Kevin Wilson is a “collector at heart” and at 83 has had some time to collect a few things, including more than 100 teapots that are scattered around his garden, house and every nook and cranny of his Richmond property.
In the past he even bought them to fill the shelves of a friend’s tearooms in Westport that ended up with 400 teapots and became a sideline for the business.
“They had all this room in the shop so I decided to fill the shelves with teapots and full sets of cups and saucers.”
That prompted his own collection and it is still growing, with each new arrival finding its own place around his home.
He buys some, others are given to him and one was even left on his doorstep with a note saying the owner had no use for it and he might appreciate it more.
“They’re colourful and they make your place look nice – especially against a white house.”
A friend even made gates to the garden with the outline of teapots worked into the design.
His collecting days go way back though. For 30 years he was a cook at the Wakatu Hotel in Nelson where he became interested in collecting named pens from customers.
That led him to making some of his own pens with the words ‘stolen from the Wakatu – return to Boots’. Many of them disappeared and many of them came back.
His pen collection added up to 4,000 different named pens when a woman wanted to buy them for her husband and paid $3,000 for the lot.
He also has about 100 caps perched one on top the other around his home and there are no doubt other collections tucked away.
Boots has long been his nickname after being born with deformed feet and being taught to walk in hospital, and then wear his hefty boots through the decades.
It never held him back and he went on to have a diverse working life being a baker, cook, taxi driver and even a nurse.
Being a baker was his first job at 18 and he remembers working with another baker to bake 31,200 hot cross buns between 4pm and 8.30am in the days when there was just one day of the year to sell the buns.
“Nothing ever held me back. If you have a smile on your face you can’t go wrong.”
Besides collecting, Kevin has always been “a giver” and is still a committee member for Richmond’s St Vincent de Paul.
“I’m in and out all the time, giving them a hand. Though I’m a bit old now.”
Not too old to bag tomatoes when he gets given them and place in the shop for anyone who might appreciate some free food. He cuts up pumpkins and adds those to the shelves for free pick-up as well. At home he makes soup that he freezes in plastic containers to give away and bakes scones to distribute.
“I’ve always been a giver. That’s who I am.”
Given his name, he was often called Kevin Bloody Wilson after the Australian comedian way back, and even had a front-row seat at one of his shows where he took home the comedian’s guitar pick as a momento.
