Compulsive hoarders: the Collyer brothers, found dead in their junk-strewn NYC lair

Can't believe we don't have a thread dedicated to the Collyer brothers, and their sort of goofy, sad, and ultimately tragic tale.

The ultimate hoarders: Extraordinary story of the two reclusive brothers
found dead side by side under tons of junk in New York mansion in 1947

It might seem like a relatively new - and bizarre - phenomenon; extreme hoarders who fill their houses so full of clutter that their bodies lay undiscovered for, sometimes, weeks after their death.

However, two brothers in 1940s New York arguably set the gold standard in stockpiling junk when they died entombed in their own clutter.

Homer and Langley Collyer were killed by one of the many booby traps they had set to deter outsiders, but their bodies were hidden by tons of garbage and were not found for weeks.
---
The extent of the brother's junk collecting finally came to a head in March 1947 when the authorities received a tip-off that someone had died in the property.
---

Click to expand...

But first, authorities had to figure out how to get in to the property:

After two hours spent climbing through junk and debris the body of Homer was found lying among boxes and trash. However, his younger brother was nowhere to be seen.
---
The authorities discovered that Langley had actually been the first to die. His blind brother was dead near him on a bed.
---
More than 100 tons of rubbish - including more than 25,000 books - was eventually removed from the house, with the authorities discovering an astonishing array of bizarre items collected by the Collyer brothers.

Among them were pickled human organs, hundreds of yards of unused silk and fabric, the folding top of a horse-drawn carriage and the chassis of an old Model T.

Click to expand...

much more, with many pictures, at Daily Mail link above

I can actually imagine being killed by piles of books, or trampled by a herd of cows when dog frisbeeing. You read it here first.

A bookshelf fell down and hit me in the head once when I was lying on the couch, reading. I instantly thought of the Collyer brothers.

wfgodot said:

A bookshelf fell down and hit me in the head once when I was lying on the couch, reading. I instantly thought of the Collyer brothers.

Click to expand...

A nifty little exercise to ensure you hadn't suffered a traumatic brain injury.

badhorsie said:

I can actually imagine being killed by piles of books, or trampled by a herd of cows when dog frisbeeing. You read it here first.

Click to expand...

Somehow this does not fit with your aversion to open cabinets and dresser drawers.:what:

Alright, why did I even look at this at all? I am now obsessed. I've got a Broadway Musical playing in my head and a scene where Langley sits out with the neighbors.

http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-p...ngley-collyer-chatting-with-neighbors-outside


Can you imagine what these neighbors are chatting to him about? Not to mention it must be summer and all of the neighbors are immaculate and pressed and this dude is all bundled up, and dirty.

Life never ceases to amaze me for seriously real.

Can not stop researching......can not stop.........:floorlaugh:

Filly so would not mind having this fence Langley is climbing over. Then again if I did somebody 'round here would just steal it anyway.




http://kaw.stb.s-msn.com/i/6C/17F7A3BF3750A65296B3DCE6114.jpg



Question in all seriousness. How does clutter with some folks extend to outdoors and others just in their personal inside space?

Point blank I am messy. Not dirty. On the contrary. I bleach everything. However in my own space I am cluttered. However, it stops at me. My own space.

Not my neighbors. I should take a picture. They'd do Langley and Homer proud. Presently, a tent. In it several chairs like the canvas kind. A big *** grill, and three trash cans. Trash bags full. A Halloween decoration. Bottles. The more the fr*gg*n tent fills the more out on the postage size lawn the trash goes.

What is that?

i read a book about the collyer brothers when i was 10 or 11. 'My brothers keeper' i think it was.(readers digest condensed book) when i saw the title to this thread i figgered it was them. was so sad. one squished and the other starved to death.