Collector's 80s crisp bag craze

When the De La Warr Pavilion invited Bexhill resident Dave Valentine to exhibit his collection of 1980s crisp packets this coming weekend, they inadvertantly triggered a flurry of media interest.

Dave brings his scrapbooks of empty packets along to the De La Warr's latest Collectors' Corner event on Sunday (August 15), alongside artist Louise Kenward's collection of vintage and customised ceramic figurines.

Rumours in the Metro that the 500-strong crisp bag collection had attracted bids of £10,000 has brought the nation's media flocking to take a peek at Dave's childhood hobby. From The Sun to the BBC, reporters have been getting misty-eyed with nostalgia over Dave's empty packets of Ringos, Disco's and Chip Sticks.

'I started saving my empty crips packets in 1983, aged five,' Dave told us. 'I can't exactly remember why, but my parents didn't really agree with collecting Panini stickers, so they encouraged me to keep and collect crisp packets.'

Perhaps unsuprisingly, Dave found early on that his hobby was rather unique. 'My grandparents would keep a pile of packets for me to sort through and keep the ones I needed,' Dave recalls, 'But my schoolfriends didn't exactly join in. I would often have to steal an empty packet of their's after lunchtimes at school. We were all just about young enough for it to be considered a fairly normal thing to do, but I imagine if I'd kept it up into later years then then it would not exactly have been seen as cool.'

Despite some media reports that Dave still 'scours the world' for crisp packets, he's clear that his hobby was confined to primary school. 'I collected them for about two or three years. Looking at the sell-by-dates on the packets, they range mostly from 1983 to 1985. I stopped collecting them having reached the age when the likes of Lego and Transformers were a much more trendy thing to collect. After I'd ceased collecting them, the three scrap books containing the bags were transported up into the attic where I'd all but forgotten about them until re-discovering them earlier this year.'

As an adult, Dave now recognises the importance of the collection, particularly as examples of 1980s graphic design. 'I really like the Sainsbury's own design,' he says. 'The jagged zig-zag pattern and vibrant colours really brought back memories when I rediscovered the collection. Some people on the Facebook group I'd set up ('1980s Crisp Packets') have commented that these particular examples would make nice retro T-shirts. My favourite flavour of crisp were the Smiths Tubes brand, which don't appear to be in production any longer.'

Tied to their current Tomoko Takahashi exhibition, the De La Warr Pavilion's weekly Collectors' Corner events see all manner of weird and wonderful collections shared with the public. How did Dave get involved?

'I received a Facebook message from a friend who had  joined the Crisp Packets group, suggesting I exhibit them at the De La Warr. They seemed like an ideal topic for their Collectors' Corner series. A few emails later and it was all confirmed!

'Another message I received was from a freelance journalist who'd taken a keen interest in the collection. He asked if it would be OK to do an article on them. Thinking it'd end up in a hobby or collectors' magazine, it took me by surprise to see it turn up in The Sun and The Metro. The subsequent attention from the BBC, ITV, local radio and various magazines has been utterly over-whelming!

'These days my collection is far more acceptably normal,' Dave concludes, 'DVDs and records. Although I still do have a soft spot for picking up ex-rental big box VHS from charity shops. Purely for the nostalgia!'

Dave Valentine's 1980s crisp packets and Louise Kenward's ceramic figures can be seen at the De La Warr Pavilion this Sunday, 2.30 - 4.30pm, with both collectors on hand to chat about their hobbies.

If you have an interesting collection you would like to share with others at the De La Warr, contact Polly Gifford on 01424 229133, polly.gifford@dlwp.com