I compare and contrast, part one

First of all, here is my haul for the weekend:

It's an interesting mixed bag of cookbooks, Modern Library editions in jackets, Utica Curling Club ephemera and some early atlases.
House number one was Friday. It was one of the really nice places on the parkway. The kind that you drive by and wonder what kind of treasures are inside. None. That is the correct answer. Just lots and lots of dolls, tchotchke and kitsch horribleness. I guess kitch has its place but this house was stuffed in every room. How does this happen to an adult?

one of the many hundreds of dolls

These people were clearly wealthy and were part of Utica's social elite. They lived in one of the best areas of the city, conspicuously on the Parkway. I don't know anything about them but the evidence of their lives that they left behind. Was there art? A wine cellar? A photography studio? A library full of bookcases? Ask this guy:

Besides the hundreds of porcelain and glass figurines, there were also a lot of vintage dollhouses and toys. Not for kids. The kind older women collect to place carefully around the house next to bouquets of fake and dried flowers. Lots of general household goods as well. There were some other dealers there and they didn't seem to happy with the prices. I overheard one guy disgustedly remarking that he wouldn't be able to make a return on the resale. He had a few things in his hands though.
The house just went on and on. It was one of those places bigger on the inside that it appears from the outside because of the furnished basement and attic. Room after room of this stuff.

Hmm, where could the books be? I know there must be some around here somewhere. Oh, here they are, thrown in a pile in the basement.

They had been there a good long time too. Most were completely ruined by mildew. Actually, I think I didn't check well enough and may have to throw away a few of the ones I salvaged.
Overall, this was a lovely home and well maintained. Owned by wealthy people with completely different values than I hold dear. They had no time for books or reading. Every room was pink or lavender or covered with lace and filled with infantile baby shaped decorations. The older I get, the less patience I have for this. What makes an adult obsessively collect this kind of thing? The world is full of so much of value and I plan to spend the rest of my life searching it out, not regressing into a second childhood.
I know for a fact that a man had lived there but there was no evidence of such. Except for the man cave in the basement. Dark wood, an ugly comfortable looking recliner, old tv and several complete sets of untouched 1980's encyclopedias dustily stored on a bookcase. It was a Brady Bunch era retreat from the saccharine froth upstairs.
I grew up in a house that valued reading and education. Dad was an academic and Mom loved to read. Both had post graduate degrees and were interested in a variety of subjects. We traveled and we kids were encouraged to stretch our minds. They bought art, took us to the opera and cooked exotic foods. We were not wealthy. I was so lucky.