Ernesto in Hollywood

Ernesto's Collection

"I don't think she was really happy, in life she didn't own anything at all."

Meet our Featured Collector: Ernesto Galindez.



Ernesto, 28, lives in Venezuela, and is living proof that Marilyn's appeal transcends nationality and language. She is not only an American icon, but a legend known and loved the world over. Ernesto believes she is the icon of the twentieth century...and perhaps, he says, the twenty-first.

Ernesto has been collecting Marilyn memorabilia since he was eight years old. He remember seeing the famous Seven Year Itch poster of Marilyn with her skirt blowing and developing "a crush" on Marilyn. When he couldn't find that poster, he bought a poster of Marilyn from Bus Stop and has been collecting ever since. He says, "I really loved her," and adds that he would never sell his collection, which has grown to include an impressive 325 magazines bearing Marilyn's image.

Of the auctions of Marilyn's personal items in recent years, Ernesto doesn't think Marilyn would approve. "She didn't own anything at all," he says, adding that he thinks she would not have been very happy to see those things she did own auctioned off. When asked what Marilyn item he would like to own, he states "a signed photo."

Ernesto's collection includes a little of everything, including "dolls, magnets, keychains, t-shirts, books.." But, he says, his collection is focused on "magazines from the fifties." He is particularly fond of his Playboy magazine and 1953 calendar. He says the internet has made collecting Marilyn much easier.

Ernesto, a pychologist, says that as a child his obsession with collecting Marilyn was "really wierd", but cites a resemblance to his mother as part of Marilyn's appeal for him. He regrets cutting up magazines as a child but accepts it as "part of my life."

If Ernesto could meet Marilyn and ask her one question, he says he would ask her about her desire to be a mother, a desire which was never fulfilled. He also says he think it's a "pity" that Marilyn died without really knowing how much she was, and still is, loved. A love he says she could "never imagine."

Ernesto doesn't think he will ever stop collecting Marilyn.










Would you like to be featured on this page along with your Marilyn collection, or do you know someone who would be a perfect choice? Email leslie@marilyncollector.com!!