on there, usually you probably can't see that with the glare, but usually it'll say half liter right there by the handle. The nice thing with the Metlock Steins is again, you probably can't see with the glare, but it'll have stamped on the bottom the date of which this was made. So it has the stamp number of 1536. So that's the actual mold stamp number. And then you'll see 85 off to the side. So this was made in 1885, which means it's 141 years old. Um, this is kind of cool because this is called a tapestry stein. And basically, you would have just kind of a blank uh that would go down uh the line, and then there would be um a line of women that would be basically be sitting at this table, and they would each have this different job. They'd take this little piece of clay here and they would put these pins in it and wrap it around, which is why it's called tapestry stein, and then they would go ahead and do the engraving on here, and then another one would do the coloring and things like that. So I really like this because my favorite part is the engraving, where they would use these really fine little engraving tools uh on this. And then there's a German you know saying on the back. So that is one. Uh, this is another one. This is one of my favorite uh Metlock Steins. It's called the Joke. And you could see a bunch of uh almost uh Roman-looking people in togas uh in there, and then a dog, and this has got a little um kind of guard on his mouth um to keep people from biting, and that's actually in gold, which it's hard to see. Uh, but it's just really neat. It's another engraved um stein. And uh Heinrich Schlitt was uh known as um one of the leading artists uh in Germany during that time. So if you can get a Heinrich Schlitt uh signed Stein at the bottom of his handiwork, uh it's worth a whole lot more. This is a Heinrich Schlitt uh sign Stein, and it has his initials uh right here down by the handle. Um, so that is one of my favorite. This one is uh uh 1895, so it's 131 years old. Um and it's it's really interesting because a lot of them came with either the option of a pewter lid or a ceramic inlaid lid. So both of these are pewter lids, solid. And then what they would do is they would actually autograph or sign um the different names of the people that they were dedicating them to. Um, and I can't read this one, Castleman, I think, is the name on there, 1882, it says. Um, even though I said that was an 1895 stein. So I don't know that kind of counteracts. It could have been uh this finial and this uh this lid could have been on different Stein, and then they put it on this one because the dates don't match up on that. The pewter were actually more expensive as far as the lids, as far as collectibility at the time, whenever they were put on in the late 1800s. Um, however, today in 2026, the pewter is not as valuable or collectible as uh the ceramic inlaid uh lid. Um, trying to find the ceramic inlaid lid to just kind of compare and show you. Um, this is one that's actually got the ceramic uh inlaid lid uh on top of it. So that has become a passion of mine. I've promised my wife I would slow down because it's very easy uh to rack up a lot of money uh on those. And I'm gonna talk to you in just a minute about the method in which I actually uh collect these and uh find them. So um after that uh we had to kind of downsize my mom's house. She went into an apartment and we sold the house, and she had some different uh ceramics and pottery and things um from turn of the century 1900s that were her great aunts. And I just uh took some of those in my house and I displayed them uh proudly for all to see in some nice fine furniture. And I wanted to kind of share uh some of that as well because I've merged from just uh getting German uh vintage beer steins uh to more of things like this. So, this is what is called Rookwood Pottery. Rookwood started in 1880 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Um, and it's just got its own unique uh aspect to it. Um this is called crazing, where you could kind of see the crackle uh on there and some of the um uh aging uh effect on the pottery. The thing that I love about Rookwood is one, it's one of the highest collectible uh ceramics and potteries out there. But just like Metlock uh Beersteins, it also dates uh the bottom. So very few are actually um, as far as potteries out there, date the bottom of their pottery. So this has its stamp of 2150 on there, and then you'll see R and P backwards for Rookwood Pottery here as their stamp, and it'll have the flames around it. If you don't have a number below the flame, then that means that it is 1880 to 1900, and you uh count the number of flames from 1880 all the way down. Um, and if there's 20 flames in there, or it's 15 flames, I can't remember if it's 1895 or if it's 1880 to 1900, but um, you count the number of actual flames if there's not a number below that uh symbol, and that will tell you the year. So if there's you know three flames, it's 1883 uh type thing. Now there is a number under here, and it's XXX1, which means that this is uh 1931. That was uh this was made. I bought this. Uh, this is not one that I inherited, and uh, I think I got it on uh eBay or at an auction site. So um that is what I really enjoy is collecting uh Rookwood, and then I'm just gonna show you something else, too. So something else I collect is Van Briggle, and this is kind of cool because a lot of these are actually signed uh pieces as well. This is signed by Anna Van Briggel, and they're not dated, so you kind of have to look up as far as um the signature, the insignias, different things. A lot of times you'll see AA for Artemis and Anna, uh, which is where Artemis actually started. Um in uh, well, just a fun fact, uh art it's Artis, not Artemis, Artis, A-R-T-U-S. Started at Rookwood um in 1887. Um, then he went over to Europe. Um, I think he did a study over there from 1893 to 1896, and then uh came back to Rookwood in 1896 and then left to go to Colorado for health reasons in 1899. So on most Van Briggles, you're gonna see Colorado Springs uh engraved on the bottom. Ironically, that's where my son passed away in an auto accident in Colorado Springs. I don't know if there's a Freudian uh tie uh there somehow uh to that, but I do like collecting Van Brigles. Van Briggle also perfected it's called a dead matte glaze, which is kind of indicative of like the Ming Dynasty look. And you'll see a lot of these in the green and the pink matte. Um, and I just uh find it very intriguing. I like what's called smalls. I I kind of grew up watching, I shouldn't say grew up, but in the last 20 years, I've I've watched American Pickers on TV a lot, and you'll hear uh Mike uh woof and Frank Fritz on there. Frank's passed away. But you'll hear them on reruns just talk about smalls a lot. Um, it