A nesting bird peeks out of the budding Japanese Yoshino cherry tree along the Tidal Basin in Washington, Sunday, April 7, 2013. Despite repeated predictions peak blossom time for the historic cherry trees is not yet here, but almost, almost. (Photo by Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)

Natalie Geisenberger of Germany, Johannes Ludwig of Germany, Tobias Wendl of Germany and Tobias Arlt of Germany celebrate their teammates slide winning gold during the Luge Team Relay on day six of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at National Sliding Centre on February 10, 2022 in Yanqing, China. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

A blooming cherry tree is seen along the Tidal Basin on Sunday March 20, 2022 in Washington, DC. As Covid-19 precautions begin to lift around the country large crowds are able to once again descend upon the region for the blossoming cherry trees. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

Rows of blossoming peach trees line the fields of Aitona, in the province of Lleida, north eastern Spain, on March 22, 2025. Every year in March the thousands of hectares of blossoming peach trees create a sort of nature tourism with hundreds of people visiting the area to take in the colorful blossoms. (Photo by Josep Lago/AFP Photo)

Fireworks explode over a floating Christmas tree in Lagoa Lake in Rio de Janeiro. (Photo by Victor R. Caivano/Associated Press)

Snow covered pine tree reaches for the sky. Shot in Sweden on a crisp winter day. (Photo by Anna Rebecka Lindberg/The Guardian)

A woman with Kimono looks at cherry trees in bloom in Shinjuku Gyoen in Tokyo, Japan on Thursday, April 4, 2024. (Photo by Noriko Hayashi for The Washington Post)

There are many types of collections. Some are formed by purposefully collecting certain objects, such as stamps or coins. However, some collections are only a byproduct of an obsession, a quirk of mind. For example, Paul Brockmann got into the habit of buying his girlfriend and later his wife a dress every time they went ballroom dancing. It might seem excessive to some, but it was his way of showing his affection. Overtime, this collection grew to be enormous, counting 55,000 dresses in total. Basic math tells us that either they went ballroom dancing three times per day for every day of their lives, or he bought them in huge bundles every time.