When Peter Kelland hammered nails into a board at the back of his two-car garage in Bega so he could hang a dozen hats, he wasn't expecting the collection to grow to a staggering 3460 different designs.
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The most ironic thing is, he doesn't wear them.
"I only wear a hat when I go fishing," the 72-year-old said with a laugh, "I usually wear a wide-brim."
Looking up, you would be forgiven in thinking the sky was made of a spectrum of colours in cotton, wool and embroidered logos, since the roof of the garage is layered in caps so tightly collated it's hard to understand the sheer quantity.
There are caps capturing events long forgotten by some, and memories held ever so dearly by others, some are splattered in paint, and one is wrapped in plastic.
There is a vintage Dorothy the Dinosaur hat with teeth protruding in felt from the brim, a 1990s Mighty Ducks cap, one shaped like a crab with sewn on anatomy, and walls of Bega Cheese Pro-Am caps lined against one wall before turning to run along the next.
Even more fascinating is that each of them is unique.
"I've got about four big large white boxes underneath the house, full of seconds, these should all be ones," Mr Kelland said with a smile.
"I've run out of room to hang 'em."
During the past 15 years of collecting, Mr Kelland has only ever purchased one of his caps, a faded blue retro corduroy cap.
It was bought at the Royal Easter Show for his son, a mad Parramatta Eels supporter, and signed by Eels great Peter Stirling.
Originally organised into categories compiling caps from newsrooms to sport, food to alcohol, and sporting codes to emergency services, the collection continually gets customised allowing for more nails and more caps.
During his early years, Mr Kelland worked at a butcher in Bega earning $32 a week at his apprenticeship.
A career change saw him lay bitumen from the Hume to Albury, working with the Roads & Traffic Authority (RTA) for 41 years, a role that worked well for building his collection.
"Travelling salesmen used to bring them around and drop them off, and once they knew I was collecting them, they would collect them from all over Australia," he said.
"The fellows from work would pick them up from the side of the road, [I'd] bring them home, put them in the washing machine, hang them up."
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When he offered to help fix the lawn mower for Bega Vinnies, they asked him if he would like to be their mower man, to which Mr Kelland said, "I'll mow the lawns but I don't want to be paid," and instead he was delivered bags of hats.
Mr Kelland, standing under the sky of caps, turned from across the garage and said, "I collect ovens as well..."
If you know of or have any unique or interesting collections, contact James 'Jimmy' Parker on 0437 166 441 or james.parker@austcommunitymedia.com.au
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