it gets hard to store larger pieces and to display larger pieces. So a piece like this, I could go ahead and just kind of put uh inside of or on a table, kind of in between, you know, some different things. So all that to say that I kind of went from uh vintage beer steins to Rookwood and Van Briggle uh have not given up searching for vintage beer steins, but now I kind of have um a little broader view of what I look for when I go in an antique store. So that kind of brings me to uh my point of how I actually go about looking for these items in my hobby. So I live in Shelbyville, Kentucky, happens to be kind of an antique capital in many ways. There's a lot of antique stores. Um, and I've found a lot of different things there. I enjoy just being able to go down the road and just kind of look and see. The problem a lot of times is you'll have an antique store and then you'll have all these different uh booths that you know people will rent out to display their wares. Um, the problem herein lies that a lot of times it's stagnant and it's static, and it just doesn't have a lot of turnover with new inventory. So um that that can be a dilemma, which leads me to seek out other places to find things. Um, there's a real big push uh to peddler malls. Um, years ago, I think they used to call them flea markets. Um, and sometimes you'll find stuff there, sometimes you'll find stuff at a goodwill, uh, mainly from estate sales that people are trying to uh get rid of uh items and they don't know what they have. In the age of AI, artificial intelligence, anybody can take a picture on their phone and ask AI what it is, and it'll give them the value of it and the approximate date it was made and all this. So unfortunately, when you go in a lot of these stores, uh things are marked up way higher than you thinking that you're gonna be able to get a deal on them. Uh, the best way to get a deal is really more estate sales. So I keep an eye on auction sites. A lot of auctions have gone to online uh only auctions. Um, I try to stay away from eBay uh because most people on eBay are selling their collections or know what they have, and a lot of times they will jack the price up as well. But I have bought things on eBay. So all that to say that um when it comes to hobbies, it's unique for every single person. It morphs and it ebbs and it flows. I have always enjoyed walking, I've always enjoyed reading. So those have been constants in my life. Um, it's kind of my self-care uh mental health, where I can go ahead and uh carve out some time to go for a walk and to get my cardiovascular going, um, or to go ahead and just say, hey, I just need to take a breather, I need to sit back in a chair, and I just need to read. And I just need to take some time for myself. It's where I get enjoyment uh out of. So I encourage everybody to find something that gives them enjoyment. A lot of people out there like golf or you know, pickleball has become popular. Um, it's not my fancy. I'm six foot seven, 325 pounds. Um, it's hard for me to play basketball anymore. Uh, I tried playing pickleball and it's just twisting of my knees a lot and things. So there's certain things that work for certain people, uh, other things don't. I've never played a game of golf in my life. I've been to the driving range a couple times and it's not pretty. So um whatever works for you. And a lot of things are uh team things, team sports or teams activities as far as hobbies. Some people like you know doing things together, other people like individual stuff, like sitting in a rocking chair on a front porch and whittling a you know piece of wood, whatever it might be. So I enjoy uh bringing my wife along with me uh to antique stores um and uh kind of searching out uh items. Um, I think for me it's a matter of preservation of history as well. Um, it's the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Um, the value is not always uh because you can have the ugliest item and it'd be worth a whole lot more than a very beautiful item. Like I've got some Rookwood pottery from 1885 that I'm uh bidding on right now on an auction. And my wife is like, that is the ugliest thing I've ever seen. And it's a real brown and yellow flowers and something that you just probably wouldn't be proud to display. However, it's worth hundreds of dollars, if not thousands. So it's uh it's all relative, I think. Um, I have bought steins before that weren't the highest of value or had the incorrect lid on it. And that's okay because it it spoke to me. Um, and you know, there's things called purists where basically they only buy a certain brand, it has to have the correct ceramic lid, uh ceramic inlay on the uh pewter lid, all these different things. Um, I'm not a purist. Um, I I prefer not to buy anything that's been cracked or repaired. Um, so I guess you would say I'm a purist kind of in that regard. Um I have joined Stein Collectors International, SCI. Uh actually have a meeting locally uh in the Louisville area this uh coming Saturday. So I'm excited to go there. Um it's a dying art, especially when it comes to vintage German beer steins, where a lot of the older clientele are dying off, and it's not something that's carried forward as far as a hobby uh to the younger generation. So, in conclusion, I would just encourage everybody to find something that works for them. I happened into both of these things through exploration. Be curious, get out there, find out what works for you, try something. If you've you know, try it like I did with pickleball, and you realize maybe it's not for you, then by all means, put the paddle down and go find something else. At the same time, be flexible. Maybe it wasn't the right you know season, you know, for you to pick up pickleball, pickleball. Maybe that's something that you're just gonna go ahead and uh try again at a different time, or maybe you need a different partner, you know, to go do it with. Um, so um, yeah, I'll just conclude with that. Um, it's been a fun journey for me. I really enjoy um finding these collectibles. Um, they're just pieces of uh you know, great prize out there. Um, and I get to preserve history. Um, and uh it's not like going to Walmart and buying a a clock, and then you know the battery runs out, you throw the clock away, and you uh go buy a new one. This is something where you can, you know, it's made with quality craftsmanship and things like that. So thank you for listening and everybody have a swell day. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to listen to ponderings and musings of an ordinary man. I hope today's episode brought you a bit of inspiration. If you've enjoyed it, please remember to follow, like, or subscribe on your favorite platform so you never miss what's coming next. I can't wait to share future episodes with you. Until next time.